Stressed and Unhappy Workers? Here’s What You Need to Do.
Here’s a fact business owners don’t want to hear. Are you ready? Here goes: most of the world’s employees are unhappy with their job. Not exactly a “fun fact”, but a fact nonetheless.
So what can an employer do if their employees aren’t happy?
Wait, why aren’t they happy?
You might be an awesome boss. You’re warm and friendly. But if an employee simply doesn’t like what they do, then they’re never going to be fully pumped for what they do. This is why you should pay more attention when it comes to employee feedback. It’s why you shouldn’t just focus on an employee’s performance when it comes to reviews. Ask them about their career desires – and ask them to be honest about it!
Of course, if you’re not a warm and friendly boss, then that could be a big part of the problem! Most employees judge their happiness at work on how they interact with the people around them. And the way the people around them will act depends largely on how you act. So make sure you’re communicating with people properly!
Make sure they’re looking after themselves
Quite often, employees will push themselves to the limit. Even those who don’t love what they do will still pull out all the stops in order to get the job done right. This can be a great thing, of course.
As long they’re not working late hours, skipping breaks, and not taking holidays due to your instruction, of course.
While these can see boosts in productivity, it can only last so long. Employees get burned out easier than they think, even the “work warriors” who seem addicted to the office. You should be taking active in making sure that these guys are looking after themselves. Encourage them to take their breaks. Make sure they’re not working late all the time (and that you’re paying them for all overtime!).
You can use holiday management software to make sure they’re taking the annual leave that’s been allocated to them. Can you see a hard worker who hasn’t taken a holiday in a few months? Let them know they have holiday days and that they should rewards themselves with some time off. This will all signal to the workers that you care. N’aww!
Is your employee depressed?
Sad fact: a depressed person is highly unlikely to speak to anyone at their place of work about their problem, let alone their boss. There’s a stigma around depression that makes to difficult for an employee to admit it to their boss. The way they see it, tt can be viewed as a sign of weakness that could see them lose their job. Talking about it at work might also see an uncomfortable mingling of the personal and the professional.
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But talking about it is going to benefit both you and them. While I don’t want you to see it only in these terms, a depressed worker is likely to be much less productive than others. Among other factors, the loss of ability to focus and the effect on short-term memory may affect their ability to work properly. You should consider bringing up your concerns with them and offering any help you can.
Featured image source: Wikimedia
