According to TNO (the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research), one in six employees in the Netherlands are experiencing symptoms of burnout. Spotting the signs of burnout at an early stage and a willingness to discuss the issue are vital to the prevention and management of excessive workloads at the UvA. This Work Pressure Guide is a resource that will allow you, in your capacity as a supervisor, to spot the signs of an excessive workload in your team at an early stage, to bring up the subject and act on it.
An employee can experience work pressure when the requirements set by the work to an employee (the “job requirements”) are not in balance with the options that this employee has to do that work well (the “control options”).
The definition of work stress is ‘stress-related complaints caused by work’.
Allow your employees some freedom with regard to how they perform their work
Support your employees by displaying genuine attention and empathy
Show your appreciation for the work your employees perform
Offer flexible working hours where possible
Make sure the amount of work to be done is in line with your employees’ abilities and schedules
Compliment your employees
Make sure you are assigning the right jobs to the right people
Invest in your employees’ strengths
Celebrate success stories and make sure that results obtained and efforts made are noted
When an employee says ‘no’, respect that decision and ask why
Tip 1
Emails should be used to share brief information or to ask a question, but not for long ‘letters’, discussions or the addressing of sensitive issues or complex problems.
Tip 2
Send fewer emails. Receiving fewer emails begins by sending fewer emails.
Tip 3
Carefully select who you include in your distribution list (including in the cc): do all these people really need to read the email?
Tip 4
Schedule time in your diary for handling emails, e.g. at one or two specific times during the day. This process will enable you to prevent emails from interrupting your work constantly throughout the day.
Tip 5
Read your emails when it suits you, not when the sender expects you to read them. You can also turn off your email notifications between specific times.
Tip 1
Provide clarity: do the meeting and the agenda items have a clear purpose?
Tip 2
Who is authorised to make decisions on which topics together with which parties?
Tip 3
Be mindful of people’s time: do all people you wish to invite really need to stick around for all the items on the agenda?
Tip 4
Establish the proper preconditions: meetings are more effective when all the participants are well prepared.
Tip 5
Effective meetings result in decisions/conclusions at the close of the consultation that have been noted down in accordance with SMART criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound).