9 Ways to Convince Employees to Work Overtime

How to Convince Employees to Work Overtime

1. Pay your employees

This one is obvious. If you want employees to work more hours, then compensate them for those extra hours.

In many cases, you have a legal requirement to do so. The hourly rate for overtime hours is often higher than the standard hourly rate.

Besides paychecks, you can give your employees a year-end bonus or gift cards to their favorite retailers. Your employees will have a hard time saying no to overtime if it is a worthwhile experience.

2. Provide food

This is a common practice in finance, an industry infamous for its long hours. Investment bankers get meal credits from their “bulge bracket” employers. They need the extra energy to edit PowerPoint slides and double-check numbers in Excel.

As a small business owner, you probably can’t afford to feed your employees every time they need to work late. That’s okay.

However, by occasionally ordering pizza, you will keep everyone’s spirits up as they race to finish projects and meet deadlines.

In fact, if the food options are delicious, then employees will look forward to working overtime knowing that they will get a meal out of it.

If people know that they will have a long day at work, then they can also bring extra food from home. Therefore, give your employees a second lunch break or dinner break.

Productivity levels decrease as hunger increases. Use food to prevent this from happening.

In addition, by feeding your employees, you will take care of something very important:

Your workers won’t have to worry about eating a late dinner after going home. If they eat dinner late, then they will go to sleep late. This sucks when it’s the middle of the week. Everyone then must get up at the usual time the next day. They can’t recover from the night before by sleeping in.

Being well-fed makes working overtime much more bearable. Employees do not have to worry about food after going home. They can just relax and get ready for another day.

3. Target the right workers

Not everyone may be able to work overtime. You can’t always use money as a motivator.

Some people are expected to take care of children and other family responsibilities after work. If they work overtime, then they need someone at home to cover for them. This can sometimes be a logistical nightmare.

Therefore, as a business owner, you first need to understand which employees are more likely to say yes to overtime. Ask those people first.

If you need more people to stay late, then you need to let these workers know as soon as possible. That way, employees with a lot going on can make the necessary arrangements.

4. Be flexible

Another way to convince employees to work overtime is to be flexible with the way employees can work.

Does everyone need to stay in the office?

Or can they work remotely?

Employees are more likely to say yes to overtime if they can work from home. This is especially true for workers with at-home responsibilities. For example, parents can work while monitoring their children’s behavior in the background.

As a result, companies must make sure employees have the necessary tools and software to make remote work possible.

Can employees access their work documents at home?

Can they establish a virtual connection to their work computer?

This is what being flexible is all about.

5. Celebrate afterward

Business owners should show how much they appreciate their employees. A thank you can go a long way. Team outings are a great way to express gratitude. Plus, it’s fun!

Everyone can go out for celebratory drinks when work is finished. You don’t have to do this on the same day if it’s already nighttime. You can schedule the event either on a Friday or on a day when the office is less busy.

6. Let them sleep in the next day

This is a good option for companies that pay their workers an annual salary rather than an hourly rate.

Of course, it’s good practice for everyone to come in at the same time every day. The same start time provides a sense of familiarity and sets expectations.

However, if someone had to stay late the night before, then maybe it would be okay for them to come in a few hours later the next day. Let them sleep a little more. They deserve it after meeting a stressful deadline.

7. Take it easy on dress codes

I think we all know how people are expected to dress in office environments.

Collared shirts.

Dress shoes.

Suits and ties.

Companies want to be perceived as professional if clients ever visit the office.

However, chances are, clients are not going to have a meeting when it’s late at night. If they do, then you should know about it beforehand.

Therefore, give your workers more leeway on what they can wear during overtime hours. As always, keep all attire appropriate for work.

With that said, the ties can come off. People can wear sneakers instead of uncomfortable dress shoes.

Letting workers get comfortable can help them work faster and feel happier. This will help them mitigate any feelings of stress because of the simple fact that they need to work overtime.

8. Add more time slots

Let your employees work during the weekends and early mornings. Overtime does not always have to be done on a weekday after 5 PM. Workers will more likely say yes to overtime if they can choose from a list of time slots.

Some people cannot stay late on a weekday, but they can on a Saturday.

Creating more time slots is another way you can help decrease stress at work.

For example, instead of a mad dash to finish something on Friday, employees can pace themselves and finish everything over the weekend if they want to.

9. Ask hard questions

If workers occasionally need to stay late, then that’s okay. However, if they constantly need to work overtime, then there is a problem. They either have poor time management skills or too much work.

Sit down with them and have an honest discussion. If your workers have poor time management skills, then suggest solutions and work with them to implement those solutions.

If there is too much work, then you need to do something to lessen the workload. You must expand your workforce to keep up with a growing customer base. You can’t stretch your current workers too thin. Eventually, they will leave the company if the work becomes overwhelming.