Manager Intervention with Troubled Supervisors: Help and Support Start at the Top

Although research demonstrates the importance of supervisors’ supportive and helping interactions with troubled workers, little is known about how managers help troubled supervisors. Survey data from managers and supervisors in a top manufacturing company revealed that supervisors experienced personal troubles and sought help from informal and formal resources, including their managers. Managers reported supporting and helping troubled supervisors, informally and formally. However, both supervisors’ help seeking and managers’ help giving used more informal than formal processes. Managers’ attitudes about help giving and awareness of supervisors’ problems were associated with their intervention behaviors. This study examines the important role that managers may play in facilitating supportive communication and helping interactions in the workplace.