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Is the Work Load Balanced?

It’s no secret that today’s workers typically face heavier workloads and longer hours. In fact, some companies have shifted into the inverse mode of trying to do more work with fewer employees. Despite this dire imbalance, many offices still have workers who successfully fight off attempts to ask them to do more. In the face of their fierce resistance, some managers simply take the path of least resistance and add to the in-basket of their more agreeable workers.

That approach will keep the less industrious happy, but will also breed resentment among the overworked on your staff. Now more than ever, it is imperative that you even out the workloads. If the amount of work requires your employees to spend more time in the office, the least you can do is make sure everyone is pitching in.

Don’t wait for workers to come to you to complain about unequal workloads. Go on the offensive. Put out a memo making it clear that you can’t or won’t tolerate the workload inequities and that you expect everyone to do what is asked of them. It won’t lighten the workload overall but it will keep resentment from working overtime.