Are We Lacking Compassion for Our Managers?

Are we heading towards a world without managers? We discussed this issue with Julie Tremblay-Potvin, a strategist in people and organizational development at De Saison.

What’s happening with our managers – is it true that they’re struggling?

Julie Tremblay-Potvin: Right now, there’s definitely a trend of people leaving their management roles because they simply can’t keep up anymore. They decide to return to individual contributor roles or positions with less responsibility because they feel that the added stress of being a manager isn’t worth it, even with the pay increase. They lose out in terms of quality of life, workload, and hours worked.

In your opinion, are there structural reasons behind this trend?

J.T.P: In recent years, the focus has been heavily on caring for teams. But really, it’s the managers who have become highly accountable for their teams’ health and well-being. We’ve told them: you’re responsible for the results, but you’re also responsible for their health. We don’t want them to go on sick leave, and we want them to stay “functional.”

Moreover, I believe there has been a distancing from the HR function, which, since the pandemic and the rise of remote work, is much less in touch with employees. In large organizations, HR has concentrated their efforts on policies and perhaps less on targeted interventions with employees. They provide tools to managers, but they’re not the ones accountable to the employees. It’s the managers who are on the front lines every day.

What’s the solution to this situation?

J.T.P: Before equipping managers to take care of their teams, we need to equip them to take care of themselves. It’s not uncommon to see managers give a lot of leeway to their teams, but they never allow themselves any, and they end up compensating for all the flexibility they give to their teams. This is not a sustainable model.

Clearly, many managers struggle to “let go” and take care of themselves. How can this mindset be changed?

J.T.P: The first step is to take a step back, and then make it a habit. In our workshops, we work on the manager’s routine, including health and well-being habits.

In a way, do they need to lower their productivity expectations and aim for more modest results to find balance at work?

J.T.P: It might seem logical to think that if we slow down, we’ll be overtaken by the competition. However, many studies show that organizations focused solely on efficiency, without cultivating resilience, are at risk. When we’re always trying to solve problems as quickly as possible, it doesn’t encourage taking strategic and sustainable actions.

When productivity gains are made, they should be reinvested in people—by giving them time to innovate, develop their skills, and build interpersonal relationships (through team building). Sustainable leadership means defining success with more than just completing more projects, gaining more clients, delivering more, and making more money.