Why People Managers Are Burning Out—and How Everything DiSC® Can Help
A Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight
People managers are the linchpins of organizational performance. They translate strategy into action, lead teams through uncertainty, and serve as the daily face of leadership for employees. But in 2025, these critical contributors are facing unprecedented levels of stress, fatigue, and burnout.
While the spotlight has often been on senior leaders or frontline employees, it's the middle layer—people managers—that is quietly crumbling under pressure. And organizations are starting to feel the impact. Productivity is dropping. Engagement is declining. And voluntary turnover among managers is quietly rising.
Managers are uniquely squeezed. They are expected to deliver business results while simultaneously absorbing the emotional weight of their teams' anxieties, frustrations, and disengagement. Many are navigating organizational change with little guidance, unsure of how to motivate others when they themselves feel unsupported. In many companies, manager roles have become both emotionally and operationally unsustainable.
This post explores the root causes behind manager burnout and reveals how a behavioral-based development solution like Everything DiSC® can provide much-needed relief and long-term resilience. For HR and L&D leaders wondering how to retain top talent, restore team cohesion, and re-energize leadership, DiSC offers a powerful and practical answer.
The Data: What the Numbers Tell Us About Manager Burnout
Burnout isn't just a buzzword. It's a measurable, expanding problem with real business consequences.
According to a 2023 Gallup report, managers are 27% more likely than individual contributors to report burnout "very often or always."
A study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that nearly 60% of people managers feel overwhelmed at work, with half saying they regularly consider leaving their jobs.
McKinsey & Company’s 2024 State of Organizations report identifies middle managers as a primary "breakpoint" in organizational health—struggling to meet conflicting expectations without sufficient support.
Why are people managers under such pressure? Consider their role:
They serve as both coaches and administrators.
They manage remote, hybrid, and in-person team dynamics.
They are expected to implement top-down directives while remaining emotionally available to their teams.
They often receive the least development support of any employee group.
The result? Exhaustion, role confusion, and a growing sense of professional isolation.
The Deeper Issue: Communication Breakdowns and Behavioral Blind Spots
While burnout is often attributed to workload or lack of resources, one of the most under-recognized causes is interpersonal strain. People managers operate at the intersection of multiple human systems. When communication breaks down, friction escalates quickly.
Common pain points include:
Struggling to adapt communication styles across diverse personalities
Avoiding necessary conflict due to fear of backlash
Feeling pressure to be "always on" while maintaining team morale
Misinterpreting feedback or engagement cues from team members
These issues stem not from skill gaps, but from behavioral blind spots. Without tools to understand their own behavioral tendencies—and those of others—managers are left to navigate these tensions blindly.
Enter Everything DiSC: A Behavioral Toolkit for Resilient Managers
Everything DiSC is more than a personality assessment. It’s a research-backed development framework that empowers individuals to understand their behavior, recognize the impact they have on others, and adapt in real time to improve communication, collaboration, and decision-making.
Here's why it's especially relevant for people managers in today's workplace:
1. It Builds Self-Awareness, the Foundation of Leadership
A study from the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations found that self-awareness is the strongest predictor of successful leadership. Everything DiSC helps managers:
Understand their natural approach to decision-making, communication, and leadership
Identify stress triggers and habitual reactions
Learn how others may perceive their style
2. It Equips Managers with Tools to Adapt Their Style
Once managers understand their style, they can learn to stretch into new behaviors when the situation requires. Whether leading a team meeting, giving feedback, or managing conflict, DiSC helps managers choose the most effective approach.
3. It Normalizes Differences and Reduces Interpersonal Tension
Teams led by DiSC-trained managers report fewer misunderstandings, less passive-aggressive behavior, and more willingness to give and receive feedback. Why? Because DiSC creates a shared language for navigating differences.
Three Ways to Integrate DiSC into Manager Development
1. Facilitated DiSC Workshops: Fast Relief for Stressed Managers
DISC Training Zone offers high-impact, expertly facilitated DiSC workshops tailored for people managers. These sessions:
Help managers understand their style and the styles of their team
Offer practical communication and coaching tools
Foster renewed engagement and collaboration across teams
Ideal for: Organizations looking for a fast, effective intervention for overwhelmed managers.
2. Train-the-Trainer Packages: Scale Internal Support Quickly
For HR and L&D teams with limited budgets, our Train-the-Trainer packages allow internal staff to deliver DiSC-based development at scale. We provide:
A complete facilitation kit
On-demand Everything DiSC on Catalyst access for all participants
Implementation coaching to support your internal rollout
Ideal for: Organizations ready to build internal capacity for sustainable, ongoing manager development.
3. Everything DiSC Certification: Develop Expert-Led Support from Within
For organizations that want to build deep, in-house expertise, Everything DiSC Certification provides a rigorous foundation in DiSC theory and facilitation. Participants leave fully equipped to lead programs, coach managers, and scale DiSC across departments.
Ideal for: Companies committed to integrating DiSC as a core part of their L&D strategy.
Final Thoughts: Supporting the Middle Holds Everything Together
The future of your workforce doesn’t rest solely in the C-suite or on the frontlines. It lives in the messy, demanding, high-stakes middle—where people managers guide your culture, shape daily experiences, and hold your teams together.
Let’s stop letting burnout go unnoticed.
Let’s equip our people managers with the behavioral tools they need to thrive.
Let’s make 2025 the year we stop the silent exodus and start building stronger leadership from the middle out.
Explore DiSC Workshops, Train-the-Trainer packages, or Everything DiSC Certification with DISC Training Zone. Let’s turn burnout into breakthrough.
Hi! I’m Glen Waisner - Managing Partner here at DISC Training Zone. For more than twenty years, we have been helping our clients boost team performance, strengthen collaboration, and foster culture change.
The innovative suite of Everything DiSC® products has been at the heart of this success.
