{"id":6363,"date":"2021-05-20T00:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-05-20T00:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/?p=6363"},"modified":"2026-05-11T06:09:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T06:09:35","slug":"how-workforce-planning-prevents-employee-burnout-down-the-line","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/blog\/how-workforce-planning-prevents-employee-burnout-down-the-line\/","title":{"rendered":"How Workforce Planning Prevents Employee Burnout Down the Line"},"content":{"rendered":"

No one is a stranger to work pressure. When it’s under control, pressure<\/strong> helps you stay disciplined. Unfortunately, pressure isn\u2019t something that\u2019s served in moderation. The tendency to equate self-worth to the ability to surpass expectations results in employee burnout.<\/p>\n

Employee burnout<\/strong> is a psychological phenomenon that is thought to result from physical and mental exhaustion. Ever since the COVID outbreak in 2020, remote work has been on the rise. And with it, an alarming 33% rise in employee burnout signs. This is attributed to the fact that work norms have been overhauled. People are expected to be available, online and alert at all times, now that they have nowhere else to be but home.<\/p>\n

We have a long way to go before declaring any workplace to be completely devoid of employee burnout<\/strong>, but we can certainly start somewhere. And what better way than to see where workforce planning fits into all of this?<\/p>\n

\"Eliminate

What is Employee Burnout?<\/h2>\n

According to the Mayo Clinic<\/a>, employee burnout<\/strong> is a type of work-related stress that impacts mental, emotional and physical health. It is more likely to affect people suffering from depression.<\/p>\n

Employee burnout has more to do with how people are managed than setting standards for performance. Mismanaged employees end up feeling stressed and fatigued, more so when expectations grow but deadlines get shorter. Consequently, their performance dips. Individuals on the verge of a burnout feel a loss of identity and a reduced sense of achievement.<\/p>\n

The Reasons for employees burnout<\/h2>\n

Possible causes of employee burnout include<\/p>\n

Lack of control<\/h3>\n

This depends on the seniority of the employee. Generally speaking, interns and graduates are always closely supervised and are given instructions and guidance until they gain mastery over their role. But you can\u2019t apply the same rule to older employees. Not giving them some autonomy to decide what gets done can make them feel that they\u2019re no longer in control of their schedule, bandwidth and assignments.<\/p>\n

Work overload<\/h3>\n

This happens when everything is a priority. Conflicts ensue, and resource schedules<\/a> get overloaded. The only way to get things done is to work overtime and put in extra effort hours.<\/p>\n

Read More: What is Overallocation of Resources? 6 Ways to Avoid It<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unclear expectations<\/h3>\n

Anxiety sets in when expectations keep changing, or are ambiguous right from the outset.<\/p>\n

Dysfunctional dynamics<\/h3>\n

Managers who use bullying tactics or micromanage end up with employees who are stressed and resentful. Such employees gradually lose interest in both work and interacting with their team manager.<\/p>\n

Process inefficiencies<\/h3>\n

Relying on old processes for new lines of work can create gaps. Even a lack of the right aid you need for your work can burn you out.<\/p>\n

Peer pressure<\/h3>\n

Peer pressure causes employees to push themselves to meet impossible standards. And when they fail, they become hard on themselves and live in fear that their appraisals will be adversely impacted.<\/p>\n

Lack of, or insufficient support<\/h3>\n

A support system is essential to keeping motivation levels high. The absence of it either at work or on the personal front can make you feel isolated and alienated, contributing to higher stress levels.<\/p>\n

In short, burnout can affect anyone under the wrong circumstances. And when it hits, it affects employee productivity<\/a>, health and morale.<\/p>\n

Read More: The Effects of Low Productivity on Business Growth<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Bias<\/h3>\n

Bias at work is one of the factors behind workplace toxicity. In the absence of impartial assessment metrics, bias impacts teams at an individual and group level. Employees who see favoritism are more likely to experience burnout because of the feeling that their contributions and efforts are undervalued.<\/p>\n

If your company is guilty of any or all of the above, don\u2019t stop reading. There\u2019s something you should know about unchecked employee burnout in order to combat it.<\/p>\n

Personal issues<\/h3>\n

Issues on the personal front can weigh heavily on an employee\u2019s mind no matter how much they try to brush it off. The trouble with this going unaddressed is that it\u2019ll come to a point where even a simple task will seem difficult.<\/span> The truth is, not being able to do both work and personal commitments justice can make employees feel like they\u2019re compromising. And most times, on the wrong thing. Many organizations have in-house psychologists and counselors to provide support in such a situation. Having an impartial party listen can help you see the problem more clearly. Managers can also work with the employee to scale back or adjust priorities accordingly.<\/p>\n

Alcohol Addiction and substance abuse<\/h3>\n

We all have our vices, but overworked employees are at risk of using it as a coping mechanism or energy booster. Over time, this develops into an addiction to prohibitive substances, which adversely impact employee performance<\/a>.
\n\"Master

The Adverse effects of unchecked employee burnout<\/h2>\n

Compromised work quality<\/h3>\n

Work quality goes down when your once-top performing employees are too stressed,exhausted and overworked to maintain their performance. This is more so when employees have to multitask to demonstrate their commitment to completing requests that they get from different managers or colleagues.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, they\u2019re unable to do any single task full justice and end up doing \u201cshallow work\u201d. Shallow work is a term coined by celebrated author and Professor Cal Newport<\/a> of Georgetown University. He defines it as performing non-cognitive work in a distracted state of mind. The work may fill up your day, but contributes little to achieving objectives.<\/p>\n

Disinterest<\/h3>\n

Employees who are on the brink of burning out lose interest in work. This is because they associate it with their elevated stress levels and instinctively distance themselves from the source of pressure. If the disinterest grows, such employees may also seek out opportunities elsewhere. They may not cooperate during knowledge transfers and handovers.<\/p>\n

Suboptimal performance<\/h3>\n

Once the burnout feeling sinks in, it’s difficult for employees to get back on track without professional help. If communication barriers exist, employees would refrain from discussing what they\u2019re going through. This reflects in their performance and inability to meet goals that they were previously able to reach.<\/p>\n

Read More: 9 Effective Tips on Enhancing Employee Performance at Work<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Absence of goodwill<\/h3>\n

So it has come to your attention that some employees are exhibiting the classic signs of employee burnout<\/a>. But you\u2019re not doing anything about it, either because<\/p>\n

A) it hasn\u2019t yet impacted financial and operational performance or B)you are unsure of how to address it.<\/p>\n

The trouble with this is that the longer you sleep on it, the more likely you\u2019re going to lose employees. And if you\u2019re not intentional about cultivating and maintaining employee goodwill, you may be the subject of negative reviews on job search sites which will affect how prospective applicants look at you as an employer.<\/p>\n

High employee turnover<\/h3>\n

A high employee turnover<\/a> indicates a business environment that is high-pressured and unstable. When employees are treated as dispensable entities, it not only impacts current employees but also causes prospective applicants to rethink applying for vacancies. will think twice because a history of hiring, firing and rehiring may take longer to find.<\/p>\n

Read More: 12 Simple and Effective Ways to Reduce Employee Turnover in 2024<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Loss of business credibility and customer satisfaction<\/h3>\n

Depending on the nature of work, burnout can take a toll on the mental and physical health of an employee. Those employees who are habitually stressed out will not be capable of performing at their optimum best when their energy levels and enthusiasm are drooping. And these are cues clients can pick up on, especially when the employee makes promises they can\u2019t keep. The business starts to lose its credibility when other customers notice how it’s falling behind on deadlines and commitments.<\/p>\n

What is Workforce Planning?<\/h2>\n

Workforce planning is the process of assessing organizational needs from the viewpoint of its resource pool. Enterprise workforce planning solutions help businesses determine short-term, mid-term and long-term requirements for the type and number of skills.<\/p>\n

Project managers work closely with workforce planning managers. Departments or business units within a company place skills requests. These requests goto workforce managers who scan a workforce planning software to find, onboard, allocate, optimize and forecast resources<\/a>. Strategic workforce planning helps employers staff billable and non-billable work with the right knowledge and expertise so that work can stay on course.<\/p>\n

Workforce planning is used to study hiring requirements and plan out the recruiting of new people, even the order in which the roles advertised are to be filled.<\/p>\n

Read More: What is Workforce Planning? Types, Benefits & Best Practices<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ways in which workforce planning prevents employee burnout<\/h2>\n

Workforce planning can not only help you tap into your existing resource pool\u2019s potential but can also economize it with the right resources at all times. Here are a few ways workforce planning can prevent employee burnout;<\/p>\n

Optimizes workloads<\/h3>\n

Visibility at an enterprise-level lets managers see those scheduled activities that are completed, as well as which ones should be scheduled. If there is an imbalance in terms of an under or overload, team leads can take corrective action to optimize. They can make use of resource utilization<\/a> graphs to know if the capacity\u2019s bandwidth can be released or reassigned to priority tasks. When everyone is assigned work in line with their expertise, area of interest, knowledge, and availability, they can remain productive.<\/p>\n

Conducts status checks:<\/h3>\n

Managers can use the workforce planner\u2019s Gantt style drag-and drop interface to create resource bookings<\/a>. They can assign resources onto projects and split or divide bookings across the schedule. The tool even sends out early warnings in the event of an overload, which prevents you from creating an unreasonable load.<\/p>\n

Read More: Resource Booking: Definition, Key Benefits & Best Practices<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Generates a unified scale for Performance Measurement<\/h3>\n

Besides availability reports, workforce planning software contains a capacity versus demand<\/a> that computes the work hours available in line with demand hours. Converting effort estimates into a unified scale lets managers allocate work according to the type of resource, skills required to be released and the percentage or number of hours it will be required.<\/p>\n

All resource types are brought to a single central scale, which prevents bias.<\/p>\n

Prioritizes Work<\/h3>\n

The first step to optimizing your workforce\u2019s workload is to recognize that everything cannot be a priority. Doing so results in team members reaching fewer milestones. In such circumstances, they\u2019ll take longer to deliver the deliverables agreed upon despite pulling weeknighters and putting in overtime.<\/p>\n

The goal is to staff meaningful work over non-billable activities and function so that projects offering high returns are not sidetracked. Prioritizing helps employees reach project milestones<\/a> without overrunning constraints.<\/p>\n

Read More: Key Differences Between Billable & Non-Billable Work and Its Importance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Enables growth at-scale<\/h3>\n

Workforce planning\u2019s forecasting facility predicts future capacity for demand and lets managers estimate bandwidth ahead of confirmed projects. Any existing skill gaps can be bridged with appropriate skilling measures. You can even calculate a more accurate lead time that factors in the time to advertise, hire, onboard and train new resources based on the insights the tool offers.<\/p>\n

Additionally, running What-If scenarios helps you analyze where and when you\u2019ll face a resource crunch, and even the type of resource you\u2019ll need down the line. This ghost resource is a placeholder for the kind of skills you need for the project and location in question.<\/p>\n

Creates a skills matrix<\/h3>\n

A competency database or skills matrix<\/a> contains a list of all skills and certifications, and the departments and locations they are in. It makes it easy for resource managers to match requests to relevant and available skills. What\u2019s more, resources can avail the open seat facility to explore a project that\u2019s of interest to them. It’s a win-win for everyone!<\/p>\n

Read More: How Can Retraining\/Upskilling Future-Proof Your Workforce?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Finalizes deadlines based on feasibility<\/h3>\n

Managers can assess the project\u2019s feasibility in terms of complexity of tasks and subtasks, dependencies, constraints, risks and returns before feeding it into the pipeline. This helps businesses costs by picking only those projects that align with business goals. Your resource pool too will not have to be assigned to work that\u2019s not helping them grow professionally nor making use of their competence.<\/p>\n

Facilitates operational compliance<\/h3>\n

Operational excellence teams are internal auditors who can independently review resource, financial and operational performance. This body sets the precedent for governance and determines if there are process inefficiencies that have resulted from work overloads.<\/p>\n

The insights from workforce planning software, combined with feedback from exit interviews play a role in helping businesses improve workplace practices.<\/p>\n

Helps managers reward high-utilization<\/h3>\n

Resource utilization reports within a workforce planning tool can help managers assess the distribution of utilization by resource, department, team, and project. This insight can identify those employees whose utilization rates are consistently optimal and high. Such employees can be encouraged to avail complimentary offs or in-house skills building in an area that interests them.<\/p>\n

Read More: How to Optimize Resource Utilization in 7 Effective Steps?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Prevents competing interests<\/h3>\n

Some project managers are reluctant to release a good resource from a project even when they know there are other projects that can tap into their potential. As a result, there\u2019s a skills crunch with managers competing for the same resource at the same time. The staff themselves get caught up in the tug of war and end up doing jobs that aren\u2019t interesting to them. Loss of interest can cause burn out.<\/p>\n

Organizations can out rotate a resource from a project after a certain time period. And track this across activities using a Workforce planning software.<\/p>\n

The Bottomline<\/h2>\n

No matter how your team composition shifts, contracts or expands, the goal is to ensure your organization doesn\u2019t lose high performers<\/strong> to employee burnouts and workplace stress<\/a>. There\u2019s no time like the present to fix the future, and that\u2019s exactly what Workforce planning does. It contextualizes work around employee productivity, thus becoming the key to acquiring, engaging and retaining the best resources.<\/p>\n

After all, it’s not enough that you\u2019ve hired the right people. They should also feel engaged<\/strong>, recognized<\/strong> and appreciated<\/strong>. This way, they are less likely to burn out. In fact, you are doing employees and your business a favor by equipping them with the tools and support to succeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

No one is a stranger to work pressure. When it’s under control, pressure helps you stay disciplined. Unfortunately, pressure isn\u2019t something that\u2019s served in moderation. The tendency to equate self-worth to the ability to surpass expectations results in employee burnout. Employee burnout is a psychological phenomenon that is thought to result from physical and mental […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":16448,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","categories":[39],"tags":[],"coauthors":[192],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog\/6363"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/blog"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6363"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6363"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saviom.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}