12 Ways Managers Can Reduce Employee Stress and Burnout

Last Updated January 21, 2022

Work is a key source of stress for many Americans. In its 2017 Stress in America: State of our Nation study, the American Psychological Association reported that employee stress is among the top sources of stress, with 61% of people reporting it as a factor in their stress. The study, which has now run for a decade, noted that while the overall stress has remained the same, more Americans are reporting symptoms of stress, which include anxiety, anger and fatigue.

Heightened employee stress levels take a financial toll on organizations. According to the American Institute of Stress, job stress costs U.S. companies over $300 billion annually due to accidents, absenteeism, diminished productivity, employee turnover, workers’ compensation and direct medical, legal and insurance costs.

Although outside factors, like concerns over money, crime or politics, can spur stress, managers can actively help reduce their employees’ stress through various tactics. Here are 12 moves managers can make to help take employees from stress to success.

 Hold Walking Meetings  

Help employees recharge by getting out of the office and getting active by implementing walking meetings. Matthew Ellis, an HR technician at the Berkeley County School District, shared his walking meeting guidelines with the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM). Ellis’ bimonthly 20-minute walking meetings have an agenda, which typically includes any current challenges and potential solutions, updates on projects and tasks, coaching and employee recognition. These meetings are best when used for small groups. While activity itself can eliminate stress, it’s also important to make sure walking meetings are productive, just like any other meeting.

Promote Work/Life Balance

Managers must live out a healthy work/life balance to promote it within the organization. This means managers must also ensure they allow time for exercise, family and self-care. Work/life balance can also be supported at an organizational level. For example, shut down early before the holidays to enforce a practice of valuing family time. Or, offer flexible scheduling to accommodate individual schedules. Also, be clear during the hiring process about the demands of a role, so employees who are hired are on board with the requirements.

Monitor Workloads & Scheduling

Leaders need to ensure employees aren’t being tasked with unreasonable workloads or prolonged rigorous schedules. While workloads may spike on some occasions, employees can’t be expected to sustain heavy workloads and demanding schedules. For example, monitoring an employee’s travel schedule may prompt a manager to provide a week in the office to decompress. High turnover in a department can indicate a problem with workload or scheduling.

 Encourage Employees to Use Vacation Time

In 2017, 52% of American workers failed to use all of their vacation time, according to the U.S. Travel Association’s Project Time Off. The reasons why generally tie to work responsibilities—a too heavy workload, lack of work coverage or the fear they’d be seen as replaceable. Managers can encourage employees to use their vacation time in several ways. First, run a report to ensure employees’ vacation time isn’t expiring or going unused. Also, encourage people verbally to take a vacation, and foster a culture that appreciates, instead of begrudges, employees taking time away.

Provide Work From Home Options

Working from home isn’t a new concept, but managers can help eliminate stigma and ensure fair application of policy by making it a practice. For example, according to SHRM, Mojo Media Labs offers Work from Home Wednesdays, where employees at all levels work from home. This saves employees time and money commuting, and demonstrates organizational trust. The option to work remotely can also help eliminate the stress of time management for employees trying to juggle necessary medical appointments or for working parents or caregivers trying to coordinate care.

Prioritize Workplace Wellness

Within the workplace, offering a quiet space for employees to unplug, meditate, pray or relax for a few minutes can help manage stress. Even investing in a few aesthetics for the office, like inviting chairs, plants or new pictures can help establish a less stressful environment. In times of high stress or high workload volume, supporting employees in taking a mental health day can combat concerns about perception.

Offer Employee Assistance Programs

Corporate wellness programs can also promote self-care and stress management by providing financial or retirement resources, mental health counseling and diet, exercise and tobacco cessation programs. According to research by Morneau Shepell, every $1 invested in an Employee and Family Assistance Program provides more than eight times the return on investment due to improved productivity and reduced absenteeism. Further encourage a healthy lifestyle with employee gym memberships or group healthy-eating challenges.

Enforce Management Training

Managers can be the biggest factor in employee engagement and retention. In a recent Randstad study, 60% of respondents said they had left a job or would leave over a bad boss, with 58% indicating that they would stay at a job with a lower salary if that meant working for a great boss. Poorly equipped managers can exacerbate employee stress and drive them out the door. Managers need to be trained and equipped to coach and develop employees as individuals and as a team. Organizations must ensure supervisors are given employee management tools and skills, which should include appropriate ways to provide feedback, goal setting, communication skills, recognition and task assignment.

Create Goals and Career Paths

According to SHRM, employees cited a lack of opportunity for growth and advancement among the top five stressors at work. In an evolving technological landscape, helping employees obtain new skills can help them adapt to a dynamic market and help them grow their advancement opportunities, inside the company and outside it. Encouraging employees to view stressful situations as a challenge, rather than a threat, can help them rise to the occasion. By setting clear goals together with employees, not only do managers ensure employees know what to expect, but they also can boost employee engagement.

 Practice Open Communication

When information is withheld and communication is minimal, employee stress can rise simply because of the unknown. Managers should make it a practice to provide open communication, ensuring employees receive timely, transparent updates, understand expectations and understand how their performance is benchmarking against goals.

Lead by Example

Managers set the tone for their teams, which means it is critical for them to manage their own stress, eschewing negativity, anger and explosive behavior even during stressful times. Just like any employee, managers must ensure they take their vacation, take regular breaks, manage stressors outside the workplace and be intentional about pursuing work/life balance.

 Welcome Employee Feedback

Employees offer a wealth of knowledge and ideas – if managers are open to receiving them. Managers should actively seek feedback on ways to improve productivity, balance workloads, work together as a team and improve task completion.

Managers Make the Difference

Similar to how family relationships are the foundation of a happy home life, the professional employee-manager relationship can be the foundation for a successful organization, driving collaboration, providing career advancement and, hopefully, alleviating workplace stress, rather than being a source of it.