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. 

From Firefighting to Predictable Performance

By Cathie Leimbach • March 10, 2026
Most leaders don’t struggle because they don’t care. They struggle because every day feels reactive. One issue gets fixed, and another one pops up right away. What separates high-performing teams from constant firefighting is simple: predictable leadership . When leaders are consistent, teams become consistent. People know what “good” looks like. They know how decisions are made. They know when feedback will happen. That removes stress and guesswork. Teams quickly learn what leaders reinforce and what they let slide. When expectations, follow-up, and accountability happen the same way every time, focus goes up and chaos goes down. This is how leaders move from reacting to leading. Regular check-ins replace urgent interruptions. Clear ownership replaces confusion. Small problems get handled early instead of turning into big ones. Much of this predictability is built through simple leadership conversations that clarify expectations, reinforce priorities, and address small issues before they grow. The result? Fewer surprises. More trust. Better momentum. 👉 If leadership sometimes feels more reactive than predictable, join our Leadership Conversation on March 17 at 3:00 PM to explore a few small shifts that can stabilize performance.

Accountability Without Drama

By Cathie Leimbach • March 3, 2026
Accountability doesn’t have to feel tense or awkward. When done well, it’s calm, clear, and supportive. Most leaders avoid it because they don’t want conflict. But avoiding it creates something worse — inconsistency, frustration, and missed results. Strong accountability is simple: What was expected? What actually happened? What needs to happen next? When leaders address issues early and clearly, drama fades. People know where they stand. Follow through improves. Common mistakes: Waiting too long Being inconsistent Attacking the person’s character These patterns can change. With the right habits, accountability becomes predictable instead of stressful — and work gets better fast. 👉Download our Accountability Without Drama Checklist to practice these conversations with confidence.