Whether you’re experiencing staff shortages or just complications with scheduling due to post-pandemic issues, efficiently managing staff could be a challenge right now. Workforce planning is never easy, especially when there are a lot of unpredictable factors thrown into the mix, but there are ways to make sure that you have the human resources on tap when you need them – and that your staff feel well looked after too.
- Be open to a mix of full-time employees and part-time workers. The workforce today looks very different to a decade ago, particularly given the flexibility that has been introduced by technology. A business that is made up of both full-time and part-time employees can be more agile and adaptable and more cost effective too.
- Make sure your full-time employees get the attention they need. Once you have a member of staff on a contract it can be quite easy to assume that they are squared away and don’t need your constant attention. However, the reality is that it’s full-time employees who tend to experience the most burnout in the workplace. Burnout can manifest in many different ways but it is essentially a feeling that the person has that they can’t cope, physically and mentally, with what they have on their plate. This can lead to anxiety and depression, feeling hopeless and listless. Productivity levels can drop within the business and staff may start disconnecting – an employee experiencing burnout is 63% more likely to start taking sick days. When that happens it can be disruptive for others and affect general morale across an entire team.
- Look for ways to introduce more flexibility. Especially if you have full-time employees who are getting to the burnout stage, more flexibility and giving staff some control can be a win-win. One example of this is to introduce self-scheduling and, if your business works on a shift basis, give people the chance to organise and trade shifts to accommodate their own mental health and recovery needs.
- Hybrid Working, This may become the new working norm, if you haven’t considered it you will need to, as many organisations will offer this and it could form part of your staff retention policy. The key here is open communication with all of your team, as there will be some members who want and need to work at the office, there is no one size fits all.
- Make sure your part-time team is working in optimum conditions. Part-time workers will be just as important to the business and have a huge contribution to make. Many choose not to be full-time because they have other responsibilities, such as caring for children or relatives – or other life commitments that they want to pursue at the same time. Having part-time staff can be vital when it comes to dealing with spikes in demand, seasonal changes and coping with sickness and time off among your full-time staff. It’s essential to ensure that you’re organised when it comes to handling part-time staff – give them the opportunity to self-schedule but ensure that you have an infrastructure in place that is clear about what is required of them so that there is no confusion when it comes to hours and obligations.
Managing staff efficiently is simple once you have the strategy and infrastructure in place to do it effectively. Any business can benefit from focusing more on giving staff both the freedom and structure that they need to remain engaged and productive. Need to explore options and ideas, give us a call. Park City’s experienced HR team can help.
