Fix the Work, Not Just the Worker: A New Take on “Are You OK?”

When you ask your team “Are you OK?” and its met with frustration, chances are they are really thinking, “If you have to ask, you already know I’m not”

When “Are You OK?” Backfires

Jason’s a frontline supervisor on a busy site. For weeks, his crew has been short-staffed, the work keeps changing at the last minute, and the team has been doing  extra shifts to meet a tight deadline. At the end of another long shift, Jason notices one operator looking wrecked and says, “Hey mate, you OK?”

The operator shrugs and mutters, “Yeah, all good,” then walks off.
On paper, Jason has done “the right thing”.
But for the operator, it lands like this: You’ve seen what the last three weeks have been like… and you’re asking if I’m OK, but nothings going to change.

This is where well-intentioned check-ins can just add to the sense of frustration.

Good Intentions Aren’t Enough

Leaders I work with genuinely care about their people. They don’t want their team burning out, going home wired and exhausted, or never switching off from work.

But what if the work itself is actually unreasonable,  constant overtime, unpredictable changes, conflicts left to smoulder, no time to do the job properly, and nothing ever changes?  No amount of “Are you OK?” can patch over that.

What people feel is the disconnect between the words and the reality:

• You say you want them to speak up, but experience shows them nothing changes when they do
• You say people come first, but rosters change last minute and days off get cancelled.
• You say safety is number one, but all of the recognition is given for hitting production targets and deadlines.

That gap erodes trust faster than almost anything else.

From One of the Team to Leader of Conditions

As a leader, you’re not responsible for everything in the system, there are normally plenty of things you would love to change but cant.  But you are a powerful shaper of the conditions your team works in.

You influence:

• How work is organised; who gets which jobs, in what order, with what support,
• How change is handled;  whether people get time to prepare, ask questions and reset,
• How pressure is translated or buffered; whether you simply pass the stress down, or pause and prioritise,
• How conflict is managed or not; whether issues are raised and resolved, or ignored and left to fester.

When these conditions are off, people don’t just “feel a bit frustrated”. They experience ongoing strain: tiredness, irritability, mistakes, withdrawal, checking out.

That’s why “Are you OK?” without any change to how work is done can feel like a lip service. The message received is: Your feelings matter… but not enough to change anything.

What To Do Before You Ask “Are You OK?”

Before you check in with someone who’s clearly under the pump (and may have been for a while), do a quick self-scan:

What have the last few weeks actually been like for this person?

• Hours, workload, conflicting demands, changing the goal posts, lack of communication.

What’s within my influence to adjust, even if it’s minor?

• Order of tasks, who supports them, breaks, debrief time, gathering up the learnings, pushing back on non-essential work.

What are they not saying out loud?

• “I can’t keep this up.”
• “I don’t want to keep doing this.”
• “I’m not coping but I don’t want to be seen as weak / difficult / not a team player.”

Then shape your conversation to show you see the context, not just the person’s mood or surface response to it.

Instead of:

“Are you OK?” or “All good?” 

Replace it with:

“The last three weeks have been hectic, broken gear, roster changes, everyone stretched. I’m concerned about how sustainable this is for you. What’s your feeling right now?”

Name the reality first. That alone can be a relief.

Turn the Check-In Into Change

A powerful way to show you’re serious is to combine empathy with action.

For example:

• “I can see you’re drained. For tomorrow, I want to reshuffle so you’re not doing the two hardest tasks back-to-back. Let’s  catch up at pre-shift to go through what will help.”
• “You’ve flagged this job is overloaded. I’ll back you in raising that with [manager], and we’ll go in with a couple of options rather than just ‘coping’.”
• “After this shutdown, I want to sit down and look at what’s actually realistic for our crew. Can you start noting the work that regularly spills over?”

It doesn’t have to be massive structural change. Even a small shift shows: I heard you, I see what’s happening and I’m prepared to move something, not just talk about it.

When You Can’t Change the Big Stuff (Yet)

Sometimes you genuinely can’t change the context of work in the short term. You’re under direction from above, the schedule is locked in, and the team is already stretched.

Even then, you still have levers:

• Clarity: “Here’s what’s on our plate, here’s what we can realistically deliver today, and here’s what we’re going to park.”
• Permission: “I don’t expect hero hours. If you’re at the point of fatigue or making mistakes, I want you to speak up and we’ll pause.”
• Prioritisation: “If we have to choose between these jobs, safety and quality win over sheer volume. I’ll own that decision with my manager.”
• Debrief: “This has been a tough run. Let’s review what we can influence for next time; what do we keep, stop, start?”

You might not fix everything. But you move from “are you OK?” as a script to “here’s what I can do, and here’s what we can look at together.”

If you know your operating at stretch (and have been for a while)

Rather than starting with, “Who do I need to check in on?”, reflect on:

Where might my words and the work not match?

Do I talk about balance, safety, speaking up, but reward the opposite?

What’s one pressure point I can ease for my team this week?

A clearer priority, one less thing, a more realistic deadline, a proper break.

How can I show I’m listening with my time and priorities, not just my mouth?

Making space for planning, not just firefighting; protecting time for key conversations.

When your actions line up with your check-ins, “Are you OK?” stops being a box to tick and becomes part of a whole way of leading, where people genuinely feel seen, supported and set up to succeed.

Because ultimately, the most powerful wellbeing message isn’t what you say in a five-minute chat.
It’s what your team experiences from you, shift after shift.