Your employees have always worked hard, but there’s a fine line between going the extra mile and being completely overworked. As a busy manager yourself, it’s not always easy to see when that line has been crossed, so you need to be cognizant of subtle indicators that foreshadow an overarching problem.

Most employees don’t mind putting in a little overtime every once in awhile, but if this has become a regular occurrence, it’s time to take action. Perpetually overworking your employees will lead to many major problems, including a rise in turnover.

5 Signs Your Staff is Overworked

Surge in Careless Errors

When people have too much on their plate, they don’t have sufficient time to spend on each assignment. Consequently, they’re forced to speed through each project — sometimes without proofing their work. If you’ve noticed a rise in errors, take a closer look at your employees’ workload, instead of assuming they’ve gotten lazy.

Change in Attitude

Being constantly inundated with work is very stressful. It takes both a physical and emotional toll on people, which often leads to crankiness, exhaustion, and eventually burnout. If previously pleasant employees have become irritable and seem downright unhappy, this should be cause for concern.

Lack of Innovative Ideas

In the past, you could always count on your team to come up with brilliant ideas to give your company a competitive edge. If this hasn’t happened lately, it might be a sign people are overextended, because it’s hard to be creative when your brain is fried.

Decline in Health

Putting in extra hours at work for an extended period of time can literally make people sick. Something has to give when staffers work overtime, and that often means trips to the gym, time to prepare healthy meals, and the luxury of a full night’s sleep. If previously healthy, energetic people have become sluggish and frequently ill, too much work is likely to blame.

People Aren’t Using Vacation Days

Your employees enjoy their jobs, but they’ve never been shy about taking vacation days — until recently. If people have been canceling vacations or not scheduling them at all, they haven’t suddenly decided they don’t like paid time off. As loyal workers, they’ve probably realized taking a vacation isn’t realistic, because they have too much going on.

If your staff is feeling overworked, team up with ECS to make a change for the better. Our team has more than 20 years of experience in the contingent staffing industry, so we know a thing or two about the business. We offer a full suite of services to recruiters and compliant professional payrolling and independent contractor management services to companies. Contact us today to discuss your needs!