meQ Report Explains Vital Strategies to Transform Manager Well-being and Make it an Organizational Priority
The increased responsibilities of managers coupled with a more challenging economic, political, and social climate have conspired to make managers’ jobs more difficult than ever before, according to a new meQuilibrium (meQ) report on how to build better managers. meQ data found that compared to non-managers, managers are 36% more likely to report feeling burned out and 24% more likely to report considering quitting their job in the next six months.
The benefits of manager support are numerous: they can create psychologically safe environments, provide the frontline defense against workplace incivility, and positively influence productivity, engagement, and workforce well-being. On the other hand, poor management can lead to decreased employee motivation, higher turnover rates, and diminished mental well-being.
“Managing people is a difficult task and it’s critical that managers are trained in the resilience skills of emotional intelligence so they can effectively support team members,” said Bruce. “Organizations that reinforce manager mental health will create a culture that values and supports well-being, ultimately leading to a more engaged, motivated, and productive workforce.”
meQ data found that employees who are well-supported by managers were 25% less likely to struggle with somatic symptoms of stress, 33% less likely to have a hard time getting motivated in the morning, and 56% less likely to have high work stress. Further, the prevalence of burnout is 58% lower among employees who experience strong manager support for mental well-being. Employees who don’t feel well supported by their manager are 4.5 times more likely to be a retention risk.
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Managers’ Impact on Psychological Safety and Workplace Incivility
Enhancing well-being among managers needs to be an organizational priority as it’s the managers who create psychologically safe environments—where employees feel comfortable taking risks and sharing ideas. Strong managers boost psychological safety by as much as 42%.
In addition, effective managers are the frontline defense against workplace incivility. Given the deepening polarization on political and social issues, coupled with widespread economic pressures, it is unsurprising that workplace incivility is on the rise. Recent meQ research shows that mild forms of incivility are in fact quite common, with one in four employees reporting being ignored or talked over at work, according to meQ’s 2023 Workforce Well-being study. Employees who have strong manager support are 66% less likely to report having experienced incivility at work.
To effectively support their teams, managers must actively manage their mental health, which will not only enhance their ability to lead effectively but also model healthy behaviors for their employees.
meQ offers these actions for organizations to make managers’ well-being a top priority:
● Deploy evidence-based techniques for building resilience so that managers can recognize and replace unproductive thought patterns with more effective alternatives.
● Prioritize self-care and direct managers who are struggling to access resources already in the benefits ecosystem.
● Foster a supportive culture where discussing mental health is destigmatized
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