Busy schedules, endless meetings, suffering employees. Sound familiar? Practically all companies in the world are affected to some extent by the growing workload of their teams. In fact, it is estimated that more than 60% of employees suffer from stress.
However, there are ways to combat these challenges. A well-designed training plan, for example, can help improve employee productivity and promote positive workplace wellbeing.
But how can you encourage your employees to participate in training? Motivating overwhelmed employees can be a difficult task but it doesn’t have to be. In this post, we explore the most effective training strategies to boost the talent of your professionals and help them overcome workplace stress.
What is work overload?
Anyone, in any company, can experience work overload. This happens when someone works more than they should, either extending their work hours or doing more tasks than they are assigned. This can cause the employee to lose motivation, decrease productivity and increase their stress levels.
Often, this happens because of the company’s work culture. But it can also occur due to poor management and organization of tasks.
Signs of work overload
The first step to helping your employees in this regard, is identifying the signs of overload:
- Lack of concentration
- Irritability and hypersensitivity
- Busy schedules
- Internal communication problems
- High level of absenteeism
- Lack of cooperation
- Repetitive errors
Consequences of work overload
Work overload has negative effects for both employees and the company. For the individual, oversaturation can lead to health problems and, consequently, to poor work performance, as we have seen.
This can impact the company in the following ways:
- Low employee retention: An environment with work overload is not attractive to new talent. The consequence? High levels of job attrition and low levels of attraction of new talent.
- Increased costs: Absenteeism and sick leave due to employee health represent a high financial cost for companies.
- Low productivity: The increase in tasks and responsibilities can have an unwanted rebound effect on productivity levels.
- Lower quality deliverables and projects: The quality of a person’s work is likely to decrease if they encounter a sudden increase in tasks.
Importance of training in teams with work overload
With this in mind, the training of leaders and employees should be a priority for companies on account of the benefits it offers in relation to reducing work stress.
Benefits of investing in employee training
- It allows the development of key skills: effective time management, assertive communication and problem solving are some of the skills that must be enhanced in order to properly manage tasks and responsibilities.
- Enhances personal well-being: training not only has an impact on the workplace, but also on staff. A person who is trained and developed to their full potential is more likely to feel empowered to perform their tasks, thus minimizing the risk of stress.
- Increased efficiency and productivity: a person who has the necessary knowledge to perform their tasks is more likely to perform them with higher levels of efficiency and avoid feeling overwhelmed by them.
- Strengthens teamwork: training staff with the necessary skills to work collaboratively allows them to optimize their time and delegate tasks to avoid overload.
In short, all these benefits will have a positive impact on the work environment in general and on the results of the company.
Training strategies to boost productivity and reduce stress
Attracting the attention of people with work overload is not easy. Getting them to complete a training course iseven more complicated. However, training is essential if we want to reverse Thenegative impacts of work stress.
Here are some of the training strategies for overwhelmedemployees that you can implement to achieve high engagement rates:
1. Gamification
An increasing number of companies are using gamification techniques for employee training, as they make the learning process more motivating, attractive, and meaningful. Gamification can reduce stress in employees and boost their motivation too.
You can implement this training strategy using different tools such as games, challenges, achievements, rankings and other dynamics. Gamification presents information in a more fun, interesting and easy-to-digest format, making it ideal for people with high levels of stress.
2. Flexibility in learning
Implementing flexible training plans is essential in teams with a high workload. Giving employees the opportunity to learn at their own pace, and choosing the e-learning content that interests them most is extremely beneficial for their learning experience.
3. Personalized training
Personalized learning puts students at the center of training to provide them with the best possible learning experience, through programs that address their weaknesses and strengths.
To implement this strategy in your company, it is important to perform an initial situation analysis and choose a suitable LMS platform that adapts to each employee’s individual needs and includes dynamic and interactive elements that engage them.
4. Use of technology and digital resources
Interactive educational platforms, explanatory videos, podcasts and other digital tools are ideal for employees with work overload because they offer a more dynamic and entertaining learning experience. This means that they can consume the training content at their own pace and in a more enjoyable way.
5. Social and collaborative learning
This strategy consists of encouraging people to acquire knowledge and skills through social interaction with their environment. Social learning also promotes teamwork as opposed to traditional methods of formal training.
In this way, an employee with a high workload does not see training as just another task on his endless to-do list but acquires new knowledge and reinforces his skills in a natural way in collaboration with colleagues.
6. Training in specific skills
Enhancing time management, assertive communication, problem solving, and other key competencies means that employees can acquire the necessary tools to function efficiently in their work environment.
This doesn’t mean that their work challenges will disappear but, with the right training and tools, they’ll be able to face them more easily and, in doing so, avoid many potentially stressful situations.
Motivate your teams and unlock their potential with isEazy
Offering innovative, attractive and customized solutions is essential to build teams with high workload.
At isEazy Skills, we offer the most comprehensive course catalog, covering a wide variety of topics and areas of development to help you do that. Our courses are designed with agile and dynamic resources that will capture the attention of employees, motivating them to improve and reach their full potential. Give them the flexibility to organize their time and responsibilities, and watch productivity soar. Try isEazy Skills and boost the growth of your company.
