For several years, tech professionals have faced increasing stress as the scope and volume of their work has increased, with tasks ranging from building and maintaining in-house and customer-facing software to troubleshooting team members’ technology issues to supporting remote work arrangements—and more. In a 2022 report, 62% of tech workers reported feeling “physically and emotionally drained.”
Preventing burnout among their team members is an imperative for today’s tech executives—not just because their organizations heavily depend on those team members’ work, but because they genuinely care about the people they are privileged to lead. Below, members of Forbes Technology Council discuss ways tech leaders can support their team members’ well-being and ensure optimal outcomes for both companies and their employees.
1. Focus On Psychological Safety And Digital Wellness
Foster a culture of psychological safety and digital wellness. In a psychologically safe environment, people feel safe to take risks, speak up, take time off and admit mistakes or the need for help, without fear of negative consequences. Promoting digital wellness is finding the balance where technology serves us and moves us toward our goals, rather than distracting us. - Annette Klososky, Future Point of View
2. Prioritize Change Management Around The Growing Use Of AI
This is such a timely concept, especially as it relates to artificial intelligence coming into the workplace. Employees not only have anxiety about the unknown impact of AI on their jobs, but also lack the skills needed to properly utilize AI tools. HR teams should take point on making change management around AI a priority so people come to appreciate and embrace it for the powerful improvements it brings—when done correctly. - Michael Haske, Krista.ai
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3. Remove The Stigma Surrounding Mental Health
We must create environments where employees can speak openly about their mental health challenges and leaders are empowered with the resources they need to both support their employees and address their own mental health. This creates stronger, more productive teams. Removing the stigma associated with seeking support is especially important to veterans and cleared professionals who may resist seeking help. - Amy Gilliland, General Dynamics Information Technology
4. Create A Shared Sense Of Purpose
Creating a sense of purpose by linking technology to its end goal and positive impact enhances tech team members’ well-being and mental health. This is especially important in the life sciences. There are many benefits: It humanizes technology, as employees see the human side of their work. It enhances motivation, as seeing their work’s real-world impact boosts team members’ job satisfaction. And it improves mental health, since having purpose reduces feelings of isolation and stress. - Behzad Mahdavi, InnoGI technologies
5. Promote A Healthier Work-Life Balance
Tech executives need to foster psychological safety. Mental well-being checks are critical in today’s fast-paced technological society. Teams must flourish rather than merely get by, and supporting mental health must go beyond providing a pingpong table. Provide adaptable work schedules, including shortened workweeks, flexible hours and remote work, to promote a healthy work-life balance, lower stress levels and give members more authority. - Sandy Hardikar, Network Science Ltd.
6. Emphasize The Process Over Outcomes
One impactful action tech leaders can take, inspired by the Bhagavad Gita, is to encourage detachment from results through diligent action (karma yoga). Emphasizing the process over outcome-driven goals helps reduce stress and anxiety among team members, fostering equanimity and resilience, promoting mental well-being and harmony, and reflecting the spiritual principles of balance and detachment. - Ravi Changle, Compunnel Inc.
7. Invest In Your People
Create a culture of innovation, creativity and teamwork by investing more in your people than in technology. As leaders, our role is to cultivate an environment that promotes growth, trust, continuous learning and teamwork. Our collective success depends on the contributions of everyone, with shared support during both triumphs and challenges. - Josh Scriven, Neudesic
8. Develop A ‘Buddy’ Model
Managing planned leaves is straightforward for most organizations, but unplanned leave can be challenging for both team members and supervisors. A “buddy model” addresses this by proactively establishing a backup for each team member so that if an unexpected situation arises, someone is available to handle workplace responsibilities, thus helping both parties. - Deepak Tiwari, Ernst & Young
9. Establish (And Stick To) Clear Plans And Priorities
Establishing clear priorities and consistently enforcing capacity planning based on those priorities is critical to supporting the well-being of team members. In the age of always-on connectivity, work can easily bleed well beyond the boundaries of a standard day. When tech leaders establish clear priorities and allocate team capacity accordingly, they make space for team member boundaries. - Dave Rosen, Wimo Games, Inc.
10. Check In Regularly
Tech leaders can support their team members’ well-being by regularly checking in, especially if someone shows signs of stress or burnout. This is crucial for remote workers. Focus on team building and engagement to prevent isolation. Openly discussing your own self-care strategies ensures mental health awareness is part of your team’s culture. - Navid Ashroff, TrueDialog
11. Empower Your Team Members
Mental health issues often stem not just from workloads, but also from feeling powerless, unsupported and uninspired. To support well-being, empower your team with decision-making authority, real responsibility and solvable challenges. Focus on creating an environment of autonomy, accountability and purpose, and forget work-life balance. This is what fosters resilience and satisfaction in today’s workplace. - Yusuf Sar, Hardwarewartung 24 GmbH
12. Encourage Taking Time Away
Encouraging time away is a powerful way for tech leaders to support their team’s well-being. To help prevent burnout, we need to create an environment where our team members feel supported to recharge in ways that work for them, whether that’s going for a midday walk or taking paid time off. In healthcare, where we focus so much on customers and patients, it’s important to remember that our employees’ health is equally important. - Frank Chan, Medtronic
13. Provide Access To Well-Being Coaches
The difference today is that we are finally addressing well-being and talking about it out loud. It is important to keep a finger on the pulse of your organization. One way we do this is through trained well-being coaches who are available in each region for easy access. Their goal is to provide guidance and referrals to contacts in the mental health field to provide the help an employee needs. - Anna Frazzetto, Airswift
14. Implement Flexible Work Schedules
Tech leaders should implement flexible, yet predictable, work schedules to support team members’ well-being. This allows employees to balance work and personal life, reducing stress and burnout. This is especially the case today—along with remote work and increased mental health awareness, flexible, yet predictable, schedules foster a healthier work environment and boost productivity and job satisfaction. - Henry Patishman, Regula
15. Be More Human-Centric
Tech leaders need to be more human-centric. Over the years, we have dehumanized the workplace, with the result that many are burning out because of frustration and demotivation. Tech leaders need to entrench a culture of compassion and individuality. Human connection is important to our mental health, just like food is to our bodies. The deeper we connect with our minds and hearts, the happier we become. - Jamil El-Imad, Imperial College, Institute of Biomedical Engineering
16. Offer Active Support, And Lead By Example
In challenging programs and projects, where time to market is key for new technology deployment, tech team members need to be supported in managing pressure and the fear of failure and in finding work-life balance. Taking a close look at how they prioritize work activities, leading by example by making sure people take time to recharge, and creating a psychologically safe environment are keys for creating a healthy workplace. - Rosalba Carandente, Baker Hughes
17. Promote Open Communication
Tech leaders can support their teams’ well-being by promoting a culture of open communication and mental health awareness. Encouraging regular check-ins, offering access to mental health resources and fostering a supportive environment can mitigate stress and burnout. This is crucial in today’s fast-paced, remote-working landscape, where isolation and work-life balance challenges are prevalent. - Miguel Llorca, Torrent Group
18. Recommend Exercise And Social Activities
I strongly recommend exercise, yoga and community social activities. I myself started learning drums to keep my mind off work and promote mental peace. This is absolutely needed to refresh one’s energy and be more productive. I would also recommend taking time off from work with an annual vacation, not just during the holidays. - Thangaraj Petchiappan, iLink Digital
19. Don’t Intrude On Their Time Off
Leaders should respect time off, including vacations, after-work time and weekends. Setting continuous tasks and engaging in constant communication can make a leader feel like they’re moving things forward, but it decreases productivity over time. It is crucial to define boundaries—you’ll gain more commitment from the team if they know they can take time off. - Luboslava Uram, Solvd Group
20. Provide Time For Bonding And Socializing
Create opportunities for team bonding and social interaction, whether through virtual team-building activities, regular check-ins or social events. Building strong, supportive relationships at work can alleviate feelings of isolation. - Sumit Bhatnagar
