Managing your Employees Workload is Critical to Success – Here is Why

Cathie Leimbach • November 11, 2021

Your employees’ engagement and productivity are significantly impacted by how reasonable their workload is. More than ever, while we’re dealing with continued uncertainty due to the pandemic and a tight labor market, managing workload expectations is critical to ongoing performance and productivity. 

 

The research is compelling. Multiple studies have uncovered a strong connection between workload imbalance and stress, burnout, and lowered productivity:

  • The American Institute of Stress reported that 46% of workers cite unmanageable workloads as significant stress.
  • 26% of employees are often or very often burned out, and 22% are juggling to balance work and their personal life. 
  • Unreasonable heavy workloads cause stress and anxiety, leading to accidents, health issues, conflicts, and poor overall performance.
  • In a 2017 survey by Bizfluent, 60% of workers said that work-related pressure has increased over the past 5 years.
  • Not surprisingly, a recent study by KPMG reports that Covid 19 has increased work-related stress, with 94% of workers reporting stress and anxiety.

 

Employees who are stressed are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and health-related issues. Working longer hours leads to hypertension, fatigue, changes in mood and behavior, problems with focus, decreased motivation, and concentration issues. Covid 19 has exacerbated these symptoms, reduced productivity and employee engagement, and impacted many companies’ profitability. 

 

As the impact of the pandemic lingers, your team is still struggling with balancing family and work responsibilities and often doing more than their job as open positions become harder to fill.


As a manager, one of your critical roles is to advocate for what your team can and can’t reasonably accomplish and identify resources to support their efforts. The first step is to understand how each employee evaluates their workload and the support they need to succeed.

  • Prepare for one-on-one discussions by identifying what mental and physical demands your team members face to perform their responsibilities efficiently. 
  • Have one-on-one conversations with each direct report to evaluate their current workload:
  • Ask, “How are you doing with your overall workload?” “Are there additional resources you need?”
  • For each project, routinely check in by asking, “How is that project going?” “What can I do to support you?”
  • Work with each of your direct reports to uncover meaningless and time-consuming tasks. These typically drain energy, decrease productivity, and lead to a lack of motivation.
  • Identify ways to automate repetitive tasks if possible or find lower-cost resources to complete them.  Maximize your team’s focus and energy on doing the work that matters.
  • Manage deadlines – don’t let your lack of planning be your teams’ emergency. 
  • Plan ahead and create a reasonable project timeline, including a margin for the unexpected – because it always occurs.

 

Today, more than ever, managing each of your team members’ workload is critical. Doing more with less staff, reacting to ongoing uncertainty, and managing employees in different locations make communication and planning around workload and deadlines the key to success. Ensure that your team has what they need to succeed and reduce the scramble due to unreasonable deadlines and poor planning. Productivity, engagement, and employee motivation will increase, leading to higher retention and a better quality of work. 

Leaders Who Help People Thrive

By Cathie Leimbach • July 28, 2026
From uncertainty to confident, supportive leadership conversations

The Workplace Has Changed. Has Your Leadership?

By Cathie Leimbach • July 21, 2026
There was a time when many employees expected to spend most of their careers with one organization. Job security, pensions, and long-term loyalty often kept people in the same company for decades. Today's workforce thinks differently. Millennials and Gen Z expect to build careers—not necessarily with one employer. If they don't see opportunities to learn, grow, contribute, and advance, they'll find them somewhere else. Research consistently shows that younger employees are looking for more than a paycheck. They want managers they trust, meaningful work, opportunities to develop, flexibility when possible, and a workplace where they feel respected, supported, and heard. Gallup reports that 87% of Millennials say professional development is important to their job satisfaction. Combined with growing expectations for work-life balance and a positive workplace culture, it's no surprise that organizations relying primarily on compensation to retain employees continue to struggle with turnover. The encouraging news is that leaders influence most of what keeps people engaged.  Managers who hold meaningful conversations, clarify expectations, recognize contributions, coach for growth, and genuinely care about their employees create workplaces where people want to stay. They build trust, strengthen engagement, and help employees grow, succeed, and see a future with the organization. Today's retention isn't driven by job security or loyalty alone. It's driven by a workplace experience where employees are growing, supported by leaders they trust, and confident their contributions matter. Download our Retention Conversation Guide to discover practical ways to strengthen trust, engagement, and retention—one leadership conversation at a time. Conversation is where leadership happens.