Work schedule stress happens when employees don’t understand the expectations of their jobs. You see this during busy times, like the holiday season, or other important times when people need to spend more time at the office. If not handled correctly, stress and other mistakes can increase dramatically among your team.
It’s a growing problem for people in Switzerland. That country’s annual survey, The Good Work Barometer, looks at employee motivation, job security and workplace health. It found that 41% of those polled felt they were often stressed or very stressed at work.
The researchers say a root cause was that more workers felt they had no or little influence on their work hours. This uncertainty led to more stress and emotional exhaustion.
Does this sound familiar? You’re on the job and suddenly, more work appears, along with urgent deadlines. Suddenly, you have to stay late, come in early, or skip lunch.
The extra work isn’t so much the problem, as having to unexpectedly complete it.
How do you prevent the problem of work schedule stress from hurting your employees? As leaders, a few adjustments can help your team cope much better:
Define Expectations for Work Schedule Stress
Make sure current and especially new employees understand when busy times may occur. This gives them a chance to prepare much better.
Staying late may be a requirement but if you know it’s coming, then you can make preparations for things like child care. Having to find a last minute babysitter, due to a work request, is an understandable distraction and a source of stress.
Prioritize to Prevent Work Schedule Stress
If your busy time means that people have to spend more time on one task, do others need to receive their usual attention? Sometimes, those duties can be pushed to the side or performed in a simpler manner.
It’s important to have these discussions before things get too busy. This allows people to focus on their most important tasks and not worry or exhaust themselves catching up on minor things.
Have Catch Up Time
It’s very likely that busy times will push other duties to the bottom of the list. Make sure your team has a defined time to catch up on these tasks. Some businesses will designate times like Friday afternoon, when client or customer interaction may be low, for this process.
By setting aside the time to catch up, employees are held accountable for making sure all of their work gets done. Using the busy time as an excuse for not doing everything can no longer work.
Consider Rewards
If you team has been putting in a lot of extra hours on a project, it’s not a bad idea to have some kind of reward for its completion. While the extra time may be part of the job, a little extra recognition or attention goes a long way toward reducing employee stress.
This kind of reward does not have to be expensive. Bagels or special coffee will be well received. The gesture of thanks is more important than the size of the perk.
