Employee Burnout Is Crushing Managers - It's Time For Smarter Tools

A recent Gallup survey found that middle managers are among the most at-risk for burnout and layoffs in 2023. The already challenging role of people managers has become even more complex in the hybrid work era. While employees face rising stress, managers bear the brunt of navigating new workflows, communication norms, budget cuts, and talent shortages.  

Managers end up caught in the middle of clashes over remote work policies. They struggle to keep their teams collaborative and engaged across dispersed locations. Simple routines like scheduling meetings require new levels of coordination across time zones. Managers must learn on the fly how to onboard new hires virtually while still building connections.

Managers and Their Impact on Employee Engagement

At the same time, managers have less time than ever for strategic thinking or one-on-one coaching. The Gallup survey found that 55% of managers are looking for new jobs, compared to 49% of individual contributors. Managers report substantially higher disengagement and feel their well-being is disregarded.  

Tired, overworked managers lead to subpar employee experiences through unintended "quiet firing." Managers who lack the bandwidth for proper development and accountability fail to set their teams up for success. High-potential employees don't get the growth opportunities they need and may jump ship.

Leveraging AI and Automation

Clearly, managers need better tools to automate repetitive tasks, enable flexibility, and reduce cognitive burdens for themselves and their teams. Artificial intelligence (AI) now allows us to reimagine what managers should spend their time doing. AI-powered intelligent assistants can take on scheduling, document review, status updates, and other tedious tasks. This gives managers time for higher-impact coaching, problem-solving, and strategic thinking.

Managers of  ServiceNow teams will also benefit from xtype's multi-environment visibility. Rather than chasing down status updates, managers can simply review the real-time status of all ServiceNow instances across their landscape – apps, plugins, update sets, and releases. This saves time while enhancing transparency and improving productivity.

Automation handles the logistical headaches of hybrid work. Intelligent assistants instantly book conference rooms, ensure equipment is ready for video calls, and schedule across time zones. Voice-enabled devices make these interactions seamless for remote managers.

Enhancing Team Efficiency with AI

AI takes over the administrative legwork of onboarding new hires – assigning training, securing equipment, and handling paperwork. Chatbots handle basic employee questions, allowing managers to focus on building personal connections and coaching up their team members.

In team meetings, AI transcription and translation bridges language and location barriers. Post-meeting, AI summarizes key decisions, action items, and next steps to keep everyone aligned. Managers save hours of prep, note-taking, and follow-up.

Natural language search makes finding information in company knowledge bases lightning fast. Document automation turns hours of drafting common documents like presentations, status reports, and FAQs into a few seconds.

Generative AI can even generate original content tailored to a manager's specific needs. In client presentations, AI synthesizes complex data into compelling narratives and visualizations. For employee training, it creates customized examples based on the team's real scenarios.

Conclusion

Rather than just making managers busier with new capabilities, the key is leveraging AI to remove the low-value work clogging up their schedules. When freed from mundane and tedious tasks, managers have space to be proactive instead of reactive. They can listen to their teams, dig into challenges, and spot opportunities early.

With stronger connections to individual needs, managers become change agents rather than enforcers of blind company policies. They have leverage to advocate for their teams' best interests.

The question for organizations is no longer whether to use AI but how to use it ethically to empower managers and employees in their roles. With the right approach, technology can reverse troubling trends of disengagement and burnout. Workers and managers alike will feel valued, engaged, and set up for growth. That's a future worth striving for.