Having an under resourced team is like a crack in the porthole of a submarine, a tiny crack under pressure becomes a gaping hole which sinks the sub. Companies often cut costs by cutting labour. This is often prudent during downturns, however, if we forget to upsize again when the business revenue and workload improves, we have a problem. If we expect that we can do more with less on an ongoing basis, we are putting pressure on employees and creating a stressful environment.
When humans are stressed, the chances of making errors increases significantly. Tolerance levels decrease and communication style often become more direct. If we expect teams to work effectively when under resourced for a prolonged period, we are setting everyone up for failure. It becomes a vortex that is difficult to escape. The employee is strained because they are overworked, they feel they cannot accomplish the work required, anxiety rises, they make a mistake, which leads to more stress, how can they fix it, will they get in trouble, they feel like they are doing a bad job, which creates more stress, leads to another mistake. Eventually, something must give and either you have a psychological claim or a resignation on your hands. It is generally the best employees who get caught in the vortex because they care the most and are most concerned with doing a good job.
When workforce planning, most organisations do not allow for employees being on leave. If you have a team of 10 people, it is fair to say that someone will be out on leave every day in the year if you allow for four weeks annual leave and five personal leave days, yet, this is rarely considered when devising workforce plans. In most cases, colleagues pick up the extra workload, which means it places more weight on the team or things are not actioned when someone is on leave creating more pressure.
When a team is adequately resourced, they can support each other, make less mistakes, have time for a coffee and a laugh. They are more engaged and connected to their work. Consider flexible ways of resourcing the team, it might mean a part time or casual resource, planning leave differently, looking at workload trends in recent years to be better prepared. Being proactive in resourcing, the team will pay dividends long-term increasing retention of quality employees (after all they are the most sought after from competitors).
Planning and adequate, or better yet, slightly over resourcing, provides more time to the employees to do their job well. They can also have a few minutes a day to connect to each other, grab a coffee and improve their social connection in the team. If something unexpected arises and let’s face it, this often happens, the team can clear that hurdle with a smile because they have some capacity in reserve.