When it comes to responsible employee management, caring for your employee’s needs is just as important for you as it is for them. After all, an employee whose basic well-being is left uncared for will not only be unhappy – they’ll also be far less willing, and able, to work efficiently. Not to mention the matter of legal issues.
In other words, preventing worker fatigue is important not just for your workers, but for your business as a whole. Below, we’ve gathered a few tips for doing so.
Keep a close eye on shifts
If your employees work in shifts, keep in mind that an employee working too many shifts is as bad as an employee working too few. Should you notice any of your employees seemingly being less productive and more worn-down than usual, take time to review their work schedules, and search for any employees who seem to have taken a disproportionate amount of shifts. Encourage them to take more breaks, and urge employees who have taken fewer shifts to step up and allow their colleagues a break. Remember that, while an employee devoting extra time to a job can seem advantageous at first, they pose a risk of compromising productivity in the long term if they allow themselves to grow fatigued.
Educate your employees
Some of your employees may genuinely not be aware of how fatigue can compromise their productivity, and thus the productivity of a workforce as a whole.
Set time aside for a seminar or talk for your employees about the impact that fatigue can have on their productivity, as well as their personal health. If you have the time and budget, consider seeking out a health professional to really elaborate on the details and lend authenticity to the talk. Understanding the impact it can have on their personal lives, as well as their professional lives can greatly increase an employee’s investment in avoiding fatigue.
Maintain a healthy work environment
Keep in mind that fatigue is not necessarily caused solely by excess work – various other stress factors can also contribute to it significantly. If, for instance, your employees are made to work in an environment with a lot of sensory stressors – loud noises, poor lighting, insufficient ventilation, and so forth – they are likely to become stressed, and thus fatigued far more quickly.
Ensuring that your work environment is not only efficient but also well-optimized to employees’ needs, can do a great deal to ensure that your employees do not become fatigued quickly.
Vary tasks
One of the most sure-fire ways of wearing down your employees is to give them the same duties with no variation. To be sure, many of them were hired to do a specific task, or work in a specific department; but chances are that a great many of them have necessary skills to perform other, similar, but distinct tasks.
Where possible, encourage employees to temporarily trade tasks, or direct them toward different duties. This can do a great deal to break up the monotony of their day, thus keeping their work from becoming dull, stressful, and wearing.
