Are we aware of the domino-effect that the prolonged absence or turnover of staff has on the ever-increasing workload carried by the rest of the team?
This requires an organization to switch quickly enough, because before you know it you have lost half of your team. Due to the labor market scarcity, it is key to ensure that people do not drop out and to pay attention to the increasing workload.
4 out of 5 employers fear that their staff will leave due to heavy workloads, burn-outs and competition (1).
The domino effect
As a manager, HR manager or organization, do not wait too long and ask yourself the following questions in good time:
Is there room for sufficient relaxation and creativity that give oxygen to people's brains to continue to function well under daily increasing work pressure.
·Do people experience the prospect of a solution for the shortage of personnel? Or will the targets and workload remain the same? Recruiting additional people is almost impossible or is becoming increasingly challenging. Incidentally, people can stay, but simply give up (“quiet quitting”).
So ask yourself: are the deadlines dosed, not set too high, is it accepted that people sometimes perform below the bar? Is this still being met with support and understanding?
Is there togetherness, team spirit, a feeling of 1 “tribe” in the organization and the team? Do you provide enough inspiration and vision for people to feel the significance of what they are working for under this pressure?
Can you prevent agendas from being too full or that there is too much control instead of trust, so that people lose autonomy and freedom?
The vicious circle
We all know examples of the vicious circle of a “bad” working atmosphere in organizations where insufficient attention is paid to the essential factors that generate effort and well-being and keep people inspired and motivated on board.
If you can maintain the stability, drive, work ethic of your current people, and recharge the Company & Team Energy batteries, then you will be able to tackle or prevent the mentioned problems.
Almost half of Belgian employees expect physical and mental health problems due to their work in the next five years (2).
Charging these batteries is crucial for an organization to feel and stay in good shape with your people.
The five batteries of Company Energy Management
Five batteries of organizational vitality characterize whether you have a charged or a drained Company Energy. In a charged situation, the vicious circle of turnover, absenteeism & declining performance is broken. In an empty situation, the workplace bleeds empty, until more and more domino’s fall and the department or organization as a group can no longer achieve the desired results. Here too, prevention is much easier than solving afterwards.
The five batteries of Team Energy Management
Similarly, five batteries of team vitality will determine the Team Energy. Is it charged or drained? Is there a vicious downward spiral or is there an upward synergy and dynamic?
How does Energy Management work?
An Energy Management trajectory:
✓ addresses trust or relationship issues, such as dealings between different groups or cultures of employees, team tensions, health and well-being issues,
✓ addresses lack of clarity, such as regarding the operating framework, the roles in the team, goal clarity, strategic alignment,
✓ recharge these sources of 'trust' and 'clarity', as batteries that ensure: good teamwork, productivity, performance, health and motivation.
Team Energy Management increases collaboration & team effectiveness:
strengthen joint purpose,
create trust in the team,
increase mutual understanding and appreciation,
to deal optimally with tensions,
insight into how the team achieves the best results among themselves.
Company Energy Management works on all batteries but also increases:
the organizational 'human support' base,
causing people to exhibit a lasting tilt in their resilience and psychological capital,
enabling them to perform better, be more motivated to stay on board, and achieve greater success and efficiency at both team and organizational levels (6).
Scan your organization for the balance between well-being & productivity
We always start with a scan that measures our “House of well-being & productivity” (see figure 1).
We offer company research on the desired themes including well-being, productivity, culture, leadership & strategy:
✓ is tailored to your organization and depending on the specific needs,
✓ offers a solution for personnel-related themes where you have questions or problems and want in-depth insight,
✓ is specifically recommended for strategic changes or questions from the CEO/board, given that in addition to well-being, HRM and leadership, we also screen and advise on strategy, operations and productivity,
✓ is embedded in a comprehensive approach in which we guide your organization to identify and address sources of problems, dissatisfaction, absenteism and turnover,
✓ is embedded in existing or similar current processes/projects in the organization for unambiguous, coordinated communication to employees during the measurement or change process.
Recent numbers that encourage action for organizations
4 out of 5 employers fear that their staff will leave due to heavy workloads, burnouts and competition (1).
Almost half of Belgian employees expect physical and mental health problems due to their work in the next five years (2).
Almost 1/3 of Belgian employees are at risk of burnout (3).
Studies from 2022 already pointed to this dynamic:
1/4th of our population aged 20-64 was inactive in 2021 (4).
The largest group of these people was unable to work due to long-term health problems.
The group of people unable to work due to burnout and depression increased by 46.35% between 2016 and 2021 (5).
Would you like a conversation about how we can help your organization or team?
Contact me at sharon@houseofvitality.be for an introductory meeting without obligation.
See you soon!
With kind regards
Sharon Vandousselaere