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Are your employees bored?

In 2018, unemployment rates in Ireland hit a low of 5.1%. This is the lowest the unemployment rate has been for the past decade. In fact, the past 6 years has seen it drop from a high of 15.9% down to what it currently is now.

For the Irish public, this is fantastic news and it shows that more and more job opportunities are being created. However, for businesses, it means that there are many opportunities out there and employee retention is now an incredibly important factor to consider when running a business. Replacing a member of staff is not easy due to the current unemployment rate in Ireland and can be expensive.

This means that keeping your employees within your company is incredibly important, and one of the most underestimated things that could force them away from your organisation is boredom.

What problems does a bored employee cause?

There are a number of different problems that stem from bored employees.

• Lack of productivity – Bored employees tend to be less productive because they’re less focused on their work and more focused on distracting themselves. This ultimately means that they’re going to put in less effort into the work they should be doing and this could cause delays in your workflow that lead to lost profits and poor customer satisfaction.
• Lack of creativity – If your employees are involved in some kind of creative role (including Sales) then it’s vital that you give them the space they need to be creative. Without this space, it becomes difficult for your employees to spread their ideas, try new and innovative things and their minds ultimately get stale, causing a lack of progress within your company.
• Punctuality problems – An employee that is bored with their job will likely take more sick days off and even come in late to work or leave early. These types of employees will do the bare minimum required to keep their job, and this could lead to excess absences that will cause problems for the rest of your employees and potentially your entire company.
• Employee retention problems – Bored employees will likely look for another job, meaning you could have issues keeping your most talented workers which is not ideal in the current jobs market. This will force you to recruit more people into your company and also means training new workers which will take time and money.

Bored employees can cause even more issues, but the main issue is that they negatively affect your business. Over time, this boredom can continue to get worse until they dislike their job or resent working for you, and this can lead to huge problems in your office culture.

What causes boredom in employees?

Boredom happens for a number of different reasons. One potential issue could be because your employees aren’t developing their skills. Your employees will love to learn new things and it helps if they can stretch their knowledge and apply it to the jobs you give them. Investing in your employee’s education is one strategy to prevent them from getting bored, and to also give them a sense of fulfillment and purpose in your company.

Another issue could be because your employees aren’t being challenged. This tends to happen when you give your employees boring and predictable jobs, or tasks that aren’t difficult enough to stimulate them. Employees will take their work more seriously when they need to flex their knowledge, but if they’re doing the same jobs day in day out, then it will harm their enjoyment and make the job seem boring and stale.

Lastly, an imbalance of work can also cause boredom and even stress. It’s never a good idea to leave your employees with nothing to do all the time, but it’s also bad if you overwork your employees and force them to do overtime with little to no bonus. Striking the right balance of work is the key to preventing boredom in your employees. Give them plenty of work to stimulate them, but give them breaks to recuperate as well.

Preventing bored employees

There are several things to consider if you want to prevent employees from getting bored in your workplace.

• Invest in your employees – Invest in your employees by teaching them new skills, but make sure the skills are relevant to their position and that you have a use for those skills when they’ve finished learning.
• Challenge your employees – Give your employee different challenges to stimulate their minds. As long as the task isn’t mundane and predictable, your employees will feel like their skills are being put to use instead of seeing them wasted.
• Give your employees autonomy – Providing your team with freedom to work on certain tasks and projects how they see fit so you can give them some control over how they work can increase productivity. On the other hand, you shouldn’t give your employees complete autonomy since they do need to follow a general direction.
• Balance their workload – An employee’s workload should never be too sparse or too dense. They shouldn’t ever feel overworked, but they should feel challenged and constantly have something to do so they don’t sit around bored or distracting others.

We at PRL Recruitment understand the challenges of trying to get your employees on their feet and interested in the work they do. We’re dedicated to providing services to businesses in order to fill their job positions with enthusiastic workers that offer plenty of talent and are also able to fit into the culture of your office. At PRL we have over 1200 employees and PRL Recruitment know how difficult it can be to replace well-trained and educated staff, and we also know what it takes to keep those staff in your company so that you can nurture their talents and watch them flourish as part of your company.

In short, bored employees can cause huge problems for your business and it’s vital that you do everything in your power to either prevent the issue or prepare for the inevitability of one of your most talented employees departing from your company so that they can work in a more challenging field.