Road transport leaders are expected to take on more than ever, often with the same or fewer resources, with 61 per cent of leaders reporting more general responsibilities at work compared to only one-third of employees. As they desperately try to juggle all their different responsibilities, their well-being is often compromised, leading to stress, anxiety and, in some cases, burnout. So, what can alleviate stress among your leadership team when many responsibilities can’t be ‘passed on’? Robert Ordever, European MD of workplace culture specialist, O.C. Tanner, explains.
Recent research shows leaders are distressed due to a more significant workload and conflicting responsibilities from above and below, particularly since COVID-19. Some of the most significant increases in workload include adapting to new policies and hiring and training new employees. In fact, many operators expect their leaders to help navigate uncertainty and change and be innovators, mentors, wellbeing advocates, strategists and project managers.
With organisations’ expectations of leaders growing, they are being pulled in all directions. Plus, they naturally have to play two roles: a manager who is accountable for employees on the one hand and an employee who is responsible for the organisation. These distinct but overlapping roles can present conflicts and challenges in how leaders carry out their responsibilities. The result is stress and anxiety, potentially leading to burnout, with nearly three-fourths (70 per cent) of employees surveyed by O.C. Tanner saying that their managers are possibly stressed.
Operators need to take a three-pronged approach to reduce their leaders’ stress and anxiety effectively.
Firstly, leaders and managers must be regularly recognised for their efforts and results, including keeping financial compensation and recognition separate. Often, companies with recognition programmes are focused on top-down appreciation from managers to employees. This can leave leaders feeling unappreciated, even if they believe their salary well compensates them. After all, compensation doesn’t prevent or lessen burnout.
Ensuring everyone is recognised, and appreciation becomes second nature—taking place from the top down, bottom up, and sideways (peer-to-peer)—helps nurture a positive and thriving culture with fewer instances of burnout. When leaders work in organisations with a culture of integrated recognition, their odds of anxiety fall 38 per cent.
Secondly, leaders need to have a strong support network so they feel championed and a powerful sense of belonging. Leadership can be isolating, and when leaders feel alone, they are far more likely to succumb to anxiety and stress. Building a supportive community is key, and it may include setting up channels for leaders to discuss common challenges and share ideas, such as intranet forums and WhatsApp groups. When leaders feel closely connected to others, including their teams and peers, anxiety is reduced by 67 per cent and stress by 35 per cent.
Finally, effective change management is important for reducing anxiety so that all leaders and managers know about any forthcoming changes and how they may impact them. When changes are made without consultation with leaders and managers, they are more likely to feel ‘dumped upon’ and taken for granted, significantly when the changes will add to their workload. This also creates a sense of feeling out of control, which can cause considerable anxiety. Therefore, any new initiatives or programmes must follow a robust change management plan.
With leaders battling conflicting responsibilities and a more significant workload than ever, road transport operators must understand how to support their leaders best to reduce their stress and anxiety levels. The obvious first step would be to find ways to reduce their workload, but this isn’t always possible when there aren’t suitable staff members to delegate the work to. Therefore, organisations should look at improving the three critical elements of recognition: community and change management. With Gartner finding that just 14 per cent of companies deliberately attempt to ease their leaders’ burdens, there’s much still to be done to reduce the mounting stresses of being a leader.
