Useful Ways to Revive Overworked, Overwhelmed Employees
From employee wellbeing to productivity, impacts from overwhelmed employees is bad for business.
A senior employee, let’s call him Alex, is pacing outside the executive conference room doors. He is waiting for his manager to get out of her meeting. Alex has been trying to get time with his boss, but she is continuously in back-to-back meetings all day. If he can walk and talk with her as she heads to her next meeting, he can get her input on a few critical items. Sure, ambushing her is not ideal, but he can’t wait for another 8 pm email exchange with her.
Between late nights working from home and a workload that seems to never slow down, Alex is overwhelmed. His wife is increasingly annoyed by the constant late working hours. His time with his daughter is increasingly shrinking because of work demands.
In one study, Deloitte, a management consulting firm, found that 70 percent of organizations believe work has become too complicated. From contributing factors like digital transformation, the flexibility to work anywhere, globalization, and sales demands, these trends are driving leaders to push out more work and green-light more projects. Employees feel the pressure and are overwhelmed.
65 percent of executives in one study feel that the “overwhelmed employee” is an urgent or important issue to address. Unfortunately, companies don’t know how to fix the problem.
A comprehensive approach that overhauls the processes that contribute to the problem is a smart place to start. Here are some areas to investigate.
Where to Look for Causes to Employees Feeling Overwhelmed
How are projects prioritized?
A lack of clarity — goals, priorities, and expectations — will undermine momentum, progress, and results. A set of company-wide disciplines that align company and team objectives, key results, and tactics down to the employee level helps keep a focus on what is most important to the company, the team, and each employee. Leaders must develop the discipline of prioritizing projects and understanding the tension between progress and employee capacity to deliver results.
Do tools and technologies stifle progress?
There is no shortage of technologies that are designed to help employees be more productive. However, there are downsides to too much tech in our lives. For example, finding work files that are stored in different systems can be a time-suck. An abundance of system notifications distracts us from doing focused work.
The late economist, Herbert Simon, once said, “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” Simon’s quote hints at the negative impact that people experience when technology runs their lives.
In response to tech’s influence on feeling overwhelmed, companies can look to improve the physical office space by creating tech-free zones, or workspaces that promote deep work. Additionally, companies can implement a policy that limits sending emails after 6 pm. In short, companies and its leaders must understand how technology influences performance and employee wellbeing.
“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” Herbert Simon
Are your meetings productive and do remote workers feel like they’re being heard?
92 percent of conference calls are dominated by men. When people are frustrated because they have to fight to have a voice in meetings, morale takes a hit.
Meetings are already the bane of corporate life. Minimize their negative influence on productivity by teaching people how to organize and facilitate meetings that leave people feeling heard and included. Also, introduce collaboration technology that creates a shared visual experience that helps teams work better together on deliverables.
How do employees stay informed?
It is an unnecessary distraction to not know what is going on in the company. Intranets, blogs from executives, robust chat technology, video conferencing, weekly town halls, and productive meetings are practical solutions for keeping everyone informed. Remove the distraction of not knowing about critical decisions, achieved milestones, or customer success or flops.
Do you grow your middle-managers’ leadership capabilities?
The most significant influence on employees’ experience of work is their immediate boss’s skills. Managers who are unaware of how their leadership style impacts their teams can set a negative tone. Consequently, the quality and tone of interactions and relationships with employees are negatively affected.
It’s crucial for companies to invest in coaching and training managers to strengthen their soft skills: conflict management, giving feedback, coaching, for example.
Some solutions are easier to execute, like developing employees’ work skills or implementing various communication tactics. Others require more coordination across the company. The key is to pay attention to the indicators showing the impact of employees feeling overwhelmed, like Alex pacing outside the office merely to grab time with his boss.
