Employee Overutilization Dangers: How to Track It & Prevent Burnout

Hands up who has first-hand experience of being overutilized. I have, several times throughout my career. Having personal experience working in Irish media, I can attest that overutilization is rife in certain industries. 

You learn to spot the warning signs; the increasingly regular requests to work longer hours, agreeing to projects you haven't a hope of completing within deadline, followed by the general frustration before the malaise starts to seep in. 

Simply put, overutilization is repeatedly demanding more from your workforce than they can deliver sustainably. Having personal experience working in Irish media, I can attest that overutilization is rife in certain industries. Over time, it can lead to:

• Quashed creativity
• Heightened human error
• Employee disengagement
• Inevitable burnout

If any of this sounds familiar, then consider it time to take stock of your team to stop any burgeoning rot. After all, your employees are your best asset – alongside established time management practices and decent data management processes. 

With that in mind, this blog will outline the symptoms of overutilization and provide practical strategies to prevent burnout.

How to identify overutilization in service businesses

Broadly speaking, overutilization in service businesses often presents as overuse of employees’ time due to understaffing or poor planning. That said, this issue can seep into other business areas, like production, operations, or financial resources. 

Before we proceed further, I feel compelled to clarify that I’m not averse to a bit of overtime; sometimes it's a necessary evil. That said, when it becomes commonplace, it's a problem that requires addressing. 

Identifying overutilization in service businesses is vital for a healthy and productive work environment. If ignored, you and your business could fall foul to some – if not all – of the following:

• ‍Cost increases: Overtime is an expensive practice, as is outsourcing.
• ‍Resource limitations: This is especially true if you're taking on more work than your team can handle.‍
• Operational inefficiencies: Poor scheduling, inefficient processes, and a lack of coordination among team members contribute to resource squandering and operational mishaps.‍
• Productivity slumps: Missed deadlines, increased errors, and an overall reduction of quality output lead to decreased productivity. ‍
• Burnout: When your employees feel overworked, stressed, and undervalued, it naturally leads to decreased morale, increased absenteeism, and subsequent staff turnover rates.‍
• Decreased customer satisfaction: The obvious conclusion. Let’s not forget that a reputation can take a lifetime to build and a matter of minutes to ruin.

Overutilization can be seen as an often insurmountable issue with multiple contributing factors – particularly when you consider your company size, specific circumstances, and industry.

For instance, I mentioned in the intro that I’ve been working in the media industry for almost two decades. During that time, I’ve witnessed several failed employer tactics to further motivate overutilized staff. It might work in the short term but the long term is a different matter entirely.

4 tropes that don’t help overutilization

Let’s use my experience working in media as a use case to highlight the perils of overutilization. While it may seem like a niche line of work, the fundamentals remain the same. For instance, we have:

• Multiple ongoing projects
• The need for cross-functional collaboration
• And, boy, do we have deadlines
  

Given it’s a relatively small field, media is rife with “overtime”. I use “bunny ears” here because, generally, you’re meant to get paid for working overtime… Then, overtime becomes the expected norm, and you start to feel trapped in a relentless cycle before you disengage. 

In fact, it was the neverending micromanagement coupled with, in other instances, a complete free-wheeling hands-off approach that motivated me to leave the office environs and go freelance. Doing so was far better than the alternative – being subjected to the whims of management who, more often than not, seemed just as lost as me. 

For context, here are just a few platitudes expressed by management during my career that may sound familiar and largely indicative of overutilization.

“Just one last push to get this project over the line and then we can take a breather.”

On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with this statement – but when it comes all too frequently then there’s clearly an underlying issue that needs addressing. Otherwise, there is no breathing space.

“I know I can count on you.”

‍Unintentional or otherwise, this is a form of emotional manipulation – that quickly loses its veneer when used repeatedly. 

“Are you a team player or not?”

This one usually comes when a team member manages to muster some pushback. Often, it’s a statement of fact; that the current work model is unsustainable. Instead of digging into a clearly flawed process (if, indeed, there is even a process in place – oftentimes everyone is just doing their own thing hoping to reach something resembling a unified conclusion) management would find themselves – unwittingly or otherwise – scapegoating said team member.

“Do you know how many people would love to have your job?”

True, positions in the Irish media industry are coveted given the pool is so small, but that shouldn’t mean bad time management and processes, running talented people into the ground under the guise of being easily replaceable. That fear-mongering may work for a while, but – like overutilization itself – it’s not sustainable.

For you see, there’s a common thread that can be pulled between almost all industries; impassioned employees are consistently undervalued and overutilized instead of being nurtured – whether management chooses to see it or not.

Common factors contributing to overutilization

Now that we've shone something of a spotlight on the potential murky depths of undiagnosed overutilization, understanding the root causes of it is crucial for maintaining a balanced and efficient workplace.

With that in mind, behold some factors that can contribute to it. While said factors do vary, some common causes usually include:

Growth

Unexpected spikes in demand can push companies to and often beyond their limits. While growth can be viewed as a positive, it can lead to overworked employees if left unchecked. Instead of being a gift, you and your employees will start to see growth as a hindrance you can’t keep up with.

Forecasting

It’s all too easy to get bogged down in day-to-day short term tasks. Who has time to plan?! Well, you need to make time to plan. After all, if you have proper forecasting in place, then you can start to deal with those potentially unforeseen spikes in demand we just touched off. Forecasting doesn’t have to be some magical endeavor cloaked in mystery; we have some simple and effective methods for that. 

Resource management

Poor monitoring and control of resources can lead to overutilization. Without accurate data, businesses may not realize when they're surpassing sustainable levels. The result? Scheduling conflicts and unnecessarily stressful work environments.

Inadequate staffing 

New projects often require additional specialized skills that can be tricky to find within the required timeframe. This can lead to existing employees being overburdened, ineffective, and at sea in terms of process. Yes, you guessed it – the resulting stress leads to overutilization.

Unrealistic goals

This is akin to the dreaded “over promise and under deliver” cycle. Projects that aren’t scoped properly for the necessary skills or capacity are overwhelming. In the absence of proper planning, and the data with which to do it, you will continue to overutilize your team, jeopardize productivity, and – by extension – your profitability.

7 ways to start mitigating overutilization 

So this can all be mitigated by spreading work across a team as opposed to just lumping it on one person, right?! Nope. If anything, you’ll just expose an entire team to overutilization and burnout.

If you identify any of these aforementioned signs, it's important to mitigate ASAP to foster and maintain a healthy working environment. Here are just a few ways you can make this happen:

1. Project time tracking

This is the simplest and most efficient way of mitigating overutilization. If your employees are consistently working beyond their standard hours or allocating excessive time to particular projects, this is a clear indicator of overutilization.

2. Employee morale monitoring

If you notice decreased productivity and/or a spike in absenteeism, be transparent – with yourself and your team – and ask why this is the case.

3. Calculate the billable utilization rate 

This is the percentage of available hours that employees spend on revenue-generating tasks. A consistently high rate of 80%+ could suggest latent overutilization.

4. Analyze project loads

It might sound obvious, but you need to regularly take stock of the number of projects allocated to each team member. If they’re juggling and/or struggling, this will invariably lead to overutilization. So, regularly check in with your staff, promote transparency, and adjust workloads accordingly. 

5. Process optimization

There is no such thing as a perfect process. They always need breaking and rebuilding. The first step for a functioning process is thoroughly documenting it from the offset and reviewing it regularly. Only then can you streamline and/or automate where necessary. 

6. Collate precious feedback

Transparency is a two-way street. So, instead of just deploying instructions as to what needs doing, you must regularly welcome employee feedback. Gaining insights about their workload and stress levels is a pivotal starting point to mitigate potential overutilization.

7. Provide more training! 

All too often, employees are just expected to learn on the job. While there are merits to this hands-on learning, it does increase the chances of mistakes and the ineffective plugging of skill gaps. Instead, consider upskilling employees via dedicated training days. It will be worth it in the long term.

Wrapping up

Imagine the possibilities of good employee productivity. This is a natural byproduct that occurs – to the benefit of everyone – when teams feel valued and supported. 

In terms of how Memtime can help? We can bring a lot of value when tackling overutilization. 

Let us count the ways:

1. Memtime tracks all your team members’ time in programs without impeding on their privacy or distracting them during the day.
2. Memtime can be integrated with an array of project management software.
3. The result? Employees see exactly where their time is being spent and can relay this to project managers.

Here’s how the employee interface works in practice: each captured activity can easily become a time entry, ready to be sent to the project software of your choice.

By giving your employee this type of automated tool, everyone can receive real, accurate data regarding who works how much, and on what projects and tasks.

In short, nothing is based on gut feelings, intuition, or “guesstimates” on past performances… 

To be clear, and at the risk of repetition, Memtime is not a means for employee surveillance, or a cudgel to be used against them. It is a tool for promoting productivity and transparency, while negating time theft. 

Moreover, you can also see which projects take the most time and resources. This provides you with the insight and therefore the opportunities to see if certain projects should be outsourced – or dropped entirely.

After all, the holy grail of productivity and profitability is to increase billable hours without overworking your team.