Motivating overworked employees

Motivating your employees does not have to involve some complicated, expensive, or time consuming scheme. Below are a few simple steps you can implement to help motivate overworked employees right away:

• Personally acknowledge your employees for their efforts and achievements. This is important but often overlooked, so let them know that their contributions matter.
• Ensure that workload is allocated evenly. It is frustrating for an employee to see his co-worker surfing the web while he is working on three projects simultaneously.
• Check for duplicate, inefficient, or conflicting processes within your organization that may cause undue stress.
• Ask your employees for suggestions and listen. Not only will you empower them, you will also get ideas from people who really know your company well.
• Add a little bit of fun and humor by putting up a “Humor Board” where employees can post funny pictures or stories – anything that would generate a laugh when people are still in the office at 9pm.
• Make sure your employees are taking their allotted vacation days. Time away from the office help workers to distress and regenerate.
• Bring in temporary help to ease the workload on current staffs.

Read more:

Memo to managers: Motivating overworked employees. Sue Dwan offers a guide to picking up staff morale when it's low

Tips for improving employee morale and reducing absenteeism

5 ways to improve workplace morale