My Team is Overwhelmed
If you’re the boss and your team is complaining about being overworked and underpaid, it’s time to take action. But what would work best?
These situations are tough because it seems that things are completely out of your control. By identifying potential responses, you will discover that you have a lot more choice than you may have thought. This will help you feel better about whatever choice you make because it is you that made it.
There are at least three viable strategies you could pursue in this situation.
- Challenge it. Your team is counting on you to provide them with the resources and support they need to be successful. Fighting with people higher in the chain command is always a scary and potentially career limiting/ending. If you do not speak up for your team, who else is going to do it? If senior management does not hear that their demands are unreasonable, they might not realize the effect they are having on frontline workers. Operating on the no news is good news principle, they will never have a reason to change course. Be sure to make a business case for any recommendations you do offer.
- Accept the situation and deal with it. The pressure on productivity will continue to increase. Can you imagine any organization telling employees to ease up a bit? Often this pressure does create poor working conditions. As a leader it is your job to inspire your team to rise to the challenge, in spite of the circumstances. You can engage them in the problem solving process. You can help them eliminate work that is not necessary. You can help them focus on that which is essential. The situation is what it is. Do the best you can, and ask the people in your group to do the same.
- Move on to a better environment. There are some organizations in which the leaders set unreasonable expectations. It is possible that this might even be done intentionally. The assumption is that frontline workers will get sick of it and quit. Managers will then bring in someone else to do the job until that person also quits. The turnover is huge, but it is possible that someone with a calculator determined it made financial sense when compared to the alternatives. If that is the case in your situation, things are not going to get better. If this seems unacceptable, then you should find a new place to work.
