The pace of business can be unrelenting, and it’s often difficult to gauge the resources required to remain competitive. Often, production demands can lead to almost insurmountable workloads for many people in your business, some more than others. The result is overworked employees. This is problematic because of the issues that arise when people are overworked: decreasing job satisfaction, burnout, unsanctioned overtime taken to get tasks completed, etc.
That’s why it’s so important for management to be able to pinpoint overworked employees. To this end, we’ve compiled a guide that will help you identify an overworked staff member. Recognizing the symptoms and redistributing work in a more balanced way will help you motivate employees to give it their all, while also avoiding employee burnout.
1. Increased Overtime
The lowest hanging fruit when trying to pinpoint an overworked employee is to track and assess the amount of overtime said employee has been working. If you notice an increase in hours worked, or if an employee is constantly putting in extra hours, this is a good indication that they have too much on their plate.
2. Work Outside of Core Job Description
It’s not uncommon for organizations to need to adapt and adjust employee responsibilities based on objectives, deadlines, and gaps. A small amount of additional responsibility can actually be a motivating factor in many cases. However, a commonality among overworked employees is performing a large number of tasks that are beyond their initial job description. Chances are, that employee is doing both the job you have hired them for, as well as a high volume of additional work. This may be a sign that they are overworked.
3. Disconnect Between Needs and Talent
If you are using a system or another method to plan resources required for projects, you will be able to identify if the labour power you have allocated is sufficient. However, there may still be a chance that management hasn’t correctly allotted time and resources, which is often the case for large projects where issues are likely to arise. With the right business intelligence, time-costing and scheduling solutions, you can identify disconnects in the amount of work to be done versus the people resources assigned to the project. That way, you can ensure that the project team is not comprised of overworked staff members and is properly equipped to complete tasks.
Cognizance of the symptoms of overworked employees is an important way to avoid employee burnout, decreased job satisfaction, and slipping performance. If you can identify which employees are overworked, you can reallocate resources accordingly to ensure that each worker is equipped with the tools – and the time – to perform optimally.
