I Hate It Here

is calling it a crisis extreme?

Hebba Youssef · FEB 9

Hiii, 

Real talk: why haven’t we declared the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday yet???

I read this stat once about how unproductive we are the Monday after the Super Bowl and I def get it. 

ALSO, what did we think of that half time show??? Bad Bunny omg. I have a friend who has been a Bad Bunny fan forever and I wasn’t on the train yet. Boy was I wrong!!!! If you need me, I'll be listening to his music all day longggg. 

If you need something else to hold you over on this fine Monday, I’ve got two for you:

🎧 The newest ep of the I Hate it Here pod dropped feat. the incredible Amanda Litman. We get into leadership norms that need to die and why this next generation of leadership is ready for something new. Highly recommend scooping up her book When We're In Charge.

📺 HR Therapy on February 25th. HR people know the delicate balance we play between the budget and the people. How do we do that and not miss out on opportunities for our employees? Join us for HR Therapy this month as we go deep on this topic! 

🎂 Also, have I mentioned yet that it’s my BIRTHDAY MONTH??? Yes, your fave HR person was born in this month. And don’t come at me with Aquarius allegations, I’m a Pisces through and through. In honor of the month of my birth, I shall continue the tradition of mentioning it every chance I get!! But in all seriousness, aging is such a privilege and I feel lucky for every dang day I have! Wrinkles, grey hairs and all, bring it onnnn.

NEW

The great manager crisis of 2026 Copy anchor linkCopied

I feel like I’ve been sounding the alarm on managers for a while now… 

So why am I bringing this up again? 

FAIR QUESTION!! 

Because I actually think it’s getting worse for managers, not better. 

I wasn’t trying to be dramatic with my subject line, it genuinely feels like we're on the brink of a crisis. Okay, maybe I was being a tiny bit dramatic to just make it clear that things are NOT GOOD. 

In the last year we saw even more layoffs and the absolute decimate of that middle manager layer. 

To compare:

  • In 2013 the average manager was supervising 5 people 
  • In 2026 the average manager is supervising 12 people 

Just last year, yes LAST YEAR, the average manager was supervising 10 people. 

And these are just averages meaning somewhere, out there, there are managers with teams > 12. 

🌀That makes me head SPIN.🌀

So we’re laying off folks for the sake of “efficiency” but what’s actually happen is we’re reassigning that work and those people to someone who might not actually have the capacity… 

And for the first time in a looooong time manager engagement dropped in 2025 to 27%. 

See why I say crisis?

But why does this even matter?Copy anchor linkCopied

I know our cup runeth over in HR. Truly, I’d love to get through a week without a new problem magically arising! 

All of the problems we solve daily deeply matter. 

But, dare I say, managers might be the *most impactful* problem we could try to star solving. 

Because managers are the lynchpin of everything. 

Gallup found that managers account for up to 70% of variance in team engagement. Meaning your managers aren’t just kinda important, they’re like really important. 

I hate to break it to ya, but if your managers are struggling there’s a strong change your organization is also struggling…

The numbers tell the same story: 

Here's my final kicker: when employees do speak up about burnout (about 42% do), another 42% say their manager does absolutely nothing to help. 

I have to believe this isn’t because the manager doesn’t care but rather the manager is far too overwhelmed to even acknowledge the problem or provide a solution.

NEW things to try when it comes to managers:Copy anchor linkCopied

In the spirit of this quarter’s theme which is new, what are some new things you can do when it comes to managers? I’ve got 3 for you to try!

📝 A manager audit: no one likes to see the word audit, I get it! But when was the last time you really checked in with ALL your managers and you had a CLEAR understanding of how they’re splitting their time??? It might be time for an audit and you can accomplish this in a few ways:

  • A listening tour: schedule 1:1 with each of your managers and understand what percent of their week is spent executing IC work, coaching their team, admin tasks. If you have HRBPs this could be a great project for them or if your org is small enough potentially you can tackle this audit quickly. 
  • A survey: send a survey to your managers and explain the purpose is to better understand their workload. Please be clear on the actionable part of the survey, like what is the data going to be used for? If your plan is to collect data and not do anything to reduce or prioritize their workflow it may be a waste of time. 

Call me wild but I highly recommend this as an org wide quarterly tasks to help people better plan and understand bandwidth. Nothing makes me more ticked off than a manager saying someone is at bandwidth but can’t actually say what is taking up their time. 

🩺 Manager relief rotation: I’ve watched too much Grey’s Anatomy/The Pitt so this new thing to try is inspired by the healthcare industry!  

Here’s how it works: a structured coverage period where senior ICs on the team or other managers can take on some of the work of the manager for 1-2 weeks at a time. This frees up the manager to catch up on work, better assess their team’s bandwidth (lol) and mental health, or just maybe take a break and decompress. I’m not taking a vacation, this is different. It’s about identifying support across the org who can tap in! Like an understudy. 

BTW: A relief rotation is a great program to help identify future managers and help them build up some practice time in coaching and manager duties and also create space for fellow managers to help out.

📚 Judgement development training: I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t suggest some sort of training, I love my L&D moments, okay!! And we allll know most managers don’t get any training and then are thrown into it. Here’s where this gets extra spicy though because I'm not suggesting any generic manager training.

Every manager should get trained on judgement!! Judgement is appearing as a critical manager skill in 2026 and it’s one that is rarely covered. 

Why though?? Work is moving faster than ever before and making decisions, like solid good decisions, is becoming a MUST. The way to make good decisions? Good judgement. 

Have you ever met someone at work who made wack decisions that made you think why the heck would they ever do that?? Judgement must be lacking… just sayin!

And instead of just training people on what good judgement looks like, consider making it a show and tell kind of training. Have each manager bring a decision they need to make and discuss it with fellow managers. I’m taking REAL decisions they are facing, not some rando case study you give them. 

👀 A format you can use: 90 minutes, 8-10 managers. Ahead of time identify a few people to present a live decision for 15 minutes. Prep them that they will be speaking and sharing details while working out a decision to a problem they are facing. Ahead of the group assembling share structured frameworks that can be used to help the group think through priorities, risk, stakeholder needs and repercussions. The presenting manager then gets to leave with a potential solution and the rest of the group gets to observe judgement in real time and how to make effective calls in a low-stake environment. 

If a training like this seems daunting, start with just sharing resources with the managers on the different frameworks to help them start to get comfortable!

🤖 I said I’d give you 3 new things but I can’t talk about managers without talking about AI can help automate their tasks so that they can spend more time doing the things that matter!!! There is an incredibly strong use case for managers and AI. I promise you there are things out there that could save managers so much time. From feedback tools to admin automation there are a dozen use cases. Should I make a list?? If you want one plz reply and I’ll put it together. 

What’s next:Copy anchor linkCopied

A special edition for President’s Day is up next!!

Vol 3 here we comeeeee.

(HUMAN) RESOURCES

*This one is brought to you by one of my amazing brand partners

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

  • 📚 What I’m reading: Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe. Every now and then I pick up a nonfiction book in a topic area I’m interested in. The Sackler family history has been an area where I’m curious. If you don’t know who they are - they are the family that made & marketed painkillers that ended up being the catalyst for the opioid crisis. I have a lot of areas of interest, okay!!! But healthcare and pharma is a big one for me. I blame Grey’s Anatomy. 
  • 📺 What I’m watching: Fallout. Have I not mentioned yet how obsessed with this show I am?? S2 just ended but HIGHLYYYY recommend watching. 
  • 📱 What I’m popping off in the group text about: Plans for Transform! The HR conference returns next month and I’m excited to meet up with my friends and watch some speak this year! If you’re going, lmk! We have a hub in Safe Space for members to discuss meet up plans. 

SONG OF THE WEEK

🎧 Wish I Didn’t Know, Ella Langley  Copy anchor linkCopied

I find myself singing this song long after I finished listening to it. There’s something so freaking catchy about it. 

If you are in a country mode this is the most perfect song. 

I’m seeing her live this summer and I’m so excited!

I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know what you think and what other topics you'd love for me to cover. I'm allll ears.

Reminder: Take care of yourself and know that I support you. 

By Hebba Youssef

I Hate It Here

A safe space for jaded, overworked and emotionally burned out HR/People Operations professionals who need a little inspiration to tackle the newest dumpster fire of the week.