For managers: Create balance between demands and resources

Quantitative demands

• What are the demands for different job functions?
• Are there unclear or conflicting demands?
• Am I clear in my communication to employees about what I expect from them?
• Is there consistency between tasks and the time available?
• Are there the right conditions for employees to complete their tasks in due time?
• Do employees have influence on their own tasks, so that they cope with the demands?
• Are tasks and demands distributed fairly between employees?

Qualitative demands

• Do employees have the necessary personal, professional, social and technical resources to perform their tasks?
• Do employees indicate that there is a heavy workload, do they seem tired, or do some employees show symptoms of stress?
• Do any employees seem uncommitted, and could this be because of lack of challenges?
• Do employees have influence on their own work and on the framework laid down for the work?
• Do employees often face emotionally difficult situations, for example do they have to deal with difficult customers, conflicts with customers or shoplifters, or is there a risk of robbery? How do I best support them as a manager?

Here is what you can do

Here are some suggestions that others have found useful. It’s about finding what works best at your workplace:

• Identify your employees’ skills. The responsibilities and degree of influence of your employees should match their skills. Hold regular employee interviews, for example appraisal interviews, to identify the individual employee’s skills and need for skills development, so that employees have opportunity to influence their own development.
• Make a clear description of job fucntions. Clear roles and descriptions of tasks help define employees’ possibilities for influence. It’s therefore important that you have clarified the role and the tasks of the individual employee. For example, this could be specified in their job and function descriptions.
• Delegate responsibility. Greater employee influence could also be in relation to the order of tasks, how work is performed, and what tools and technology are used. You can give your employees more influence by delegating responsibility to an individual employee or group. For example, you could establish self-governing groups and teams to increase motivation and job satisfaction.
  
  Delegation requires that the employees delegated a responsibility have the right competences to deal with it. Therefore, an education and training policy promoting skills development and upgrading of skills will allow for more opportunities for delegation.
• Set goals for the work. You give employees influence by involving them in setting goals for their tasks. You can also involve them in quality assurance, how the goals are to be achieved, or how to perform tasks timely and quickly, etc. Employees often have experience and knowledge which they can contribute.
• Set frameworks for work. With a clear framework and guidelines, you can enable employees with the right competences to decide on matters within the agreed framework. The framework ensures that you’re working in the same direction, and that you have the objectives of the company in mind.
• Ensure good communication. Usually, the type of information and not the amount of information is crucial. Regular meetings about day-to-day operations, at which everyone can express their opinion, can increase employee influence. Where appropriate, ask the employees whether they lack information. A positive and open approach to suggestions from the employees may increase their co-influence.
• General initiatives at company level such as establishing an education and training policy, organising work in self-governing groups/teams, introducing appraisal interviews and general internal communication require decision-making at a higher level of the company. You should use the channels available to launch such initiatives.