Healthy Management: Fostering Appreciation and Well-Being in the Workplace

In our daily work, we often ask ourselves: What topics are shaping today’s working world? In recent years, the concept of “Healthy Management” has gained significant importance within corporate culture. Healthy management involves creating a work environment that promotes well-being, motivation, and productivity. Managers play a central role by not only regulating stress and modeling resilience but also establishing appreciative, transparent communication rooted in psychological safety. Conflict management, employee empowerment, and regular feedback are other key components. Companies benefit from reduced absenteeism, higher productivity, and a positive corporate culture. But how can healthy management be effectively implemented in practice? The key lies in mindful behavior, clear goals, and fostering personal responsibility.

What is Healthy Management?

Healthy management refers to the positive and direct or indirect influence on the work environment and employee behavior within an organization, with the goal of sustainably maintaining and promoting the performance, health, and well-being of the workforce.

The primary aim of healthy management is not only to prevent absenteeism or presenteeism but also to lead by example and actively create the conditions for a positive, healthy workplace where employees can reach their full potential. Trust and appreciation are at the core, as is the balanced distribution of workloads within the team. Allowing autonomy in work design and modeling a healthy and fair working environment are also essential aspects of healthy management.

Why is Healthy Management Important?

Healthy management is crucial because it strengthens employee well-being and motivation, helps reduce stress in the long term, and improves collaboration. For companies, this translates to fewer absences, higher productivity, and a positive corporate culture. Mindful and appreciative managers create an environment where employees are motivated to give their best, ultimately supporting the long-term success and competitiveness of the organization.

How Can Healthy Management Succeed?

The goals and benefits of healthy management are quite clear. While recognizing its importance is often straightforward, implementing and integrating healthy management practices into an organization can be challenging. Many managers are unsure where to start and which levers are most effective. So, what skills and strategies matter?

1. Resilient Managers

Healthy management is often more successful with resilient managers. Resilience means staying mentally healthy and productive despite adverse circumstances. Resilient individuals typically have good time management skills and are better at handling stress, preventing it from spilling over to their teams. They make more thoughtful decisions and remain capable of action even during crises. This emotional stability has a positive impact on the team and the corporate culture.

In times of staffing shortages, ever-quickening processes, constant availability, and growing workloads, even experienced managers can feel perpetually stressed. So, how can resilience be fostered sustainably?

For example, through regular physical activity, positive relationships, intentional relaxation, and mindfulness practices. Equally important: consistent, sufficient sleep. You can find more on resilience here.

2. Conflict Management

A key task for managers is to recognize conflicts within the team and intervene before they escalate negatively. The attitude toward conflicts also matters: conflicts are not inherently negative but can be opportunities for growth and development for all parties involved.

Difficult conversations are often unavoidable in this context. Try to adopt the other person’s perspective and remain calm and fair in your communication. Even if the other person becomes loud, accusatory, or provocative, mirroring that behavior will not yield positive results. It can also be helpful to openly acknowledge your own mistakes and challenges.

The absence of open communication often leads to simmering conflicts within the team, causing stress and long-term dissatisfaction. By asking targeted questions, you can encourage others to reflect on and explain their actions, such as, “I see you’re upset. What exactly is bothering you?” or “What needs to change in the future to prevent situation X from happening again?”

3. Communication and Psychological Safety

Open and transparent communication, combined with psychological safety, is essential for healthy and effective management. Psychological safety refers to a work environment where employees feel safe to share ideas, opinions, or admit mistakes without fear of negative consequences or sanctions. When psychological safety is present, even difficult topics can be addressed respectfully. No one should fear saying something “dumb” or feel demeaned for expressing a unique opinion. The dignity of each individual is always respected.

Establish regular team meetings where everyone has the opportunity to speak. If your team isn’t too large, try to hold regular one-on-one meetings focused solely on individual concerns. This ensures that everyone feels heard and helps identify conflicts early on. Open communication also involves clearly communicating your availability. Ideally, all team members should maintain and share their calendars to enhance transparency. Goals and expectations should be conveyed clearly. As a manager, ensure that everything is understood and that everyone knows what needs to be done.

Regular employee reviews are also part of good communication. These reviews should be conducted to transparently and constructively evaluate an employee’s work and performance, supporting the team’s long-term development. Special occasions for feedback might include outstanding or insufficient performance, conflicts, process changes, non-compliance with guidelines, workflow optimizations, or extended absences due to illness.

4. Empowerment

Empowerment means providing employees with the necessary skills, resources, and decision-making authority to carry out their tasks independently and effectively. In this role, managers act as coaches or mentors within the team. They help employees acquire the skills necessary to perform their work, whether through task prioritization, gaining expertise, or developing soft skills.

Healthy management also means trusting employees in how they organize their work. Embracing the principle of “less is more,” the focus within the team should be on personal responsibility and autonomy—in other words, less control leads to better outcomes. Encourage flexible work arrangements and lead by example. Some people are most productive in the evenings, while others excel in the mornings. Performance evaluations should be results-oriented. As long as the results are satisfactory and meetings are attended, there’s no need to dictate when or how the work is done. What’s essential here: clearly defining shared goals and desired outcomes.

5. Appreciation and Feedback

Learning is nearly impossible without feedback. Feedback is a powerful tool for making teams more effective and cohesive. It can be divided into constructive and positive feedback. Positive feedback highlights good performance or behavior, while constructive feedback includes both praise and criticism, aimed at providing specific suggestions for improvement and fostering growth.

The ratio of constructive to positive feedback should be at least 1:5, with some experts recommending even higher ratios (1:6 to 1:9). Generally, it takes about five positive comments to balance the emotional impact of one negative comment. Positive feedback is most effective when specific, but even a simple “Thank you” or “Great job” can make a big difference. If a project doesn’t go as planned, it’s important to highlight the positive aspects while addressing areas for improvement. This approach supports continuous development and long-term skill growth.