Training Managers to Support Sustainable Employee Performance

Workplace well-being programs alone won’t cure factors that contribute to employee burnout. That’s because these programs are targeted at individuals and don’t address systemic issues that affect performance, such as motivation, workload, and team operating norms and practices.

Organizations would be well served by training managers in practices that support employees in managing their energy and effort to perform sustainably. Managers offer critical intervention points because they account for 70 percent of variance in team engagement and are best positioned to motivate employees, manage workloads, and model sustainable work practices (Gallup, 2025). Additionally, because peers and team subcultures influence employees, manager-led interventions can create the structural systems needed to sustain performance.

This approach requires training managers in specific practices across three key strategic areas: motivation, workload management, and sustainable work practices.

Strategy 1: Motivate Employee Energy and Effort

Motivation naturally pulls us to act, feeds our energy, and encourages effort. Thus, helping employees connect their work to their motivations helps them stay engaged with their goals and gain energy. Motivation is also a key driver of performance, accounting for roughly 80 percent of our results (BetterUp, 2025).

Managers can be trained to connect employees to their motivation through three approaches:

Connect goals to organizational and real-world impact. Train managers to clearly link employees’ goals to team and company strategy, as this increases employee motivation (McKinsey & Company, 2025). They can also share stories about their work’s real-world impact, as making such associations can significantly improve motivation (Grant, 2025).

Link work to individual values. Academic research shows that aligning goals with values leads to greater satisfaction, higher persistence, and greater goal attainment, and can lower stress and promote well-being (Sheldon and Elliot, 1999).

Help employees connect to what they love to do. Since intrinsic motivation is one of the strongest predictors of engagement and performance, managers should identify what energizes each employee and intentionally bring more of those elements into their work.

Strategy 2: Focus Employee Effort

Many employees today are feeling unfocused, overwhelmed, and overloaded at work. This stems partly from organizational change becoming continuous rather than episodic. HR leaders report significant change fatigue (Gartner, 2024); many employees describe their work as chaotic and fragmented (Microsoft, 2025a); and nearly half report their workloads have increased over the last year (PwC, 2025).

In this ever-changing environment, employees need managers who help them continually prioritize their workload and focus their efforts. Yet despite most employees acknowledging the importance of prioritization support, less than one-third receive clear guidance during one-on-ones — often because managers themselves lack clarity from senior leadership (Microsoft 2025b).

Managers can be trained on three key practices:

Revisit priorities and pace workstreams. Regularly reassess whether strategic priorities have shifted and clarify what to start, stop, and continue.

Manage priorities upward. Communicate realistic capacity, negotiate trade-offs, and advocate for priorities that create business value while remaining motivating to teams.

Assess team workload and guide effort allocation. Evaluate workload distribution and ensure effort aligns with impact, eliminating unnecessary work where possible.

Strategy 3: Manage Employee Energy and Effort

Managers can be trained to support employee capacity and energy management through four approaches:

Guide effort prioritization. Clarify when “great” is required versus when “good enough” is appropriate to help employees avoid unnecessary perfectionism.

Build restoration and deep work into workflows. Many professionals don’t take breaks (Slack, 2023), and employees are frequently interrupted by meetings, emails, and notifications (Microsoft, 2025). Managers can normalize recovery periods, quiet work sessions, and meeting practices that protect focus.

Set supportive team working norms. Co-create norms around communication expectations, deep work time, and working hours so expectations are shared and sustainable.

Proactively manage time off. Many employees hesitate to take vacation time for fear of falling behind or burdening colleagues (Pew Research Center, 2023). Managers can plan coverage, normalize rest, and ensure workloads don’t discourage time away.

A Missing Link to Sustainable Performance

Manager training represents a missing link to sustainable performance. While individual wellness programs address symptoms, manager-led approaches tackle the root causes of disengagement, overwork, and exhaustion. When managers motivate effectively, focus effort wisely, and model sustainable work practices, organizations create environments where people can perform at their best without sacrificing their well-being.

References

1. BetterUp. 2025. Winning in the Age of AI: Transforming Workforce Performance.
   https://www.betterup.com/uplift/highlights/winning-in-the-age-of-ai-transforming-workforce-performance.
2. Gallup. 2025. “The Four Qualities of Successful Managers.” https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/350423/influential-good-manager.aspx.
3. Gartner. 2024. “Gartner Survey Finds Leader and Manager Development Tops HR Leaders’ List.” https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2024-10-15-gartner-survey-finds-leader-and-manager-development-tops-hrleaders-list.
4. Grant, Adam. 2025. “The Power of Mattering at Work.” Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2025/05/the-power-of-mattering-at-work.
5. McKinsey & Company. 2025. “Four Considerations for Better Goal Setting and Performance.” https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-organization-blog/four-considerations-for-better-goal-setting-and-performance.
6. Microsoft. 2025a. Work Trend Index: Breaking Down the Infinite Workday. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/breaking-down-infinite-workday.
7. Microsoft. 2025b. Hybrid Work Is Just Work. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work.
8. Pew Research Center. 2023. “More than 4 in 10 U.S. Workers Don’t Take All Their Paid Time Off.” https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/10/more-than-4-in-10-u-s-workers-dont-take-all-their-paid-time-off/.
9. PwC. 2025. Hopes and Fears Survey. https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/workforce/hopes-and-fears.html.
10. Sheldon, Kennon M., and Andrew J. Elliot. 1999. “Goal Striving, Need Satisfaction, and Longitudinal Well-Being: The Self-Concordance Model.” https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/1999_SheldonElliot.pdf.
11. Slack. 2023. “The Surprising Connection between After-Hours Work and Decreased Productivity.” https://slack.com/blog/news/the-surprising-connection-between-after-hours-work-and-decreased-productivity.