7 Essential Goals for Every Manager in 2025

Managers have immense influence. They can make employees feel valued and engaged, or they can do the opposite, pushing them toward the exit.

Case in point: time off. In a recent poll, InHerSight asked women whether they feel comfortable actually being unreachable when they’re out of office. Many do, with 44 percent saying they feel very comfortable being away. 

What makes them feel that way? Their managers. 

“At my current job I have a VERY supportive manager who respects my offline time and encourages me to be truly off line during that time,” wrote one respondent. “That hasn't always been the case at other jobs, but knowing I'm supported and will have someone help with coverage (so I don't come back regretting offline time) and eased that fear.”

It’s clear that as a manager, you have the power to help your employees maximize their time away and be more productive when they return. 

In 2025, as many women continue seeking empathetic leadership, flexible work environments, and better work-life balance, managers should prioritize seven goals to ensure their teams thrive at work and fare even better when they’re out of office.  

7 essential goals for every manager in 2025

1. Release micromanagement instincts

Micromanagement is often rooted in a strong need for control. While some level of control is necessary to manage employees and advocate for them, you should not abuse that control through common micromanaging behaviors, including:

• Hovering over employees while they complete an assignment

• Unnecessarily monitoring employees’ activity

• Limiting or prohibiting creative freedom

• Fixating on unnecessary details of an assignment or task 

Micromanagement isn't just annoying; it can be harmful. Health and wellness platform Healthline named it as a contributing factor to toxic work environments, and a survey by job search engine Monster.com showed that 73 percent of employees cited micromanagement as a major problem at work. More specifically, when women experience micromanagement at work, they may feel less confident and more stressed, hurting their overall productivity and wellbeing.  

As a manager, you should hire and train a qualified team, provide them with the resources and support they need to do great work, and trust them to do the jobs they’ve been assigned. 

2. Clearly communicate work policies around out-of-office time   

Although remote work has decreased since 2022, it is still higher than it was before the pandemic. According to cloud-based payroll and HR platform Gusto, remote workers are less likely to use vacation time than onsite workers. Still, many employers have not provided clear guidance around paid time off (PTO) and flexible work policies, leaving employees feeling anxious about whether they should use the time they are entitled to.

Whether your company is sticking with its existing directives or rolling out new ones in 2025, as a leader, you should commit to clearly communicating with your team. Out-of-office employees will feel more at ease being completely offline if they have a clear understanding of work policies. 

If you haven’t been given enough information about policy changes, share that with your team as well—here's an example:

Follow through on this messaging by encouraging your team to unplug, offering as much flexibility as possible, and promoting time away from work as both positive and necessary.  

3. Discourage working outside of business hours

Consistently working outside of business hours can lead to poor work-life balance. Help your employees maintain higher productivity, greater focus, and better balance by discouraging them from working beyond normal business hours. 

If you notice employees sending emails, submitting work, or making calls outside their scheduled work time, gently remind them that they are not required to do so. If they continue working after hours, check in with your employees to see if they need additional support managing their workloads.

4. Acknowledge emotional labor

Emotional labor happens at home and at work, but it can come in many forms. Here are some examples of emotional labor women often face at work: 

• Smiling through unfair or uncomfortable treatment from coworkers, clients, or leaders

• Hiding real feelings to avoid being labeled ‘difficult’ or ‘overemotional’

• Mediating conflicts between others to keep the peace

• Laughing at jokes that aren’t funny

• Being pressured to listen to or engage in conversations about other people’s personal issues

For many women, the emotional labor continues once they clock out and go home. This may include: 

• Managing difficult relationships and complex family dynamics

• Coordinating all events, such as birthdays, dinners, and family gatherings, without help

• Keeping track of everyone’s schedule to ensure the household runs smoothly

• Adapting to other’s moods to avoid conflict

As a manager, you are not responsible for alleviating your employees’ personal problems. However, in 2025, you must recognize that everyone is going through something—even if you don’t know exactly what that is. By acknowledging emotional labor and practicing mindful leadership—which is characterized by greater compassion—you can avoid worsening the problems your employees may already be dealing with. 

5. Commit to ongoing training and development 

Training and development can help you become a sharper leader who is better in tune with your employees’ needs. Look for trainings that are designed to enhance your emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, change management, and decision-making. You can contact the HR department to learn about training and development programs within your company or check with organizations like the American Management Association and LeanIn.org for educational opportunities.  

In addition to trainings, look for management books, articles, TED Talks, and other resources to continually improve your leadership practices and better support your employees at the office and during their time away. 

6. Challenge negative thought patterns

Challenging negative thought patterns—or cognitive restructuring—requires you to recognize a negative thought and reframe it to be more positive or factual. Challenging negative thoughts is a practice that mental health professionals often use in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). When a negative thought appears, challenge it by asking yourself questions like these:  

• Do I have enough information to worry about this?

• If I don’t get the result I want, what can I do about it?

• What if this turns out better than I expect it to?

• Is there any other way I can look at this situation?

• Am I basing this on facts or assumptions?

Asking yourself these questions can help you gain perspective instead of becoming overwhelmed or upset by your thoughts. As a manager, you may have thoughts like, ‘This project will never get done if Alex isn’t here to do it’ or ‘We’ll all lose our jobs if I don’t get everyone on this call’. Use these questions to reframe the thoughts as ‘I trust my team to fill in the gaps while Alex is away’, or ‘Everyone does not need to be on this call for it to be successful.’ 

7. Start journaling

Good managers are self-aware. Journaling can increase self-awareness by helping you identify, track, and manage your thoughts and emotions. To get started, you can do a free write, where you capture any random thoughts that come to your mind. As an alternative, you can use journal prompts, which are specific questions that guide your writing.

Through journaling, you can reflect on professional wins, record areas of improvement, process things that didn’t go as planned, or note your goals for becoming a better leader.