While some may be off relaxing in sunnier climes, it appears that the rest of us are having to pick up the slack – and are likely to need a holiday of our own when they get back to de-stress.
According to a survey among 200 UK-based HR directors conducted by recruitment agency OfficeTeam, a huge 85% have failed to bring in any extra staff to cover shortfalls during the holiday season.
Instead seven out of 10 expected other team members to share the work out between them, with 37% saying that line managers picked it up.
On the other hand, a mere 17% claimed that work was put on hold in order to avoid overloading others, while only 15% took on temporary or contract staff to help out. The latter figure rose to just over one in four among medium-sized businesses, but fell to 13% for small firms and 8% for large corporates.
Phil Booth, OfficeTeam’s director, said: “Managers have to perform a balancing act in which essential work is completed without overtaxing a team that may already be stretched too thin. Holidays can place further pressure on other team members, increasing the chances of stress and anxiety.”
One Response
great post
For some HR departments it may be difficult to hire people to fill in the gaps caused by holidays because of budget constraints but for others it is important that they do not leave their managers with more to do than possible. Stretching a team too thin is dangerous because engagement, performance as well as the relationship between the employee and the business can all suffer as a result.
David Evans, commercial director at accessplanit, specialist in learning management software and learning management system.