not enough work for employeesnot enough work for employees

If you ask your employees what services and products they think could bring you more revenue, you may come up with some great ideas that they will be excited to work on. Why Employers Can't Find Enough Workers and 4 Things They - Forbes That way, they could plan to work a second seasonal job in that time if they chose to. 22 Words and Phrases for Not Enough Work - Power Thesaurus Not literal housekeeping, but that could be included too. update: do I need to give up an impressive business contact whos hitting on me? I had this exact conversation with my husband last week! It transpired that people from Head Office would regularly visit the country where we were situated, but never once came to our offices. Wouldnt it be nice if we were all somewhere in the middle, with just enough to do to keep busy without being stressed, but able to goof off for about 10 mins a day?! Brainstorming some other ideas: I think the key is extremely efficient. I, too, have always ended up with excess time in every job Ive had involving multiple different industries. I also really love the idea of asking them what they think they could be doing. They are home health care aides, restaurant workers, and hotel staff. In these jurisdictions, nonexempt workers are protected by something known as 'reporting time pay'. Dream and Brainstorm: 4. But I was recruited away from my previous company to this company thru a previous coworker. High Payroll Costs One way to immediately reduce payroll and benefit costs is to cut your staffing levels. In January, average hourly pay only increased 2 cents. Control glare. The OP just might be surprised with what is suggested. A couple from Chorleywood said they have been left "reeling" after almost 700 was added to their mortgage - and fear this could end up even higher after today's announcement from the Bank of . (Its where I found AAM!). It sounds like the employees could really use that extra time to skill build and help fill out with the higher level tasks. Years ago, I was a team lead in a group that didnt have much work to do, relative to the talents of the people on the team. Delegate and YOU take a three month vacation. This is due to the "weight" of the air in the atmosphere pressing down on you. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Despite . I work in an office where there is slow times of year too. 2:58 2-Minute Listen Playlist Download Embed Transcript Enlarge this image A "Help Wanted" sign is posted in front of a business on Feb. 4 in Miami. If licensing is required could you have an employee looking into it? Look in PR Opportunities I think for some people this may be the caseI know when Im legitimately pressed for time and need to get something out really quickly I often make careless mistakes. That way theyre increasing their knowledge of destinations, the team benefits, and you get more experienced operators with better morale! Our professors are paid an annual salary (9-month, from Oct to June) but its paid over 12 months. (That also makes it hard to do something useful like take an online course even on the slowest day, the spectre of panic n drama always looms.). Id definitely prefer this. Ive worked in government since I graduated from high school military, three municipalities, and one county. I also dont have enough work and have asked for more work and have volunteered for more projects. This was not a secret by any means). Its completely random. Not Enough Work For Employees: 10 Considerations for Employers A task or target that seems impossible to achieve, however, can cause an employee to feel demotivated, fearful and upset. According to an American Psychological Association study, nearly 3 in 5 employees report negative impacts of work-related stress, including lack of . If OP wants to cut payroll costs and reduce staff during the slow season, but still retain staff for the rest of the year, this would work well. This issue usually resolves itself when they go back to work. +1000000 This! Know what the company needs and focus your ideas around those needs. You have to get embedded for it to really start flowing. My boss gives me rave reviews and my colleagues know me as a go-to resource if they need help. I dont really know the ins & outs of this, but could you lay them off during the slow season (with full knowledge that they will rehired at the start of the busy season) every year? Could you have an employee work on adding new articles to your website every week to potentially attract more customers? Your productivity slows down. Assess the Current Workload Situation Sharing the workload in a team ensures that no single employee is burned out while others don't have enough to do. That way I look efficient and can be given bonus work, but also still maintain an extremely leisurely pace. Seconded! How have those of you who dont have enough work dealt with the tendency to procrastinate what you do have? I came here to say something similar to your first suggestion. And basically how we need to be paid for our knowledge and skills and not just for us to work somewhere for 40 hours a week. The problem is that there's just not more work to do. A rotation has the advantage that you have coverage and you could still do some of the other things to keep them busy. I was highly motivated to get through my days to-do list because then I could get my homework done too and have the rest of my day free! Unemployment rates would spike causing extra cost for multiple years. We went in the evening and our close moose encounter was a after the sun had gone down so the photos didnt come out great. Ive been given about 1/2 hour to 1 hour of work a day and its mundane work on its own regardless of the workload. So if your slow period is 5 months starting with the first month of the slow season, Slow Month 1- All 3 in office get caught up on all the non-priority work from the busy season. Our work is seasonal, with a very busy period for seven months of the year and little to do for the other five. Totally agree with this. I think its great that you provide steady employment versus seasonal workers and that you give them a month off. Encourage Organization: 5. If you have them do it for a registered charity while they are on the payroll, there might be some tax advantage to that as well. I have thought about seasonal employees but dont think this would be a good fit for our small business. It took one person a day to do it every time we released, which was weekly. *Ask the employees what they think, do they have any ideas theyd like to try or implement. Why is there no universal way to prevent it. I also love the idea of asking employees for input. My current job used to take me 35 hours a week and now I can do it in like 28 hours. We have two full time + six part time people doing calls. One of the best bosses I ever had was at a small company where he would teach everyone how to run the business. It also helps them feel better about doing nothing if they have that feeling of man, gotta look productive, theyre going to be reluctant to do things like watch Netflix on their phone or read a book or etcbut if youre clear that youre perfectly okay with them doing nothing, then theyll feel a lot more free to do stuff like that (and, consequently, youll feel a lot better too). But . This also can take some of the pressure off of you to come up with these ideas on the fly. Languages (a few years and long boring winters in he spoke, conversationally, a ridiculous amount of languages and it was a real boon. (Please dont try to follow this mathIm totaally making it up!) I don't have enough work to keep me busy Ask a Manager Even if the services dont substantially change yoy, customer expectations can drift for example how to deal with more people bringing little dogs everywhere? Thats starting to change as businesses need to compete harder than ever to keep and attract workers. A circular issued on Monday night by GAD . Ooh, I like this one as long as it was optional. there are no bonuses, and there is no room upwards in many positions once youve topped out. I believe it, Ive held several jobs in the past like that. Oh, no doubt. So it might be a persistent problem, but it might resolve itself as you grow into your role/meet people. Im going to second all those with the delegate/training others part. Which if they sit there and help with general questions, this can help free up your own time for other projects. Let your staff in on it. Im kinda impatient so it took me a few jobs to figure out this can happen over months. Not Enough Parking Spaces At Work? (5 Easy Solutions) - Wayleadr Blog Though I do often wonder if my coworkers are equally as underutilized as I am and were all just really good at hiding it! I did everything on the list in three days and just sort of sat around waiting for the phone to ring. Except in federal contracting. I was thinking of maybe 8 weeks off for each of the three. I work 100 percent remotely too, and having not enough to do can make it harder to do the work when it does finally come in its just sometimes really difficult to shift gears when Ive had little or nothing to do all day. As another business owner, when I need to give people work, I have them start researching other services or products we could be offering to our customers. Can someone do market research on potential new customers? Im sure you are right that the potential of layoffs must be on the employees minds. can my employer dock my time off when I work less than 40 hours if I'm salaried? . At one job when I left they had to split my job up between three different people. They are people who would like to work but dont need to, or cant work because of other responsibilities. Etc. The other half has us calling our teapot business contacts on campaigns. i make up support hours for clients (unbilled ofc), I have this issue now, and often have had it in the past. Research the annoying, spend-2-months-in-the-archives kind but he was doing a history tour series so that was handy This seems like the kind of thing that would have to be optional, at the very least. For instance, suppose the organization's . Assuming your busy time is in the summer, could you offer them each the chance to set up a different seasonal side business related to your quiet time (Christmas pop-up shop, for example) and work out some kind off profit sharing deal in return for the part of their salary that youre paying when there is no work and for providing office infrastructure? Its clearly aggravating for you and Im sure its not much fun for them either. what are the best jobs while youre in school? I was also thinking this, is there no way you could cross-train them to help out with business growth/management and also clerical tasks? when promotions are available in these kinds of environments, they tend to have guaranteed promotions where even mediocre people get promoted so its not like there are rewards for high performers. And I had a co-worker who got things done a lot faster than me. Private sector workers (excluding farmworkers) got an average 11-cent hourly raise in February, adding up to an average of $27.66 per hour. Keeping the one person on staff year round, while the other two get other seasonal jobs (for the opposite season) is the standard practice. Best practices are to keep up plausible deniability by working only on a thumb drive or cloud-based word processor or personal email; if you cant use those at your job, definitely dont write a novel because youll never be able to get it out of the building. Im usually hesitant to ask my boss about it until Ive been there a while and have a better idea of what my regular workload is going to beI dont want to take on additional tasks that I may not be able to continue doing once I get fully on-board with my regular work. For example, if you offer historical tours, maybe someone on your team is a foodie and would love to develop a food tour to add to your lineup. Im half in this boat. Tips for When You're Laid off Due to a Lack of Work For example: That being said, dont spend your extra time on your phone. Oo thats a good idea too. But its also the solution Trump seems least inclined to take. Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism? Youre learning a great skill that will help further your career, and the majority of people who walk by your desk wont recognize that you arent doing work. That has happened only one or two times since President Donald Trump took office. If you are going to pay them to do nothing, pay them to do good instead. I was thinking about this, too. I also love Alisons suggestion to ask your employees what theyd like to do. I work for a local government. My supervisor is more than happy to allow me to study for my certification exam(s) during work hours, or really allow me to do anything as long as its somewhat tangentially related to my job. If you can afford to pay them all for the full year, definitely look into providing more time off for them. if i didnt do anything, where the heck do i put my time?? Also, like for teachers, I like the idea of allowing the employees the whole season off each year. update: how do we fire someone who refuses to talk to us? It could be a win-win situation for the employees to learn about work in a different area, and the business owner to have a little help. Every person Ive replaced, once I got the job down I struggled to understand how they possibly could have made a 40 hour week out of it. Do a little work, go for a run, do a little work, do some laundry, do a little work, etc. The other one went WAY over board with hand holding our members to a point where they didnt know how to do things they should be doing themselves because she did everything for them just to keep busy. A lot of schools only have most of their employees physically at work for about 9 months of the year, but they divide the salaries out over 12 months (or at least give that option) so employees still get a paycheck in the summer. n. Offering three months off paid is not prioritizing your business financially or your own retirement assets since as owner you drive the bus and take on all the responsibility. Frankly, if I were in charge, Id just look the other way while people read books or surfed the internet. Im in the exact same boat. I have always been very fast too, At some jobs I had a lot of downtime, at others I was worked too hard because my employer knew I would handle it. Their most common reasons for not working are because theyre enrolled in school or taking care of family members, according to the Labor Department. The Manipur government has decided to invoke ''no work, no pay'' rule for its employees who are not attending office. If your current staffers have strong knowledge of your tours, the area, guest needs, and the benefits of what you offer they can be creating valuable SEO-rich, user-rich content (blog posts, articles, photo galleries, videos, interviews, etc.) ABS Labour Force. My workload is dependent on things outside of my control. But I also suspect for a lot of us its just some mix of traits that result in efficiency. The only thing Ive found to even kind of work is to make a cringe-bust list: just write a to-do list in as small chunks as a I can, start at the first thing (no matter what it is) and work down. SM5- All 3 in office prep for busy season. There are probably other orgs that can use online support during business hours. What about holding some kind of staff appreciation day where you treat them after the busy season ends, but then spend time brainstorming how to grow or improve the business together so you can make a plan for their down time? 5 Ways Being Understaffed at Work Can Hurt an Organization This is a great suggestion. In my experience, you can try asking for more work a few times, but after that youd better figure out some projects on your own or at least Look Busy. In fact, wages grew a lot faster in February than they have in a long time. It was in the accounting dept but they wanted me to re-write all these instruction manuals for things I knew nothing about. Have a meeting with them and ask for their thoughts. But I find myself with extra time on my hands pretty regularly. I spent years wasting time in a job that was hot and cold. I worked at a job with a couple of months of slow period each year and we were given the blessing to read books at our desk, do personal chores like pay bills, etc. Ive been in this role for a year. I worked in a school that gave an option of getting the same lower amount for each paycheck through the whole year, or getting a higher amount per check through the school year and nothing in the summer. That is, if I were using my down time to write a novel instead of helping out other departments. Sorry A Username, on my phone and didnt realize this had nested here?? Maybe you want to sell merchandise that advertises your service since it sounds like youre in the tourism business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. This is what I was thinking. Hell, during holidays Ive brought books and magazines to work when Im one of few in the office, but nobody cares because theyre all on FB all day. Here are a few ways to rethink your office lighting design: Consider adding skylights. Once theyre done, theyre done. When I did my exit interview, I told them to advertise for a part-time position, 20 hours max, because thats all the job needed. This is one of my favorite downtime activities. They might well have suggestions or even training theyd like to undertake that they could do during this time. One boss didnt care and said I could do whatever with my extra time which led to me being fired without warning by a higher up for spending too much time online. *When you are all in the busy season keep a log or a whiteboard or something to write down all of those things you want to do but dont have the time for right at that moment. What about learning new skills/knowledge by volunteering to help co-workers in different areas? Yeah! Dont feel like you have to do all the work to grow the business. So those days are usually filled with a healthy dose of internet/phone time and getting tasks that need to be done every so often accomplished. It was nice. Something non-political, obviously. Weekend Warrior Oregon Raft Guide here. June 20, 2023. It does take time for things to ramp up, though, especially in government jobs where things move slowly. Bayless told the Wall Street Journal restaurant work today is much more professional than it used to be. Personally, I prefer the first if you can swing it financially (it sounds like you can, since youre currently paying them all for 12 months anyway). Please enter a valid email and try again. if you want one, you must make yourself seem dull and slow in the interviews. Love the idea of time off and working on the company website. Turns out, she was really unorganized and did her work multiple times. Too Much Work and Not Enough Staff: (Plus Solutions) - Indeed I thought of my old school contract too. This week on the Ask a Manager podcast, I talked to a guest who has too much downtime at work. I do love everything about it, except the non-workload. Often done through a web app. I had a temp job a few years ago. my coworker answers questions directed to me, social media post trashing a colleague, and more, updates: I secretly moved peoples desks two inches, coworker keeps stealing our snacks, and more. First, hats off to you. And also, things can go from zero to We need this NOOOW! with no warning and at any time. To date, he has given me approximately 1/2 to 1 hour of work to do a day, and Im expected to twiddle my thumbs the rest of the day. Understaffing and Overstaffing - A Delicate Balance - Factorial Why Working From Home Doesn't Work for Many Employees | Time Layoff due to lack of work is when an employer temporarily or permanently terminates an individual due to lack of available work or funds in the organization. For me, I meet myself halfway. I bring in my personal laptop and do this like this. Further, a fifth reported they felt work demands had increased "significantly." However, that's not all 47% of respondents across various sectors stated they work longer hours to get the job done than they had a year . Assuming you have some kind of desk/office job, here are ways I have found to pass time without being super-obvious: 1) online classes and learning. I run an adventure marketing agency and have worked in the outfitter business for years prior to that. They keep telling me its going to get busy.. just enjoy the calm. I had a job like that university, where just keeping the desk staffed was important and homework during downtime was permitted, and I found it actually made me extremely productive. 1. Im always trying to get on top of my workload, and almost never have any downtime ever. Unfortunately, it was also mishandled by management, resulting in peoples hours getting cut, weekday staff being suddenly told theyd have to start working weekend shifts, etc. Are you me? That wouldnt solve the problem thoughtthey need all three of them during the busy season, and one of them during the rest of the year. Now at my current job Im drowning in work, but I greatly prefer being busy to how it felt having nothing to do. I heard its so the faculty get a paycheck each month, but also because otherwise their health insurance premiums would get all messed up. There was going to be me and somebody who was slightly senior to begin with, then at least one other employee, possibly more, with regular contact with Head Office (which was in another country). You mention developing the business can they really not help with that? They will see the wall of syntax, become overwhelmed/impressed, and immediately assume that its job related because who would subject themselves to that just for fun? Where did you do your moose tour? I was in USAF procurement for four years. But I do work much more efficiently during busy periods. I work from home, too, and Ive found its easy to put things off during slow periods. If you dont need them there right now let them not be there. CNN . So maybe slow down some, and see if youre missing opportunities to provide higher quality work products. But as an efficient person, WFH at least part of the time is the way to really win. I had one job where there was a lot of downtime but my boss wasnt familiar enough with the type of work I did to be able to advise or suggest anything [and there was no one else who could either.]. I probably wouldnt write a novel on a company computer. Copyright 2007 - 2023 Ask A Manager. The main goal of this process is to employ the most suitable candidates for the roles needed. The workload is such that one employee would be sufficient during the quiet months, with three at our peak. Ive found that when Im sitting around, its often because the higher ups dont really know what to put in front of me, or are so busy that even thinking through what to give me is too much. Would having employees do corporate volunteer work (that is, as official reps of the company) be a possibility? Build Rapport Internally: 3. I work 9 months/187 days per year (basically August 1 June 1, with additional weeks off at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mardi Gras and Spring Break). So many (federal) government employees have side hustles for this reason (just dont use your government PC, although when I have worked for county government they were super lax about this, I had supervisors who sold vitamins and stuff online during the workday. Benefits and things like that take all this into account. Im remote and my team is offshore. Use it to update your own website/social media. Swiss luxury watchmaker Omega says it has been the victim of "organized criminal activity," alleging three of its former staff members admitted working with intermediaries to . They need to encourage more Americans to join the workforce. 6) political text banking. The gentleman I am supposed to be getting work from works minimum 11 hours/day, but refuses to give me any of the work out of an obsolescence fear (funny part is hes the one who fought so hard to bring anyone on to help). Maybe you just need a really better website and your staff can work on that. Sometimes there were special projects, but sometimes all the special projects were done by noon, but they still needed a body there for the rest of the shift. I procrastinate some tasks because I know they only take 5 minutes but then I worry that I will be bored all day and I dont like being bored I dawdle the 5 minutes into 10. It sounds like you do a lot of things yourself. Even if I was paid to sit out a month at a time, I would claw my eyes out from stress and boredom. If there are three people, and five months of slow time, then 2*5/3 = 3.33 months each of vacation. Writing out procedures and making sure that everything is up to date? My role is more focused now but I have less to do. Build SEO Many left early for their side gigs too due to generous PTO. grade inflation in DC in the federal government is real. Wait a moment and try again. Id be positively paranoid about the sustainability of a job where I wasnt needed for months at a time, but getting to learn new skills and provide value in other ways would be a huge plus. OP: is there a place that you want to grow your business? That changed last year. To get promoted to the next level up, what competencies would OP have to demonstrate, and how could OP use down time to develop herself/himself in that way? Its really going to serve everyone the best. Im a firm believer in train your replacement management. It may even lessen your liability in that case. That kind of arrangement would be a *huge* perk that would generate quite a bit of loyalty for the right employee. have staff pitch improvement/research ideas for the next season. Employers have been complaining about a shortage of skilled workers in recent years, particularly workers with advanced degrees in STEM fields. I love bosses who arent micromanagers (and I like being an employee who is good and valued). +1. If you have a #2 in the office that maybe doesnt have all the skills needed to help you with some of your work could you come to an agreement where they take some classes (either paid by you or on their own) but youll pay them salary while they attend the classes. This is a great solution. have a rotation of staff assist the owner so that they can have a slow summer too! I have the same problem at my job due to me overhauling my departments procedures and making them more efficient. If. I got into the habit of running on campus at least one day per week, and now Im dreading giving that up once the students come back! It sounds like there are so many great options that are likely to make you all happier. I love all of Alisons suggestions especially lots of PTO! You can only do so much when your work is reactive. Understanding common indicators of an unmanageable workload can help you address the situation before reaching the burnout stage. My last job was like thisI used to joke that Id hit the end of the Internet bc I quite literally ran out of things to look at each dayeven following all sorts of blogs and boards. There are tons of MOOCs (online courses like Coursera) that teach everything from business, to development, and then there are even creative courses online for graphic design, etc. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. When people resist performance targets for their measures, the most common reason is, "Yeah, but we don't have enough staff to make that happen!". Also: you seem like a really good and conscientious boss! Ive had several conversations with my direct supervisor and my grandboss (who technically directly oversees most of my work, its confusing). Wages have barely kept up with the cost of living, even as the unemployment rate dropped and the economy expanded.