Workforce Management: Have You Gone on a Holiday Yet?

Workforce-Management

Employees need vacations to come back to work fresh and full of ideas.

When one talks about work, it is serious. People discuss the highs and lows of their jobs with friends, family, colleagues, and sometimes even strangers while networking socially or professionally. A manager walks the tightrope of keeping employees happy while delivering business targets. Achieving a balance is tough and takes a lot of practice and learning from mistakes. How do you keep everyone happy?

Employee Happiness Factors

Every employer wonders: what can I do to keep my employees happy and healthy? Here are some important factors:

  1. A safe work environment: Ideas should be encouraged, employees should have plenty of opportunities to talk and discuss anything, and the management should not be afraid to implement some of the radical ideas in the workplace. This will help build their confidence.

  2. A healthy work-life balance: Employees should spend a minimum number of hours at work which can range from 7–9 hours daily. An average work week covers between 35–50 hours. While overtime is sometimes needed, do not make it a daily practice. If your employees are spending a lot of time in office and working overtime, ask them why they are doing so. An increase in workload can be due to business growth or an inefficient work management system. Analyze what the situation is and take the necessary steps: hire more, or train better.

  3. Ample compensation: Salaries are very important and employees should be paid according to their skills, keeping in mind the current market salaries for the same level. Employers should not undervalue employees as that may lead to frustration and attrition. Managers have to ensure employees feel confident of their work and salaries and are not dissatisfied.

  4. Enough breaks: How many breaks should your employees take? This number changes from employee to employee and the demands of a job. High pressure jobs require longer breaks so that employees can recover. If employees work longer hours daily, they need to allocate break hours into shorter breaks spread throughout the day. Employers should encourage team bonding during breaks as it is a good use of time without taking away too much time from work.

Go on a Holiday!

vacation1-250x187

Relax and unwind is a good motto after a hard day’s work.

And when we talk of breaks, what better than a holiday? A vacation is a good way to unwind after work. Staying away from the work environment for a while and travelling to new places helps people recover from stress and burnout. When employees save their leaves for a particular time of the year, it also helps them be responsible of their own leave schedules and prevents them from taking unexpected and unwanted leaves throughout the year.

Employers also benefit when employees go on vacations, and should encourage such breaks. Holidays tend to keep people in a good mood and the anticipation of a vacation gives them a sense of having deserved it after a long period of working hard. Plan your holidays in advance and take all steps to not mix work with vacations. Avoid making or taking work calls, if possible, so that you can enjoy the holiday better. So if you think you are overworked, step back and take a breath. Better yet, take a vacation!