Work intensity is significantly higher under poor line managers, according to new research that examined worker data from both sides of the Atlantic. The findings could have strong implications for how companies approach mental health and productivity.
The study, led by Hans Frankort, a professor of strategy at Bayes Business School at City St George's, University of London, along with Professor Argyro Avgoustaki of ESCP Business School, drew on employee data from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey and the 2015 and 2018 American Working Conditions Surveys. The research was published in Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society.
Work-related stress, depression, and anxiety account for millions of lost working days around the world each year. Work intensity, meaning the amount of effort required of an employee per unit of their working time, is considered a key contributor to that burden. Worsening mental health and burnout hamper workforce productivity and increase pressure on healthcare systems globally.
The surveys measured work intensity through responses on a seven-point scale to questions asking whether a job involves working at very high speed or to tight deadlines, ranging from never to all of the time. Workers also responded on a five-point scale to the statement that they have enough time to get the job done. Line-manager quality was scored using workers' evaluations of boss characteristics, including perceived respect, recognition, support, feedback, and development opportunities.
One of the study's most striking findings involves the scale of a manager's influence. Higher perceived line-manager quality is linked to lower work intensity among team members, with supervisors able to effectively shield workers from stressors like unreasonably tight deadlines. Managers typically work more intensely than nonmanagers, but the decrease in work intensity that comes from a standard-deviation rise in perceived line-manager quality is 70 percent greater than the difference in intensity between managers and nonmanagers.
In other words, the quality of a single boss matters more to a worker's daily stress level than whether that worker holds a management title themselves. The study also found that work intensity is directly affected by the manager and not the organization as a whole. Employees who stayed with the same employer but experienced managerial changes showed the same pattern of rising or falling work intensity tied to boss quality. That effect was more pronounced in small or private organizations and in environments without employee representation such as unions.
The trends held regardless of individual employee personality types or levels of individual competence, suggesting the manager effect is not explained away by workers simply being more or less resilient people.
The U.S. data also allowed researchers to examine changes over time, adding a longitudinal dimension that strengthens the findings. The research points toward the individual manager as a structural buffer, or a source of pressure, depending on their quality.
