Your employees may appear despondent when they sit at their desks. You might overhear the occasional grumble when they are gathered in the breakroom. They might come across as snappy and impatient when you speak to them. These are the signs of frustrated employees. As an entrepreneur, you need to work out the reasons behind their frustrations. Employee motivation and productivity may suffer if you don’t. These are just a few of the things guaranteed to frustrate your employees.
Issues With Technology
A slow computer, low-quality programs, and a lack of training are some of the frustrations that many employees face when dealing with technology in the workplace. When you have the budget to allow it, replace your old computers with something new. Or if you can’t afford to buy something brand new, at least go for decent second-hand or refurbished models. The better your computers perform, the better your employees perform.
When it comes to software, consider purchasing from a company such as Praxent who can custom-build something that both fits and is adaptable for what your employees need to do their jobs. And whenever you install new technology, ensure time is spent on giving your employees the appropriate training. In each case, productivity and morale will drop if the relevant steps aren’t taken, and that will negatively affect your business.
Having No Voice
When your employees come to you, do you take the time to listen? When you conduct meetings with your team, do you give everybody the opportunity to share their thoughts? If not, your employees will feel undervalued. The upshot of this is twofold. One: Your employees may be tempted to leave your business and into another company where their voices can be heard. Two: If you don’t listen to what your employees have to say, you may miss out on ideas that could benefit your company.
So, ensure you have an open door policy at work. If you’re forever too busy to listen, your business and your employees may suffer as a consequence. And during your meetings, ensure everybody has the opportunity to contribute. You might also use employee feedback surveys, so even those employees who don’t feel confident about raising their voice publically will have the opportunity to share their thoughts. Be sure to act upon any feedback, however, as again, your employees will feel undervalued if their thoughts and issues aren’t being addressed.
Being Micromanaged
Your employees have a job to do, so let them get on with what they are doing. If you are forever checking up on them, offering advice when it’s not really needed, and criticizing their methods, then you are going to frustrate and anger them. You might also damage their self-confidence, as they may feel that whatever they do isn’t good enough for you.
There’s nothing wrong with keeping an eye on your employees. You want to make sure they are doing their jobs after all. However, provided they have been through training and provided they do get their work done and to a high standard on a regular basis, then you have less reason to micromanage whatever it is they are doing. And besides, they may be more skilled at you in what they do, so don’t patronize them with what could be faulty opinions. Instead, meet with your employees for progress reports on a weekly basis, and only get involved in their work pattern if you think there are serious issues that need to be resolved.
Doing More Than Expected
You might need your employees to work overtime on an occasional basis. There may be times when you need them to fill in for a colleague should they fall sick. However, you do need to be careful. Too much overtime can add to your employees’ stress level. And the same is true when you add to their workload. Your employees are only human, after all, so treat them as such and respect their limits. Otherwise, you will see a lack of productivity when they are burned out, and you might also have to deal with an extra workload yourself when your employees are forced to take time off work with stress.
As an employer, you need to concentrate on two things. One: Find ways to improve your employee efficiency so they don’t have to work overtime. The ideas here might help. Two: Instead of giving your employees extra work to do, consider outsourcing or hiring freelance staff for some of your regular tasks. There will be an added expense, but you would lose money anyway if productivity falls because of burned out employees.
Finally
A frustrated employee is an unhappy employee, and that will negatively affect your business. Therefore, be mindful, and consider what we have said in this article. And if you do spot signs of employee frustration, go back to #2 in this article, and let them air their grievances to you.
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