You want to maximize your team’s potential. However, you know overloading your workers will lead to burnout and high turnover. So, what’s the solution? Use these strategies to promote a better work-life harmony among your employees.
Ways to Promote a Better Work-Life Harmony Among Your Employees
Review Workloads
Are all your employees pulling their weight? Or are some overwhelmed while others are bored? As a manager, you’ll want to make sure everyone on your team can handle their workload. Of course, this will require detective work on your part. Even with open line of communication, an individual may tell you they’re doing fine when they’re not. Have candid conversations and look for telltale signs. If someone arrives early, leaves late and always seems frazzled, chances are, they have too much to do.
Focus on Productivity
There’s a difference between being busy and getting things done. Rather than rewarding your employees for HOW LONG they’ve worked, focus on WHAT they’ve accomplished instead. Since many people have spent their careers watching the clock, you’ll probably need to provide productivity training. Successful strategies may include setting self-imposed deadlines, holding stand-up meetings and avoiding multitasking.
Encourage Downtime
According to U.S. Travel Association, Americans failed to use a record 768 million days of paid time in 2018. Certainly, many companies view employees who work all the time as dedicated. Nevertheless, research shows a lack of downtime wreaks havoc on both an individual’s health and productivity. Although you can’t force your team members to take a day off, you can strongly encourage them to do so. 2020 has been stressful for everyone to encouraging your staff to relax and take time for themselves is crucial.
Embrace Flexibility
Even under the best of circumstances, rigid work hours can interfere with everyday life. Therefore, consider offering your workers flexible scheduling. This is becoming more and more common as many children and home from school due to the pandemic and routines have been Maybe they could choose their own start/end time? Or maybe your organization could experiment with a compressed workweek? Undeniably, these ideas are better suited to some businesses than others. But with a little creativity, you and your employees may be surprised at the possibilities.
Support Parents
Excessively long work hours and parenting don’t mix. Before you lose talented individuals to more family-friendly organizations, recognize the importance of this part of people’s lives. Flexible scheduling is especially helpful for working parents during the age of COVID. It allows them to be home when their kids really need it whether it’s a parent-teacher conference over Zoom or help with some homework. Paternity and extended maternity leave are another huge benefit for employees who are hoping to spend more time with their children.
Are You Looking for More Ways to Promote Balance on Your Team?
Connectology publishes weekly blog posts on topics ranging from addressing burnout to eliminating favoritism. And if you’re searching for talented new employees, our recruiters can help with that too. We place quality, design and project engineers with top manufacturing organizations in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin and beyond. Learn more about the advantages of hiring through Connectology today!
