18.12.2025 Sabrina Ludwig 28518

How do managers deal with mentally stressed employees?

Tired, irritable, drained: Work and raising children can be a mental challenge in and of themselves. When crises are added to the mix, mental stress is inevitable. How leaders can recognize and address mental health issues among their employees early on.

The longer stress persists, the more an employee’s cognitive performance declines. This is due to the hormone cortisol, which is released in large quantities during times of stress. If there are no breaks to recover, it can damage brain cells, leading to increased fatigue, low mood, and memory problems.

Back to work three months earlier thanks to early intervention

However, our healthcare system offers very few preventive services when it comes to mental health. Anyone looking for a spot in therapy has to wait three to six months.

However, clinical experience and scientific data show that the time elapsed before treatment begins is a key factor in the subsequent course of the disease.

In other words, the sooner a person with a mental health condition receives treatment, the better their chances of recovery. A meta-analysis of 16 studies has confirmed the significant impact of early intervention on employees’ mental well-being. Employees who were offered psychological support by their employers returned to work an average of 91 days earlier.

For employers, this means that they can use preventive support measures to prevent absences and complete work stoppages among their employees.

Recognize signs among employees at an early stage

If employees who were otherwise lively and very sociable suddenly become quiet and withdrawn, managers should take a closer look.

Are there any other signs or changes that might indicate mental distress? Is the person still performing their tasks as well as before? Or have they suddenly become unreliable and are even missing phone appointments? Team leaders who communicate with their employees only by phone or chat should pay attention to their voice and tone. Has it changed, and does it sound more subdued? All of these can be signs that the person is under stress.

Respond, but do not diagnose

Managers who notice changes or stress among their employees should seek to have an open conversation with the affected individuals as soon as possible.

It’s important to remain neutral and avoid making psychological or medical diagnoses. Managers should only address what they observe, such as: “You got very loud during yesterday’s webinar. That’s not like you at all. What was bothering you?” It can also be helpful to ask: “What do you need? What do you expect from me as your manager, and how can I support you?”

Before managers address an employee about a change in their behavior, they should ask themselves the following questions:

4 tips for managers: leading from the home office

1. convey security and be transparent

As a manager, it is important that you don't beat around the bush. Be clear and realistic. Drive by sight and only address problems that are foreseeable. Don't make promises you can't keep. But don't minimize problems either. Think carefully about what you want to tell your team.

2. Who are your employees? Consider their personal circumstances

Who are your employees, and are there any personal factors that might be particularly challenging right now during the crisis? What are your employees’ living situations like? Who has a family, and who lives alone? Who lives in the city, and who lives in the countryside with a large yard? Be sure to ask your employees how they’re doing and if there’s anything else they need to help them work more effectively from home.

3. replace the missing analog communication with digital communication

Also consider, from a professional standpoint, whether anything has changed that might be stressful for individual employees: Has your team always worked remotely? Or are these structures completely new? If this is a new way of working, it’s important to replace the lack of in-person communication with digital alternatives and to organize regular, brief team meetings. Ideally, these should be held via webinar with video so that participants can see each other. A digital coffee break to talk about personal matters can also help many people make up for the lack of “real” face-to-face communication and help maintain team cohesion.

4. motivate your employees to try out new techniques

Employees who struggle with virtual communication and new technical tools should be given guidance. Not everyone deals with change in the same way. Why abandon tried-and-true methods when they’ve always worked? Help employees who are unsure by taking the time to show them, for example, how a webinar works and what its benefits are.
 

​​​​​​​Source of studies:

• Nigatu, Y.T., et al (2019): Indicated Prevention Interventions in the Workplace for Depressive Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis: American Journal of Preventive Medicine 56(1): e23-e33.
• Reifferscheid, A., ett al. (2019): Return to work after depressive illness - Evaluation of a retrospective case-control study of a company-based integrated care model. Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr 87(02):121-127.