Signs You're Stretching Your Team Too Thin

Running a department isn't always easy. But what makes it easier to run a company is having employees who are willing to work. But for the average-normal-performing employee, trust in the company's ability to provide a healthy workplace comes into question when they are experiencing burn-outs from being stretched too thin. Overworked employees are not good for business. It's vital to identity when your team members are burnt out or stretched too thin.

#1: Progress Has Slowed Down Regardless of Deadlines (Causing Bottleneck)

Passion can only take your employees so far. Too often, companies dismiss that they are the reason their own hand-picked employee has stopped loving what they do ... for your company. The perspective that it's the employee who needs to improve their work ethic is outdated and dismissive. Companies must consume accountability, too. For example, sending company emails encouraging self-care holds no value if one of the largest stressors in their life is the on-going weight of the workload being placed on them by the same company who sent the self-care email. Their PTO is stacking up, but when can they use it if there's always a project due on their desk? At this point, your employees need breathers that are longer than what a regular work week offers. You may feel that this is a personal problem, but the more it goes on, even your best employee will lose focus. Quality of work will decrease. Progress will slow down, because believe it or not, the expectations have become unrealistic and the company keeps pushing forward, anyway. Work on better practices to dissolve the go-go-go work environment.

SOLUTIONS TO CONSIDER: Re-access projects the company can do without this quarter. Examine if you're department is understaffed and hire more people. Re-evaluate if the metrics are really set up for the success of your team. Reconsider if the pay wage truly matches the workload (maybe the work performance is a reflection of "you get what you pay for." Let's face it, it's not smart to overwork yourself for a job that you still need a side hustle to live a decent life.)

#2: It's Not Worth It To Them ... Anymore

What you can't make up for in compensation, you can make up in value. Statistics show that employees don't leave companies due to the brand, but more-so the job not being worth it anymore. Their manager's management style may make the job more stressful than it needs to be. The metrics calls for perfection in order to be successful, instead of allowing employees to be human. Benefits are not benefits if your employees cannot afford the benefits. Company culture is lacking. Salary employees are being taken advantage of because they're not paid by the hour. Employees are asked for feedback, but nothing generally comes from it in a way that the team can see or feel the impact of. The point is, there are many reasons why the value of a job depletes. Employees work better when they can have joy in what they do.

SOLUTIONS TO CONSIDER: Match the workload to the job value. Drop the perspective that you're doing your employees a favor by employing them. Demonstrate mutual respect. Keep in mind that you can't be competitive with other companies if your turnover rate is always high. Up-train your managers on new ways to manage their teams. Re-training employees is a waste of resources when an employee could have been saved from quitting.

#3: Low Job Satisfaction

When you know you've put together a great team but the passion dies down. Instead of coming down on your team harder to perform, examine what truly changed the dynamics from the employee's perspective. Too often brand logic tells you to think of the numbers and statistics. However, your team is human. They have emotions and personal desires for their work environment. Having team members overcompensate makes them re-evaluate where they'll spend their energy and drive.

Here at L.O.P.I., we take this concern very seriously. We purposely make sure that we don't take on too many projects that will burn out our team. We hand-pick our next projects as a team according to our bandwidth. Now, we know that running a brand like yours, it isn't always possible to maintain a true balance throughout the year. Sometimes that's the nature of the game, but this is why L.O.P.I. produces such great work because our teams have the bandwidth to handle what you need to get done.