Who’s Looking After Our Managers, especially Women and Younger Leaders?
Managers are under more pressure than ever, and it’s starting to show.
Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report paints a stark picture: global employee engagement dropped from 23% to 21% last year – that’s the biggest fall since the height of the pandemic.
And the main reason? Managers.
Manager engagement fell by three percentage points. That’s not to point fingers, it’s to highlight just how much we’re asking managers to hold together right now.
The Impossible Job
Since the pandemic, managers have been stuck between a rock and a hard place. They’re expected to balance new leadership demands, keep up with endless restructures and digital transformations, and still meet evolving employee expectations around flexibility and wellbeing. But the pressure isn’t spread equally.
Young and Female Managers Are Feeling It Most
Gallup’s data shows that young managers (under 35) saw a five-point drop in engagement, and female managers experienced an even bigger fall of seven points.
This isn’t just a side note, it’s a red flag for leaders. These groups are vital to the future of work, and they’re bearing a heavier load at exactly the moment we need them most. Without extra support, we risk losing talented managers when the workplace needs strong, connected leaders more than ever.
And it’s not just a problem for individuals – there’s a ripple effect across the whole organisation.
Why This Matters for Everyone
When managers disengage, so do their teams. In fact, a massive 70% of team engagement is down to the role of managers. And it’s not just about productivity dips or turnover headaches, it’s about organisational and individual resilience. The wellbeing of managers directly affects the health of entire teams.
And right now, wellbeing is heading in the wrong direction. Female managers in particular are seeing significant drops in life satisfaction, stress levels are climbing, and the emotional toll is mounting.
What Leaders Need to Do Now
The message is clear: if you want a healthy and engaged workforce, you can’t leave managers – especially women and younger leaders – to figure it out alone. Supporting managers needs to be treated as a business priority, not a ‘nice to have.’ That means listening carefully to what they need and providing appropriate investment, support and development opportunities.
One of the most powerful ways to support managers is by building their connection skills – helping them develop the mindset, skillset, and toolset to stay connected to themselves, their teams, and their work – especially important in our increasingly distributed workplace.
Connection skills help managers understand how the brain responds to stress and safety, so they can manage their own wellbeing and create environments where their teams feel secure, seen, and valued. They sharpen two-way communication, helping managers clarify change, advocate effectively and manage collaboration, keeping their teams engaged, even through uncertainty.
Most importantly, when managers feel more connected – to themselves and their teams – they’re far more likely to stay engaged, resilient, and committed. This human connection flows outward, shaping the performance and wellbeing of the people they lead, and helping organisations build and retain happy, healthy teams that thrive, whatever change the future throws at us all.
If you’d like to learn more about connection skills, get in touch, we’re always happy to chat!
