Why Employee Wellbeing Hinges on Great Management, Not Just Work Mode

As 93% of employees in remote-capable jobs express their preference to work at least part of the week, organizations continue wrestling with return-to-office mandates, hybrid policies, and remote work strategies. However, groundbreaking research from Gallup and Workhuman reveals a surprising truth: work location’s impact on employee wellbeing pales in comparison to the influence of good managers and business practices.

This finding challenges the narrative that has dominated workplace conversations since the pandemic, that where we work determines how well we work. The data tells a different story: it’s not the office or the home that makes the difference. It’s the person leading the team.

The Great Work Location Debate Misses the Point

The debate over remote versus hybrid versus in-office work has consumed countless hours of leadership meetings and generated endless headlines. Organizations invest significant resources in deciding which days employees should be in the office, how to track attendance, and whether to mandate returns to physical workplaces.

Yet employees across all three work arrangements experience frequent burnout at statistically similar rates. This revelation should give every leader pause. If burnout levels are essentially the same whether someone works from home, in a hybrid model, or entirely on-site, then perhaps we’ve been focused on the wrong variable.

While fully remote (37%) and hybrid workers (36%) are significantly more engaged than their on-site peers (30%), engagement alone doesn’t tell the complete wellbeing story. The real differentiator isn’t the location; it’s the quality of management employees receive, regardless of where they’re sitting.

According to Mercer’s study, 64% of employers plan to enhance health and well-being offerings in 2024, recognizing that well-being is now integral to workforce strategy. However, throwing benefits at the problem without addressing management quality is like treating symptoms while ignoring the disease.

Managers: The Hidden Mental Health Factor

Here’s a startling reality that should concern every organization: recent studies found that managers have a greater impact on our mental health than doctors and therapists, and equal to that of spouses and partners.

Read that again. Your manager’s influence on your mental health equals that of your life partner.

This extraordinary finding underscores why focusing solely on work arrangements misses the bigger picture. An employee with a supportive, skilled manager will thrive whether they’re remote, hybrid, or in-office. Conversely, an employee with a poor manager will struggle in any location, and that struggle will affect their mental and physical health profoundly.

Research from Mental Health America reveals that transparent communication and supportive people management strongly correlate with overall work health scores. Yet only 47% of employees agreed that their employer encourages clear communication, and just 45% said their organization invests in developing fair and supportive managers.

The gap between manager impact and manager investment represents one of the most significant missed opportunities in modern workforce strategy.

The Manager Burnout Crisis

Before organizations can leverage managers as wellbeing champions, they must confront an uncomfortable truth: managers themselves are drowning.

While 33% of employees experience burnout, managers report feeling burned out at a much higher rate, 53%. This isn’t a minor discrepancy; it’s a crisis that threatens the entire organizational ecosystem.

Recent research reveals that 35% of managers experience burnout, a higher rate than any other level of employment, and managers are just as likely, if not slightly more so, to suffer frequent or constant burnout than individual contributors (26% of managers vs. 24% of individual contributors).

Why are managers burning out at such alarming rates? Research says constant change is the main culprit, with 67% of managers reporting demanding workloads and another 67% concerned about how major world events impact their team members’ mental health.

As one Harvard Business Review article aptly summarized: Managers have had to guide their employees through a pandemic and its aftermath, facing situations that required them to lead with empathy while managing escalating demands with potentially fewer resources, all while receiving little recognition for their efforts.

The modern manager’s role has expanded dramatically. Beyond traditional responsibilities of delegation and performance management, they’re now expected to:

• Serve as mental health first responders
• Navigate hybrid work complexities
• Lead with empathy while maintaining accountability
• Support diverse employee needs across generations
• Absorb and mitigate organizational change stress
• Drive engagement and retention in competitive talent markets

They’re doing all this while the average manager’s workweek is a half-day longer than the average employee’s, and nearly half report multiple competing priorities.

Implementing robust performance management systems can help distribute workload more effectively and provide managers with tools to succeed.

The Business Case for Management Investment

The costs of neglecting manager wellbeing and development extend far beyond individual suffering. Workplace stress is estimated to cost the U.S. economy more than $500 billion, and each year, 550 million workdays are lost due to stress on the job.

The impact is equally devastating across other regions. In Africa, particularly South Africa, workplace stress costs companies approximately R250 billion annually, equivalent to 4.5% of the country’s GDP. Mental health challenges among employees, including stress-related presenteeism and absenteeism, represent a massive drain on productivity and economic growth across the continent.

In Asia, the crisis is similarly acute. Poor mental health costs Indian employers an estimated ₹1.1 lakh crore (approximately $14 billion) per year, with 30% of Indian employees experiencing daily stress. Across the broader Asian region, 4 in 5 employees are at moderate to high risk of mental health issues, with 45% reporting that their mental health directly impacts their work productivity. Lost productivity attributable to anxiety and depression in Singapore alone costs nearly $12 billion annually.

When managers burn out, the ripple effects are profound:

Turnover Acceleration: Managers who feel exhausted are 1.8 times more likely to leave the company compared to those who do not feel exhausted. For managers experiencing cynicism, the likelihood rises to 3.0 times, and those lacking professional efficacy are 3.4 times more likely to leave.

Team Performance Degradation: Burned-out managers lack the energy to motivate teams, recognize contributions, or provide the support that drives employee engagement. Their struggle becomes their team’s struggle.

Healthcare Cost Escalation: The healthcare costs associated with burnout globally are estimated to be as high as $322 billion a year.

Productivity Losses: 91% of survey respondents said that an unmanageable amount of stress or frustration negatively impacts their quality of work.

Conversely, the benefits of manager support are equally dramatic. Employees with strong support from their managers are 70% less likely to feel burned out regularly.

Your HR analytics platform should track manager well-being metrics alongside employee engagement data to identify intervention opportunities early.

What Employees Actually Need From Managers

Understanding what drives wellbeing helps organizations focus their management development efforts. Mercer’s Global Talent Trends study identified five factors employees cite for thriving:

1. Flexible work arrangements
2. Work that energizes and inspires
3. Opportunities to learn and grow
4. Compensation aligned with contributions
5. Having a manager who advocates for them and provides meaningful feedback

Notice that four of these five factors are directly controlled or influenced by managers. Work location doesn’t even make the list.

Research continues to highlight primary drivers of poor well-being at work, and none of them are about the individual. Instead, things like work overload and lack of agency come up time and time again.

The three primary psychosocial hazards that drive burnout are:

• Job demand: Unmanageable workload and insufficient resources
• Job control: Lack of agency over how, where, and when work is done
• Workplace relationships: Conflict or unhealthy relationships with supervisors or managers

Each of these hazards falls within a manager’s sphere of influence. Effective managers can adjust workloads, provide autonomy, and cultivate healthy team dynamics, regardless of whether the team is remote, hybrid, or in-office.

Rethinking the Role of Work Location

This doesn’t mean work location is irrelevant. 76% of full-time hybrid workers in the U.S. cite improved work-life balance as a top advantage of hybrid work. Location flexibility clearly matters to employees.

However, simply adjusting workplace policies does not always unlock the benefits of remote work for employee well-being. The policy is the starting point, not the solution.

Organizations that successfully support wellbeing in flexible work environments do so by:

Empowering Manager Discretion: Rather than imposing one-size-fits-all attendance policies, giving managers latitude to work with their teams on arrangements that support both business needs and individual circumstances.

Training for Remote Leadership: Managing distributed teams requires different skills than managing co-located ones. Invest in leadership development programs that address these unique challenges.

Focusing on Outcomes: Shifting from presenteeism to results-based management reduces location-related stress and empowers both managers and employees.

Creating Connection Opportunities: Whether through virtual team building, periodic in-person gatherings, or intentional communication rituals, managers need support in fostering team cohesion across distances.

Your employee engagement tools should facilitate these connections and provide managers with visibility into team wellbeing, regardless of location.

Five Strategies to Support Managers Supporting Wellbeing

Organizations serious about employee wellbeing must start by supporting the managers who influence it most directly:

1. Invest in Comprehensive Manager Training

CIPD’s report showed that one of the main hindrances to delivering on employee wellbeing remains a lack of confidence and skills in line managers. Training should address:

• Recognizing signs of burnout and mental health struggles
• Having difficult conversations with empathy
• Managing workload distribution equitably
• Providing meaningful recognition and feedback
• Creating psychological safety in team environments
• Leading effectively in hybrid or remote settings

This training cannot be a one-time event. Ongoing development, peer learning communities, and coaching support help managers continuously refine these critical skills.

2. Reduce Manager Workload and Role Conflict

Middle managers occupy a particularly precarious position where they have to look out for the interests of teams below them while answering to teams above. Organizations can alleviate this pressure by:

• Providing administrative support and automation through HR management systems
• Limiting the number of direct reports per manager
• Clarifying priorities and reducing competing demands
• Shielding managers from unnecessary meetings
• Empowering managers with decision-making authority

3. Create Manager Support Networks

Like employees, front-line managers and supervisors need to feel they are continuously developing in their work and overall lives. Managers need to have coaching conversations with their manager, just as they are expected to do with their employees.

Establish:

• Peer mentoring programs where managers support each other
• Regular check-ins focused on manager wellbeing, not just business outcomes
• Manager resource groups that provide community and shared learning
• Access to mental health resources and counseling services

4. Align Incentives With Wellbeing Outcomes

If organizations measure managers solely on productivity metrics, they’ll prioritize output over employee well-being. Instead:

• Include team well-being metrics in manager performance evaluations
• Recognize and reward managers who develop high-performing, healthy teams
• Make retention and engagement scores visible and valued
• Celebrate managers who model healthy work-life boundaries

Your compensation management platform should make it easy to tie manager incentives to holistic team performance indicators.

5. Provide Clear Communication and Organizational Stability

Managers can only keep employees informed and engaged if organizational priorities are clear and well communicated as changes occur. Fuzzy or confusing messaging from the top only makes managers’ lives more stressful.

Leadership must:

• Communicate strategic priorities clearly and consistently
• Give managers advance notice of changes whenever possible
• Provide talking points and resources for cascading information
• Minimize unnecessary organizational churn
• Be transparent about challenges and constraints

Measuring What Matters

Deloitte’s Wellbeing at Work survey highlights a significant disconnect: 95% of executives and 92% of managers believe employees would say they care about employee wellbeing. But only 50% of employees would say this about the C-suite, and 68% about managers.

This perception gap reveals the danger of assumptions. Organizations must measure well-being systematically and act on what they discover.

Effective measurement includes:

Regular Pulse Surveys: Brief, frequent check-ins on workload, stress levels, and manager support.

Manager-Specific Metrics: Track manager well-being separately from overall employee engagement.

Team Health Indicators: Monitor turnover, absenteeism, and engagement at the team level.

well-being Qualitative, Conduct stay interviews and exit interviews that explore management quality.

Leading Indicators: Identify early warning signs of burnout before they escalate

Your people analytics tools should provide managers and leadership with real-time visibility into team well-being trends.

The Wellbeing Imperative

The evidence is overwhelming: employee wellbeing isn’t primarily a function of work location, benefits packages, or even compensation, though these factors matter. It’s fundamentally about the quality of management employees receive.

According to Randstad’s 2024 Workmonitor research, 57% of workers wouldn’t even accept a role if they thought it would negatively affect their work-life balance. In this environment, organizations cannot afford to ignore the manager-wellbeing connection.

The path forward requires a fundamental shift in how organizations view managers. Rather than seeing them as productivity maximizers or policy enforcers, organizations must recognize managers as wellbeing architects, people who, more than any other factor, shape whether employees thrive or merely survive.

This means investing in manager development with the same intensity as organizations invest in leadership development. It means treating manager wellbeing as a strategic priority, not an afterthought. It means building systems and cultures that enable managers to succeed in their expanded role.

Taking Action: Your Next Steps

For organizations ready to elevate employee wellbeing through management excellence:

1. Audit manager workload and support: Are your managers set up to succeed, or are you asking the impossible?
2. Survey both managers and employees: Understand the gaps between what managers think they’re providing and what employees experience.
3. Invest in manager development: Create comprehensive training programs addressing both business skills and well-being support.
4. Implement manager support systems: Provide coaching, peer networks, and resources that sustain managers through challenges.
5. Align metrics and incentives: Make well-being outcomes part of how you evaluate and reward management effectiveness.
6. Create flexibility within frameworks: Give managers autonomy to work with their teams on arrangements that support both performance and well-being.

The debate over remote, hybrid, or in-office work will continue. But organizations that recognize management quality as the primary well-being driver will build a competitive advantage regardless of where work happens. They’ll attract and retain top talent. They’ll see higher engagement and lower burnout. They’ll create workplaces where people genuinely want to contribute their best.

Ready to transform your approach to employee wellbeing? 

Discover how Paxform’s comprehensive HR platform provides managers with the tools, insights, and support they need to cultivate thriving teams, regardless of work location. From performance management to real-time analytics, we help you build a manager-enabled wellbeing strategy. Schedule a demo today to see how investing in your managers pays dividends across your entire organization.