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During the current pandemic, we have seen most small companies fall into two camps. The first is growing revenue and being busier due to already providing an essential B2B or B2C service, or pivoting their business to provide one. The second is having to lay off or furlough employees due to the loss of revenue. In both cases, hiring freezes have been very common due to the economic unknown of the near future. As a result, there is a temptation to add tasks and duties to current team members to fill in the gaps instead of hiring. Although this will help in the short run, employee burnout from wearing too many hats is a potential that could lead to less productivity, resentment, and even talent flight from your organization. Here are a few suggestions for how to ensure employees are not spread too thin by wearing too many hats.
Evaluate your employees’ workload.
Taking a deep look at what your employees’ workload looks like can be eye-opening. Even though handing them a few smaller projects might seem insignificant, they can add up and take time away from other priorities. Ask your employees to compare their job description and their weekly task list. Are they working on more things that aren’t included in their job description? This might mean its time to reevaluate their workload and see if other team members have the capacity or if its time to add another team member to lighten the load.
Create a culture of open and honest dialogue.
In a past article, we’ve discussed the importance of creating a company culture that creates open communications between team members and managers. Ensuring your company’s culture allows for this open dialogue will allow employees to feel at ease with talking about their task load and productivity.
Look into outsourcing or automation.
During your evaluation process, looking at the actual tasks your employees are handling might lead to another question – are there tasks that are handling internally that could be outsourced? Small companies can have the tendency of having their employees handle many different tasks that might be better to outsource. At FullStack, we can help alleviate some of the HR tasks that might be bogging down your employees – tasks like payroll, compliance, and benefits administration. Click here to learn more about our services.