“Pretty alarming”: 90% of managers are emotionally supporting their teams and it’s leading to burnout

Managers are reportedly spending more than five hours a week providing emotional support to their team members who are struggling with personal issues, a new survey has found.

More than 90% of the 1000 managers surveyed globally said they have been supporting their team members through personal crises including divorce, illness and family violence.

The survey, conducted by Circle In, found that due to the growing pressures to provide non-work related support to their team members, 75% of managers said they were experiencing stress and burnout.

“These results are pretty alarming,” Circle In co-founder Jodi Geddes said. “Managers are having to play the role of people leader and psychologist. The problem is a lot of the time they aren’t getting the support they need from their workplace.”

“So many more demands are being placed on managers against the backdrop of leaner teams plus the weight of the economic, climate and social crises right now. It‘s little wonder so many managers are simply burnt out.”

The survey also revealed that roughly one in five respondents reported having to assist employees who are experiencing the trauma of domestic and family violence. Almost three-quarters of managers said they are unfit to provide the support their employees require, while 70% said they don’t feel supported by their workplace to navigate these types of serious issues.

“We’re seeing more and more managers wanting to descend the corporate ladder because it’s become almost untenable to manage all the competing expectations and pressures,” Geddes explained.

“Organisations can no longer ignore their responsibility to foster a safe working environment. Ensuring employee health and safety is paramount, and this goes beyond just addressing mental health issues.”

The survey comes months after a report from The Workforce Institute found that managers and leaders have more power over employees’ mental health than their doctors and about the same as their spouses or partners.

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.

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