ITs HRc

How to Know If You Have the Right Staffing Ratios 📊🎯

This week: Overtime questions and work-life balance as retention strategy.

Today: How to know if you're properly staffed. ✅

Ask yourself:
1. Is overtime occasional or chronic? ⏰
Occasional = healthy. Chronic = understaffed.
2. What happens when one person is out? 🤔
Manageable = good. Chaos = not enough coverage.
3. Are people working through lunch or staying late constantly? 🍽️
If "eating lunch" is a luxury, you have a workload problem.
4. What's your turnover rate? 🚪
Above industry average? Ask WHY. Often it's burnout.
5. What do exit interviews say? 💬
"Unsustainable workload" / "No work-life balance" = believe them.

How to right-size staffing:
📋 Analyze actual workload (hours needed)
⏱️ Compare to current capacity
🧮 Do the math (include PTO, breaks, meetings)
💰 Compare cost of hiring vs. turnover + overtime + burnout

When overtime IS appropriate:
✅ Seasonal surges
✅ Special projects (clear end dates)
✅ Temporary coverage
✅ Employee CHOOSES it (genuinely optional)

When overtime is a RED FLAG:
❌ Expected every week
❌ Built into staffing model
❌ Employees can't say no
❌ Only way work gets done

If you're relying on overtime to get regular work done, you're understaffed. 🎯

Fix the staffing model. Build sustainable workloads. Respect people's time. 💪

How do YOU determine if you're properly staffed? 👇