How many times have I heard over the past few years “I’m doing the work of 3 people!”…  “They eliminate people but not the workloads!”…or “We are now doing more work with less people”….

Do you have more work to complete than any human being can achieve in a day? Does the work just keep piling up? Is this a habitual problem at your company? Is morale low? If all of this sounds familiar, then join the club of millions of workers who feel the same exact way you do!

Ok – go get a rubber band…..

I view the workload issue like a rubber band.  In good times, when workloads are low, the rubber band is slack, people are comfortable and when experiencing the occasional “peak of stretch”, they can handle it. However, in recent years, as the economy has gotten tighter, the rubber band of resources gets stretched tighter and tighter until it almost snaps.  And, when it does snap,  people break down from the workloads, stress and are overwhelmed.  We’ve all seen it and it’s not pretty.

Here’s something else to think about as you ponder your rubber band.  When you stretch anything beyond its elastic limit, then its ability to go back to a “normal” state is lost.  Take your rubber band – hold it fully stretched for a long time  and it will never go back to its original state. This happens to people who have been held at the snapping point so long that they “just get used to it”,  forget what a normal, reasonable workload is – experience frustration, decrease productivity and no longer enjoy their jobs. Then the ugly negativity sets in….

How many of you have witnessed people who are constantly complaining about their “crushing workloads” however, when you’ve watched them, they really do have opportunities to conserve time and positively change their productivity levels. When I’ve listened to different managers, I’ve heard that they do not have enough resources to get the jobs done.  The familiar statement is “I simply need more people to do the work” yet when these managers get together to discuss how they can make improvements, they will often state that they are frustrated because too many people are goofing off and not applying themselves. Interesting…..

Now – put your rubber band down…..

Did you know that the average company in the USA obtains less than 50% of the potential from their workforce on a regular basis? There is a definite disconnect between how people perceive being overworked and overloaded and the actual state of the workload.  According to a recent study of 2000 people, roughly 60% of people felt they were bogged down, yet in reality there was plenty of productive time remaining, and with some basic reengineering of functions, systems and habits, there would be even more time available!

The cure for this problem is getting an employee engaged….and the road to achieve engagement is connected with TRUST!  Without trust, workers will not reach their potential because they will not feel engaged in the work!  When a leader engages their team and truly trusts the people on that team – that team feels special, empowered and that they are being trusted to make improvements.  They are considered as a “high trust group”…and that specially trusted group will achieve a higher level of productivity…every time!