Britain's bosses are said to be struggling to cope with ever increasing workloads according to a new survey. "The Business Energy Survey" by the Chartered Management Institute and recruitment group Adecco reveals that many managers are working an extra 14 hours more than they are paid for.
Management exhaustion has affected workplace camaraderie with fewer than 20% of managers socialising regularly out of work.
Excessive work pressure is also leading to managers missing important family commitments due to exhaustion by the weekend.
Are you a stressed-out manager? Is your manager stressed? What can be done to reduce office overload?
This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.
The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:
Working hours too long and the need to put in the hours is to retain job. I never get to see my children or wife. I work every weekend if required, which is most weekends. I only work 2 miles from where I live, so do not have any travelling time and still have no family life. I am living to work not the other way round. Is it any wonder that I speak to at least three people a week who are moving abroad for a better way and quality of life
Pip Hughes, Tring, Herts
No, and I never will be. Just say no to promotion!
Heather, Stockport, UK
Everyone in the company I work for is stressed. It comes from pressure to perform and fear of poor reviews. The company is a global giant and boy they sure can talk the talk, but the reality is sheer hell. They want your life and soul and expect you to put your family second and integrate your life in their name. It's like the emperor's new clothes, everyone knows he's naked but no one dares speak out!
Anon, UK
Stressed? No! Because no one is going to die if I make a mistake or something breaks down. I am an IT Manager.
Ian Collier, Northfleet, UK
 |  If managers won't stand together to oppose ridiculous working conditions then they only have themselves to blame  |
Why don't managers just join the union? The Thatcherite macho culture of working 24 hours a day and only thinking about profits and earning more money always was crazy and is well overdue for being thrown out. If managers complain about being stressed and overworked they should get the support of their colleagues but they are too often labelled as a whinger or troublemaker. If managers won't stand together to oppose ridiculous working conditions then they only have themselves to blame.
Peter, London I am a well educated manager with a lot of experience working overseas in different cultures. Until two years ago I really enjoyed my job. The job has not changed significantly but my company has. We are a blue-chip company that like many in our industry suffered following the fall of the Dot coms.
In our case there was the additional problem of questionable leadership from senior management. Their answer to the business situation was to put more pressure on staff by reducing the numbers, making those who are left work harder by setting meaningless and often unachievable targets. As a manager pressure is put on me to do the same to my staff. A major part of the stress for me is trying to look after those below me while fighting those above.
Peter, Weybridge
| Everyone's a manager of some sort these days so they're just joining the club of the faceless overworked minions |
Some types of stress can be exhilarating. But it seems this is becoming a thing of the past and the demoralising, exhausting, demotivating stress has taken over. I reckon a decreasing lack of autonomy and personal investment/interest is the culprit and the fact that managers are the focus shows they're now becoming just part of the rest of the work force! Everyone's a manager of some sort these days so they're just joining the club of the faceless overworked minions! Relieved to read that it's not just our company that can't be bothered to socialise anymore and yes, my weekends are generally wasted in bed. And I agree: down with the open plan - it just drags out the jobs, increases frustration and decreases focus. Cunningly of course you can't even focus on tarting up your CV.
DP, Monmouthshire, Wales Stress is a condition that has more to do with one's personality than one's career. If you are driven by quality and do not have enough time to implement quality solutions stress. Manager or not.
Stuart Clennett, Beverley, East Yorkshire.
I used to be a stressed manager in a very large company. I am now working for a small company where the senior management listen to all levels of staff and have open debate on ideas and change. Yes some suggestions are subjective, but all ideas are given an airing. Also the fact that no one in the company is not frightened of saying 'No'. I am no longer stressed, and I love my job now.
Tom , Cheltenham, UK
I think everyone to a degree is stressed in their job manager or not. However I find the best way to deal with it is to make sure you have a laugh with your team, go out on the lash, give incentives to help things along and v. importantly do not rock the 'brentmeister' school of management! Life in the bus lane is hard but hey it's tough at the top!
Oliver Gurney, Bristol
I'm a stressed manager, suffering from "initiative overload". There seem to be far too many initiatives on all sorts of subjects which eat into my time without showing any significant benefit. Oh to be working in Germany again, where there is far greater clarity on what needed to be done to deliver something useful!
JJ, Farnborough, UK
No-one ever said whilst on their deathbed, "I wish I'd spent more time in the office." Don't get stressed, it's not worth it.
Ben Wakeling, UK
| We are all walking on eggshells |
My manager is highly stressed and this trickles downwards so that we are all walking on eggshells despite being stressed ourselves. However, the most stressful part of my working day is trying to get a comment posted on these pages!
Sarah, Surrey, UK Its not just the private sector where things are tough on Managers. The amount of bureaucracy in the Civil service is intolerable - have to keep stats of stats of stats on a daily basis on top of everything else.
Rich, Herts
If some managers were not such control freaks, actually stopped treating those under them as complete idiots and gave them some decent fulfilling work to do, they may ALL feel less stressed - and go home on time.
D Ponting, Oxford UK
Perhaps if Managers were trained properly, the workers would be able to respect and look up to them as role models, but managers usually end up being the poor shmuck who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and got offered loads of money to take the job, but doesn't have a clue how to manage people. I am lucky our manager was with us for about 8 years as a worker and is greatly respected, so hence we bend over backwards to help him out of his problems and likewise from him. We are obviously one of the lucky few!
George Johnson, London, UK Don't get stressed get an assistant and delegate the workload.
Sinead, London
I survived 20 years as a techie at a major corporation by doing my job extremely well but by dressing down whenever promotion was in the air. I thus avoided being pushed into management. I took voluntary severance and now run my own consultancy with precisely the same philosophy. No-one forces you to be a manager - unless you can't do anything else...
John Rogers, Bristol, England
If everyone is so stressed how come they can find time to send emails to the BBC? Simple solution - get organised.
John R, London
| As a manger, the salary, bonus and perks of the job make it worthwhile |
I would not say that I am an overly stressed manager. I manage a nightclub, bar and restaurant and the hours are long, up to 65-70 a week. People don't realise that nightclub work happens during the day too - when you are closed. Deliveries, paperwork, meetings and promotional work all have to be carried out during office hours. Then come opening time, the work really starts. People also forget that dealing with drunk members of the public at 3am in the morning is not the most relaxing of jobs. However, as a manger, the salary, bonus and perks of the job make it worthwhile and ease a lot of the stress. There is a simple answer to those who think their job is too stressful - leave and get an easier job with less money!
Donald , Aberdeen I agree with Sally from Bristol. We live in very stressful times, all of us. What's the solution? We all need to slow down and stop putting pressure on others.
Dominic, Bath
No I'm not a stressed Manager by choice. I'm an IT contractor and every contract I do the client always asks me to become permanent and take on a management role. Every time I say no simply because I don't want all the stress and political game playing that goes with that type of role. I realised early on that career progression was just a myth and relied on those more senior than you having some degree of competence. So now I earn the same or more as most of the managers around me but have a very relaxing life. My motivation is always high as doing a good job always equals a longer contract and extra hours equals extra money. Having worked with Management at all levels, a lot of the stress and heavy workloads are actually caused by inefficiency, a lack of initiative and poor management so I don't really have much sympathy.
Nik, Henley, UK
| The best managers know when to delegate, when to intervene, and how to motivate |
The best managers know when to delegate, when to intervene, and how to motivate. Just how much rubbish do you think Richard Branson has to put up with? None - because he probably learnt how to do all three of those things a very long time ago.
David, Chepstow, UK Stress? Watching top bosses walk off with millions in bonuses makes me stressed!
Di, Manchester, UK
My manager would normally read and comment on issues like this, but as he's actually off with stress-related problems at the moment (two months and counting) ... surprisingly the stress levels of most of his staff have actually gone down!
Laura, Oban, Scotland
It's not just the Managers that are affected by this change in culture, everyone is, and the bubble is going to burst very soon, unless the government do something about it, EU working directive would be a start. To highlight what is going on in the office I work in they tried to organise a social event, never got off the ground because people have had enough - two - three years ago nearly everyone would have gone!! Also the company used to hold a Gala Day every year and people used to bring along there families it was like a big fete with inter-departmental Tug-Of-War etc. in this year it was cancelled at the last minute because no one could be bothered. It's starting to affect the whole of society in general.
Tim, UK
| Modern communication means unless you take action, you are never away from your job |
Once you leave the office, turn off your mobile phone or don't answer work calls. Don't open your laptop until you get back to work. Modern communication means unless you take action, you are never away from your job. Ok, you may not scale the heights of the city boardroom - but you'll do ok. Ask yourself - are the heights worth the stress?
Anon, UK The same is true of any level of employee - if you are forced to work insane hours, you'll suffer for it. A manager can just as easily negotiate and stick to a fixed hours contract as an entry level employee can.
Dave R, Nottingham
Many people are critical of MBAs but the qualification allows me to manage my time effectively and achieve a very comfortable work life balance. Management training is not something you can achieve "on the job", you just don't know what you don't know.
Rex Lester, Chessington UK
So, a new report comes out on stressed, overworked managers just days after a report suggested that younger workers were bored, undervalued and unfulfilled. Delegation is what you need.
Dom, London, UK
One of the most insidious moves in the last decade is the increase of open-plan offices. Thinking and creative tasks take longer in a noisy environment and the lack of barriers mean people are ostensibly accessible to all their colleagues who feel free to interrupt them at any time. The associated lack of personal space and control is, I feel, one of the major causes of the increase in office life dissatisfaction in recent years.
Patrick Carver, London, UK
As a retail manager I have seen the 'benefits' brought about by the increased use of technology: several communications every day, each one contradicting or adding to the workload created by the previous. Every new email brings the new Priority Number One, and is seemingly completely ignorant of the key factor: that (retail) management is 50% people management. So why don't retail managers get 50% of their day to manage their staff? When chief execs and their boards can address that, the people who work in stores will be happier, the customer will see better service, the tills will be ringing up record sales - and there will be a lot fewer suicidal managers!
Nigel Owen, Llandrinio, Wales
I do not believe that working hard has killed anybody. Managers should be delighted that they are in their privileged jobs and the large majority achieve fulfilment. If they're exhausted by the weekend, they'll get over it. That's what weekends and spending a bit of time with the family are for. If they are stressed it's usually through an outside influence e.g. having an affair with their secretary. Remember the words of Bernard Baruch who said there is only one thing worse than working and that's not working. It's not being a manager that causes most stress.
Raymond Rudaizky, London, U.K. Never mind the managers, it's the normal workers who suffer the most from the ridiculous deadlines imposed from above. At least the managers get paid for the responsibility, the rest of us don't.
Ben Bell, Canterbury, Kent
With 50% cuts in our staff and almost double the number of projects and work expected of us. I'm at breaking point. The managers try their best but their hands are tied by those above them in the name of cost cuts. What more can I say?
Edward, Southampton
The idea that the private sector is some panacea of efficiency must be stopped as it is damaging people's lives. I dread to think what will happen if this culture is imported into the public sector.
Alex Baines, Manchester UK
I am stressed manager. Why am I stressed? It's not just the quantity of work - that I can cope with - it's the endless pointless meetings, as Richard from Cardiff very accurately put it. I spend a large amount of my time trying to implement new procedures put in place by HR - this week alone I've spent about 15 hours doing appraisals for people using an overly complicated system which tries to be all things to all employees. And the work I was trained for and enjoy doing takes up less and less of my time.
Simon, London, UK
| Work and leisure time blur into one |
I'm a manager and suffer from e-mail and mobile phone harassment! Effectively there isn't a peaceful time as work and leisure time blur into one - I can get calls anywhere between 7am and 7pm. I certainly don't want to socialise with people I am seeing for 12 hours of the day already. The hours I work often bear no relation to my contract and as a result I feel tired and run down a lot of the time. I even feel guilty when I "only" do my standard 8 hours in a day!! It's also the case that much of the time it's the middle management that gets caught between senior management's grand schemes and strategies and the realities of working in companies that have been cutting their costs and workforces to the bone over the last 3-4 years.
Jerry, Milton Keynes, UK Well at least you Brits get 6 weeks of vacation every year. Do what you are doing now and only get two weeks off. Then come back and talk about stress.
Bob, Pittsburgh, USA
Bob I would love to have 6 weeks holiday every year. I'm only allowed 4 (I'm not yet a manager) but don't take them all as the work is still waiting for me when I get back so I end up working longer hours to make up for the time off anyway! It would be great to have a nice holiday abroad, if only they paid me enough�
Steve, London
As I former successful junior army officer aged 29, one of the biggest shocks to me was (and remains) the incompetence of management in business. I have worked in telecoms and now investment banking and am not inspired by management! Perhaps if managers were trained properly/effectively and knew how to manage AND lead, then the poor dear fellows would be far less stressed. After a year at Sandhurst, the pinnacle of my military time was leading 70 soldiers for 2 years. Far from being stressed, I had a great time, worked all the hours God sent and wasn't stressed.
Gordon, London
In my experience, managers usually have a fantastic stress management system in place. Whenever they're stressed, they always take it out on their minions. My heart doesn't bleed for them in the slightest. You take the Queen's shilling, you take the orders too, simple as that. It's us at the sharp end who get to deal with the ordure from above.
Paul, UK
Managers stressed? You're having a laugh! Managers spend all their time in pointless meetings where they just yap on and on about subjects that have no real effect on the business. If not in meetings then they're on courses to make them "better managers" but what's the point when they're never there or never listen! Oh to be a manager!
Richard, Cardiff Sounds like they can't even manage their own life, never mind anything else. They have the power to say 'no' but don't.
Jonathan Kelk, Dalry, Scotland
To relieve stress, ensure that ALL managers in your organisation have the resources to train the people they manage in such a way that the managed can realistically aspire to become the managers. It really does keep people focussed and motivated, as well as more appreciative of the problems of others. It also really does "spread the load" - people with realistic aspirations will take more responsibility
NA, Cambs, UK
It's not just the bosses. Work culture coupled with the economic downturn means that three people's jobs are being done by one. There seems to be no definition of what is 'enough work for one person'...
Wendy, UK
The problem is not just one for managers but for the entire working population of this country. I am not a stressed manager, I am a stressed worker who is pressurised by stressed managers to work ever harder. We are jumped on for daring to take 3 minutes break; I have had no pay rise for 2 years. If you complain you are told "Go get a job elsewhere" but in this present culture of blatant age discrimination that is not so easy when you are in your late 40s.
Sally, Bristol
Stress can easily be caused by information overload. Now we have e-mail and web access on our desktops, there is no limit to the information that can be accessed and the communications that can be made. Maybe it's time for managers to be managers again and concentrate on managing, and not doing everything themselves.
John, Bristol, UK
I'm stressed BY my manager.
Justin, Bristol, England
It's not the bosses, it's the middle managers who really suffer meeting intolerable deadlines put upon them by senior people who could not plan a kiddies party.
Anonymous
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