Balancing the Burden: How Supervisors Navigate Employee Stress and Their Own Wellbeing Through Psychosocial Risk Management

A study by Jimmieson and Bergin (2025) found that supervisors' actions in response to employees' stressful work situations are shaped by their own psychological experiences, organisational resources, and perceived capabilities. These actions not only aim to support employees but also impact supervisors’ own wellbeing, highlighting the dual burden of psychosocial risk management (PSRM) in the workplace.

Psychosocial risk management (PSRM) refers to the systematic approach to identifying, assessing, and mitigating psychosocial hazards at work—those factors stemming from job design, organisational structure, or social context that can cause psychological or physical harm. Examples include excessive workload, interpersonal conflict, emotional labour, role ambiguity, and traumatic events such as client abuse or workplace injury. Supervisors are often the frontline actors in enacting PSRM, using strategies like offering emotional support, adjusting workloads, granting flexible work arrangements, or referring employees to counselling services.

The main concerns identified

1. Supervisors frequently experience psychological distress themselves when supporting employees during critical events, especially in high-pressure or emotionally charged scenarios.

2. Supervisor actions, while aimed at employee relief, can be simultaneously experienced as both stressful and effective—raising questions about long-term sustainability and emotional costs.

3. Pre-existing conditions such as time pressure and supervisors’ own mental health concerns (e.g., psychological distress) significantly increased the odds of negative outcomes during PSRM enactment.

4. Lack of training and limited organisational support undermine supervisors’ capacity to manage employee stress effectively.

5. Some supervisors resorted to inappropriate responses (e.g., avoidance, reprimands), which were both ineffective and psychologically burdensome.

Proposed Solutions:

The article suggests several strategies to address these concerns, which include:

1. Strengthening organisational PSRM capabilities, such as clearer risk management protocols, access to internal or external mental health resources, and better alignment with WHS legislation and ISO 45003:2021 standards.

2. Enhancing supervisors’ own PSRM competencies through targeted training on stress detection, emotional support, conflict resolution, and workload management.

3. Recognising and mitigating time pressure and psychological demands placed on supervisors by adjusting workloads and providing adequate recovery opportunities.

4. Fostering supportive workplace cultures that legitimise emotional support and empower supervisors to act confidently and empathetically.

5. Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of supervisory interventions, ensuring that those actions which are both low in stress and high in effectiveness (e.g., emotional support, flexibility) are promoted in practice.

Source: Jimmieson, N. L., & Bergin, A. J. (2025). Supervisor actions for supporting employees through stressful work situations: A critical events approach from the perspective of supervisors. Human Resource Management, 0(0), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.22300