An exhausted manager cannot support an engaged team for long. Managers today experience higher rates of burnout than the employees they supervise because they face pressure from both senior leadership and their teams. Preventing manager burnout requires a structured approach, not just individual wellness advice. Here’s what you need to know to recognize the signs, address the causes, and reduce the risk of manager burnout in your organization.
Key Takeaways
- Managers are at a higher risk of burnout than employees because they carry a double load: their own workload and the demands of supporting their team.
- According to the Government of Canada, organizational interventions are more effective at preventing burnout than individual interventions alone.
- Six practical HR strategies can reduce this risk: workload visibility, training, regular check-ins, recognition, peer connection, and protected vacation time.
- Managers who step into the role without formal training, often referred to as “accidental managers,” face a significantly higher risk of burnout.
Table of Contents
2. Signs of Burnout to Watch for in a Manager
3. Why Individual Solutions Are Not Enough
4. 6 HR Strategies to Prevent Manager Burnout
5. A Quick Self-Assessment for Managers
6. How Primalogik Helps Prevent Manager Burnout
7. FAQ: Preventing Manager Burnout
What is Manager Burnout?
Burnout is not simply fatigue. It is a response to chronic, unresolved workplace stress and is officially recognized as an occupational phenomenon. For managers, burnout takes on a particular form because it is tied to both their own workload and their responsibility for their team. Understanding this distinction is the first step in building an appropriate prevention strategy.
The WHO definition and the Maslach model
The World Health Organization classifies burnout as a work-related phenomenon: a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is not a medical condition in and of itself, but rather a psychosocial syndrome that manifests in three dimensions: emotional exhaustion, mental detachment (or occupational cynicism) from one’s work, and reduced occupational effectiveness.
The six areas of worklife model, developed by Christina Maslach and Michael Leiter, identifies six psychosocial risk factors that contribute to burnout: excessive workload, lack of control over one’s tasks, insufficient recognition, low team cohesion, a sense of unfairness, and a mismatch between personal values and those of the organization.
Each of these elements is considered a psychosocial risk and a recognized risk factor in occupational health. This model is useful for HR because it turns individual experiences into concrete organizational factors that can be addressed.
Why Managers Are Particularly Vulnerable
Managers face two sources of pressure: their own goals and the well-being of their team. This dual burden amplifies the stressors that come with a management role, including a heavy workload and a lack of control over their own priorities. Managers serve as a bridge between senior leadership and their teams, which puts them in a particularly stressful position. Work overload remains the most commonly cited cause of stress in studies on the subject, and it can be difficult to address without structural changes.
This phenomenon has worsened since the pandemic, with the rise of hybrid work and increased expectations placed on management teams. It can also be more pronounced when an employee moves into a management role without formal leadership training, a common situation referred to in HR as an “accidental manager.”
Without the tools to manage workloads, delegate effectively, or handle team tensions, a manager may end up absorbing the stress that comes with the role. Managers may also find it difficult to ask for help for fear of being perceived as less competent.
Signs of Burnout to Watch for in a Manager
Identifying burnout early allows you to take action before it affects the entire team. Recognizing the following signs in a manager’s day-to-day behavior can help HR and colleagues intervene before burnout becomes more severe:
- Unusual irritability during interactions with the team or in meetings
- Decline in the quality of decisions or follow-through on tasks
- Disengagement from team check-ins: less coaching and less feedback
- Persistent fatigue despite rest, a visibly heavy workload, or increased absenteeism, sometimes leading to sick leave
- Growing detachment or indifference toward the organization’s goals or their own role
- Difficulty delegating, with a tendency to take tasks back on themselves
None of these signs alone constitutes a diagnosis. It is their accumulation over time that should raise concerns, especially since psychological distress can coexist with other mental health issues without the manager speaking openly about them. Prolonged psychological distress can also affect the mental well-being of the entire team they lead.
Why Individual Solutions Are Not Enough
Providing individual well-being resources is not enough if the structural causes remain unaddressed. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, citing the American Psychiatric Association, notes that organizational interventions are more effective than individual interventions at preventing workplace burnout. In other words, encouraging a manager to get more sleep or meditate does not address a work environment that contributes to burnout.
Mental health and psychological safety in the workplace is primarily an organizational responsibility, not just an individual one. Being a leader means making concrete changes to the work environment, not merely encouraging managers to take care of themselves. Senior management must take action by implementing support programs, reviewing management practices, and adjusting workloads based on actual working conditions.
These individual initiatives, such as stress management training and access to an employee assistance program, remain useful as complementary measures, but they should supplement, not replace, organizational changes. This responsibility also extends to mental health in the workplace more broadly: a work environment that neglects managers’ psychological well-being ultimately affects the well-being of the employees they supervise.
6 HR Strategies to Prevent Manager Burnout
Preventing burnout among managers requires addressing how work is structured, not just individual habits. Creating a culture that supports managers’ well-being, not just that of their teams, requires practical steps. Here are six actions HR teams can take, from the easiest to implement to those that require more significant changes, to support managers before the situation worsens.
Strategy 1: Make Workload Visible, Not Just Assumed
Most organizations have no real insight into a manager’s actual workload: the number of direct reports, concurrent projects, and weekly meetings. Effective workload management starts with visibility. Tracking these factors with HR, for example, can help identify imbalances before they become critical.
Strategy 2: Train Managers Before They Need It (“Accidental Managers”)
A new manager promoted without formal training starts out at a disadvantage. Asking managers which skills they need to develop, rather than imposing a generic training program, increases the likelihood that the training will meet their actual needs from the moment they take on the role.
Strategy 3: Hold Regular, Low-Stakes Check-Ins
Short, regular one-on-one meetings between a manager and their supervisor create an opportunity to address challenges before they pile up. The goal is not to conduct a formal evaluation at every meeting, but to maintain an open line of communication about workload and priorities.
Strategy 4: Recognize Managers, Not Just Their Teams
Recognition in the workplace often focuses on employees and rarely on managers themselves. Yet a lack of recognition is among the factors identified by the Maslach-Leiter model. Taking the time to recognize managers’ work, not just the results achieved by their employees, can help improve the well-being of the entire management team.
Strategy 5: Create Opportunities for Managers to Connect
Managers can find themselves in an isolated position: too high up to confide in their team and sometimes too far removed from senior leadership to feel completely comfortable opening up. Creating opportunities for managers at the same level to connect, even informally, can reduce this sense of isolation and improve the well-being of the management team.
Strategy 6: Protect Vacation Time and Lead by Example
A manager who remains reachable during their vacation sends a message to their entire team: taking time off isn’t really accepted. Senior leadership must lead by example so that protecting time off becomes a cultural norm, not just a written policy.
A Quick Self-Assessment for Managers
Managers can do a quick self-assessment without waiting for a formal evaluation. The following questions, based on risk factors recognized by occupational health authorities, provide a simple starting point:
Question 1: My workload exceeds what I can reasonably handle under normal circumstances. (yes/no)
Question 2: I regularly take back tasks I’ve delegated. (yes/no)
Question 3: I feel more irritable with my team than I used to. (yes/no)
Question 4: I have no one to talk to about my own management challenges. (yes/no)
Question 5: I have recently postponed or cut short a vacation. (yes/no)
If you answer “yes” to three or more of these questions, you should talk to HR or your supervisor before the situation gets worse.
How Primalogik Helps Prevent Manager Burnout
Implementing these six strategies requires tools that make workload and engagement measurable, not just good intentions. Primalogik offers regular check-ins built directly into the platform, making it easier for managers and their supervisors to have short, frequent conversations without adding administrative work. Its customizable engagement surveys and 360-degree continuous feedback system can also help identify signs of disengagement among managers themselves, not just their teams.
Primalogik’s people analytics give HR greater visibility into workload and performance trends, supporting prevention at the organizational rather than individual level. Its quick implementation and affordable cost make it particularly well suited for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that want to put a prevention strategy in place without dedicating a full-time team to it.
See how Primalogik can help support your managers and strengthen your performance management practices. Request a demo to learn more.
FAQ: Preventing Manager Burnout
What causes burnout among managers?
The main cause is the dual burden of managing their own goals while supporting a team, often without formal training or a clear understanding of their actual workload.
How can you recognize a manager experiencing burnout?
Signs include irritability, a decline in the quality of decisions, less engagement in coaching the team, and persistent fatigue despite rest.
How does manager burnout differ from that of employees?
A manager carries both their own workload and responsibility for their team’s well-being, which increases their exposure to the risk factors identified by Maslach’s model.
What should HR do first if a manager shows signs of burnout?
A confidential conversation, followed by a temporary reduction in workload if needed, is generally a good first step before putting a more structured support plan in place.
Are individual wellness solutions enough to prevent manager burnout?
No. According to the Government of Canada, organizational interventions are more effective than individual interventions alone at preventing burnout in the long term.