Managers are expected to protect employee wellbeing. Who is supporting them?

Managers are increasingly expected to deliver business results, navigate organisational change and protect employee wellbeing, but many lack the training and support required to balance these responsibilities. Modern Health’s Alison Borland, Chief People and Strategy Officer, says organisations need to rethink how they define managerial effectiveness and prepare leaders for the demands of modern work.

In a written interview with People Matters, Borland draws on Modern Health’s research to highlight how management practices can contribute to workplace stress, why employees hesitate to raise concerns and what organisations need to change.

Workplace stress points to a management gap

Modern Health’s global survey found that 71% of respondents linked their need for therapy or coaching directly to workplace stress. Among this group, 51% said all or most of their stress could have been addressed through managerial guidance or action.

Borland says the findings call for a broader understanding of managerial effectiveness, beyond short-term performance metrics and business results.

“Managers have traditionally been measured on, and trained to deliver, short term performance metrics and company results. Our research suggests, however, that we need a broader definition of manager effectiveness to enable long term success and sustainability.”

The pressures employees encounter are not always exceptional or difficult to identify. Borland points to workloads that remain consistently high, shifting expectations and difficult conversations that managers postpone.

She also highlights a gap in managers’ readiness to respond. Modern Health’s earlier research found that 82% of senior managers said managing was harder than ever, while only 37% felt strongly equipped to identify burnout among their teams.

Borland says managers need practical tools to recognise and respond to employee stress, alongside support for themselves and clear pathways to additional help.

Why employees hesitate to speak up

Employees may seek professional support for workplace stress without first approaching their manager or HR team. Modern Health’s survey found that 35% of employees sought therapy or coaching for workplace stress rather than speaking with their manager or HR.

The findings point to concerns about how managers might respond and whether raising an issue could carry professional consequences.

Among employees who sought therapy or coaching for workplace stress, 42% said their manager appeared so focused on productivity and efficiency that wellbeing became a secondary priority. Another 37% feared speaking up could affect their promotion prospects, performance reviews or job security.

Meanwhile, 41% said discussing personal or emotional issues with a manager did not feel appropriate. One-third said their manager appeared uncomfortable with such conversations, while 30% said their manager had never received training to discuss wellbeing.

Borland says professional mental health support remains valuable, but employees should also be able to raise work-related concerns before they become more difficult to manage.

“Managers do not need all the answers, but they need to make it safe to raise concerns, respond thoughtfully, and know when to bring in additional support.”

Expectations have grown faster than manager training

Managers are navigating return-to-office mandates, organisational restructures, economic uncertainty and the changes brought by artificial intelligence. At the same time, organisations expect them to maintain performance while helping employees manage uncertainty and protect their wellbeing.

Borland says many managers move into leadership after succeeding as individual contributors, without necessarily receiving the skills needed to manage people effectively.

Modern Health’s research found that 30% of employees said their manager had never been trained to discuss wellbeing. Earlier research also found that only 41% of senior managers felt very confident navigating sensitive or polarising issues affecting their teams.

Managers face pressures of their own. In the same earlier research, 79% of senior managers said they had felt pressure to work through their own mental health challenges, while 61% said they had avoided taking mental health days for fear of being judged.

“The challenge for today’s managers is that expectations have grown faster than the training and resources available to meet them.”

Borland says a single training session at the point of promotion cannot prepare managers for the complexity of today’s workplace. She calls for continuous development and support as managerial responsibilities evolve.

AI adds another layer to workplace anxiety

The changing nature of work is also creating new questions for managers, particularly as AI reshapes roles and responsibilities. Modern Health’s survey found that 42% of employees said anxiety about AI replacing their job or changing their role had contributed to their need for therapy or coaching.

In a separate finding discussed by Borland, 43% of employees said anxiety about AI changing or replacing their role contributed to their need for therapy or coaching. The figure rose to 65% in Singapore and 47% among Millennials.

Borland says managers need to communicate honestly about changes, acknowledge uncertainty and explain how employees will be supported. Silence or false certainty, she says, can increase anxiety, while open communication helps employees feel included.

Where managerial responsibility ends

Borland draws a distinction between the support managers should provide and the care that requires a qualified professional. Managers can address work-related factors within their control, including workloads, priorities and team dynamics, but should not be expected to diagnose or counsel employees.

“A heavy workload needs a manager who can rebalance it. A clinical condition needs a clinician.”

She says organisations should offer employees access to different forms of support rather than treating mental health benefits as standalone provisions. Modern Health’s survey found that 85% of respondents said access to both coaching and therapy would be helpful.

For Borland, this support needs to be integrated into leadership development, manager enablement, benefits strategy and everyday workplace practices. Employees and managers should also understand what resources are available and how to access them confidentially.

The next test for leadership

As AI takes on more routine work, Borland expects the human aspects of management to become increasingly important. Judgement, relationships and the ability to help employees make sense of change will shape how managers support their teams.

She describes managers as the point where company strategy becomes employees’ everyday experience, influencing their priorities, workload, energy and motivation. Signs of strain may appear in missed deadlines, slower decisions or employees needing more effort to maintain their usual performance long before they emerge in formal workforce data.

Borland calls this the “Mental Health Performance Tax”, describing the ongoing cost organisations absorb when employee strain remains unaddressed.

Her central point is that organisations cannot expect managers to support employee wellbeing without giving them the authority, skills and resources to do so. Building healthier employee-manager relationships will also require organisations to recognise managers as employees who need support themselves.

The challenge ahead is to make managerial effectiveness about more than delivering results. It also means creating working conditions where concerns can be raised early, problems are addressed at their source and employees receive appropriate support.