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Working Long Hours Every Day, But Is It Worth It?

November 24th, 2016 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Benefit Accruals | Forecasting | Overtime | Retail | Scheduling | Telecommuting Employees - (Comments Off on Working Long Hours Every Day, But Is It Worth It?)

Every boss appreciates a hard working employee, especially one who will volunteer to stay at work longer to complete that project and meet a deadline. And, in the world of retail and hospitality it’s almost become the norm that employees are expected to work long hours and some split shifts-especially during busy periods Christmas holidays included. But, if all your company’s projects have tight deadlines, does that mean you have to work overtime every week? As an employee in retail, does your schedule include a lot of spilt-shifts? Sooner or later, working these long hours will eventually take its toll.

We all understand that from time to time extra hours are required to get the job done. But, when does all this extra hours you are putting in start to affect your health and, more importantly starts alienating you from your loved ones?

Working Long Hours Every Day, But Is It Worth It?

In an article Minda Zetlin for Inc.com titled ‘10 Reasons to Stop Working So Hard’ she eloquently describes some of the drawbacks of working crazy hours. In no particular order, we selected five reasons out her list that clearly makes a case for why should not be working long hours every time:

“Most of the work is less important than you think-A few years ago, hospice worker Bronnie Ware famously published the top five regrets she heard from her dying patients. Those who’d had careers all regretted the number of hours they spent at work. But many of her patients also spoke of dreams they wished they’d fulfilled.

Your mood is a buzzkill-The kind of irritability and impatience that goes with being overworked and behind schedule will cast a black cloud over the people around you both at work and at home. If you’re an employee, it will damage your career. If you’re a small business owner, it will harm your business.

Sleep matters-“The way to a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life is getting enough sleep,” Arianna Huffington said in a 2011 TED talk. She would know. She fainted from exhaustion and broke her cheekbone and is now something of a sleep evangelist. “I was recently having dinner with a guy who bragged that he’d gotten only four hours’ sleep the night before,” she continued. She considered retorting: “If you had gotten five, this dinner would have been a lot more interesting.”

Your judgment is impaired-The research is conclusive: sleep deprivation impairs decision-making. As a leader, poor judgment is something you can’t afford. Crossing some tasks off your to-do list, handing them to someone else, or finishing some things late is well worth it if it means you bring your full concentration and intelligence to the tough decisions your job requires

You suck when it counts-I can tell you from experience that going into a meeting tired and distracted means you will suck in that meeting. You’ll be bad at generating new ideas, finding creative solutions to problems, and worst of all you’ll suck at listening attentively to the people around you. That disrespects them and wastes their time as well as yours.”

Bottom line: Spending long hours at work might help you meet deadlines, but those long hours, especially when they are done over a long period of time, can affect both your physical and, yes mental state. When you spend a significant part of your day working, there is not enough time to rest and recharge.

 

 

Trying to keep employees engaged during the holiday season can be a challenge for many companies. During this time of the year employees are thinking of planned family visits and gift buying to name a few-and this is precisely when companies may notice a slight dip in productivity. If as an employer, you are aware of this slight dip each year, there are several there some things you can offer employees to keep them productive or at the very least engaged during that period. As an employer, how about bringing in a tray of cookies and some eggnog that employees can sample as their go about their day? It’s a small gesture that it likely to brighten your employees day.

How To Show Your Appreciation For Employees During The Holiday Season.

Glassdoor, an online career community portal conducted a recent study titled “What Employees Want The Most This Holiday Season” and in conjunction with Forbes.com listed ten intrinsic items that employee said they would love to get from their employer during the season. They include:

Number 10: Commuter Subsidy-2%
Number 9:  Holiday Party with an open bar-5%
Number 8:   Gym Membership-7%
Number 7:   Company Stock options- 9%
Number 6:   Option to telecommute for one year-13%
Number 5:   Grocery Giftcard-29%
Number 4:   Paid Time Off-36%
Number 3:   Raise in pay-60%
Number 2:   Cash bonus-73%
Number 1:   Cash

You can see the infographics on the Forbes website. Some industries including; retail, service and the hospitality are all open for business during the holiday season. Employees in these industries are likely very overwhelmed having to deal with an equally stressed out throng of shoppers- and, any one of the above mentioned gifts items would work wonders for them.

Employee Appreciation

In closing, while some companies may not be able to employ some or all of these ideas, employers should keep in mind that they will experience a slight dip in productivity. When this happens, take an impromptu break, invite everyone for a cookie and eggnog and just ask them about their plans for the holidays.

Sometimes, it’s the little things that count. Happy Holidays!

Employee Appreciation During Holiday Season