1. Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Module 4:
Managing a digital workload
Digital Crossroads

2. This programme has been funded with support from the European Commission. The author is solely
responsible for this publication (communication) and the Commission accepts no responsibility for any
use that may be made of the information contained therein
Within this module, you will learn
how to manage the workload of
your employees to ensure that they
don’t suffer from burnout. You will
also learn how to create a
supportive environment for your
workers, and how you can identify
risk factors in employees to help
create an intervention if needed.
Finally, you will also learn how to
create an action plan and wellbeing
policies.
Module 4 Overview Managing the workload of your workers
Creating a supportive environment for
workers
Identifying Risk Factors in Employees
Creating an Action Plan, Including
Wellbeing Policy
Exercises and Extra Resources
1
2
3
4
5

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Managing the workload
of your workers

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A workload is the amount of work done by
someone or something. Generally, is the
amount of work that workers can get done in a
specific amount of time.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic the workload
that educators had was consistent; they knew
what they would need to do to prepare for a
lesson, and what would go into the teaching of
that lesson.
However, since the restrictions that Covid-19
pandemic brought in, it has dramatically
changed the way people work within their
educator role.
What is a Workload?

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These are some of the changes that the Covid-
19 restrictions brought in:
• Shift from in-person education to online
classes.
• Working from home (WFH) rather than in
the classroom or office.
• Issues with disconnecting from work.
• Lack of digital skills or competencies.
• Greater distractions to workers when WFH.
• Reduced social interactions with colleagues.
• Lower team morale.
• Guilt surrounding taking time off.
• Higher risk of burnout and poor work/life
balance.
What Are Some of the Digital
Changes the Covid-19 Pandemic
Brought In?

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Throughout these Modules we have identified
that there are many ways digital technology
can impact a worker’s mental and physical
health.
The good news is as a manager, you can make
some recommendations to your employees
and try to help ensure that they are as healthy
as possible.
For the rest of this topic we will look at some of
the ways that you can assist and help workers
to ensure that they themselves do not
experience the negatives that a digital
workload can bring.
Can You Improve an Employee’s
Workload?

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A work-life balance is the intersection of how
much time we spend working versus how much
time we spend outside of work.
When workers have a positive work-life balance
it can lead to:
• Lower levels of stress
• Lower risk of burnout
• A greater sense of well-being
• Reduced absenteeism
• Greater levels of organizational commitment
• Increased productivity
Creating a Better Work-life Balance

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There are many factors that can influence a
work-life balance, some of which can be
personal changes within the worker’s life.
Increased responsibilities at work and working
longer hours can impact a worker’s work-life
balance. On a personal level, having children or
having increased responsibilities at home can
also impact the work-life balance.
It is important to note that a work-life balance
is extremely personal to employees. No two
workers are the same, and what works for one
might not work for another. However, lets take
a look at some tips that you could use as an
employer to help create a better balance.
What Can Impact a Work-life
Balance?

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Check out the following YouTube video to
help improve your learning outcomes. In
this Ted series, the speaker explores three
ways to improve your work-life balance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c_x
YLwOx-g
WATCH
3 rules for better work-life balance |
The Way We Work, a TED series

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Your employees will have specific hours
that they are supposed to work each week.
While this will change depending on the
organisation, flexibility is something that is
important when trying to create a better
work-life balance.
Whilst a short text or email may not sound
like much time spent working outside of
normal hours, research suggests that the
time employees spend communicating
outside of working hours can add up.
This time can take away from quality
personal time with family, as well as take a
toll on the individual.
Regulating Work Hours

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So how can we make sure that employees stick
to their work hours, and foster a positive
environment for a better work life balance?
Firstly, it is important to reduce any forms of
ambiguity. Make sure all workers know what
their hours are per week and what work they
are supposed to do in a week.
If your organisation keeps track of worker
hours, try identifying when people are working
and when they shouldn’t be. Are some
employees eager to respond to an email or text
outside of normal working hours? Sometimes it
is necessary to encourage staff to switch off,
and make sure they understand what is
expected of them.
Reduce Worker Ambiguity

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Reach out to employees who are working over
the allocated hours of work and make see if
their needs are met. Do they need advice on
how to do something? Are the amount of hours
that they spend on work beneficial? Do they
need extra resources to ensure that they are
working to the best of their ability?
Focus groups may also be beneficial to
employees. Sometimes staff might not want to
mention something that is bothering them on
their own, but when they are in a group they
are comfortable discussing potential issues that
they might face, or what they might need from
their employer. These can be held virtually or in
person.
Reach Out And Meet Employees
Regularly

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Workplace culture is a complex concept, but
one consistent finding is that often the culture
of an organisation comes from the people at
the top, that is the leaders of the organisation
often set the example that employees follow.
When workers receive work communications
outside of work hours, they might feel that it is
the norm to respond immediately.
Try practising not messaging workers outside of
work hours, and giving them the right to
disconnect. More can be found about the right
to disconnect in Module 1 and 3.
Encouraging a Culture Of Switching
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Think back to March 2020
When everything moved to virtual teaching
sessions, how did this impact your working life?
Reflect on the following things:
Did you struggle to adapt to the new changes?
If yes, what ways did you struggle?
What did your organization do well?
What would you do differently now?
Reflection Exercise

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Creating a Supportive
Environment For Workers
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There are several different ways that managers
can create a positive support network in their
organisation. Sometimes the support can come
from internal sources to the organisation, other
times there are resources available which
employees and employers can use to help
create a supportive network.
Employee assistance programmes
Mental Health First Aiders
Being a supportive manager
Building resilience in workers
Implementing a Support Network

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There are many different ways that
organisations can create a support network
for their workers. One of the most common
ways is through an employee assistance
programme (EAP).
EAPs are a confidential workplace service
that helps employees to deal with work-life
stressors, family issues, financial concerns,
relationship problems and even drug or
legal concerns.
Generally, employees will be able to
contact EAPs 24/7 to discuss issues at their
own pace.
Employee Assistance Programmes

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Check out the following YouTube video
to help improve your learning
outcomes. This video explores what a
worker might do to when a company
has an EAP in place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v
dne0cqU2C0
WATCH
How does the Employee Assistance
Programme actually work?

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There are existing examples of ways that
organisations can intervene to ensure positive
mental wellbeing in their workers. Mental
Health First Aiders is a training programme that
teaches employees some basic knowledge to
identify early symptoms of mental health
problems and psychological crisis.
Over the next few slides we will take a closer
look at the organisation SAP, and what kind of
interventions they had in place to help their
employees’ mental wellbeing.
Mental Health First Aiders
Source

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SAP is a multinational software organisation,
offering enterprise solutions to manage
business operations and customer relations.
Operating in over 180 countries, they have
over 4000 customers.
Recognising that employee welfare was going
to be a key factor to their organisational
success, SAP felt that they needed to change
the way the organisation and employees
viewed mental health, removing stigmas
associated with mental wellbeing, and
creating a support system for their
employees.
SAP felt that they needed to make a
commitment to their employees’ health and
quality of life, and set up ways of planning
and measuring this.
CASE STUDY- SAP
CASE
STUDY
Source

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SAP acknowledged that their own employees
could become a vital part of their own
wellbeing and their colleague’s wellbeing
support network, so they partnered with
Mental Health First Aiders. This solution
comprised of voluntary employees who were
given the necessary training to be able to listen
and understand what their colleagues were
telling them.
If an employee should recognize that they are
struggling with their mental health, wellbeing
or stress levels, the idea is that the employee
can approach any of the Mental Health First
Aiders, and get help for their issue at hand.
Creating a Support Network With the
Mental Health First Aiders Programme
CASE
STUDY

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SAP have developed several HR technologies
that can foster employee wellbeing and allow
employees to work better. Smart, data-driven
solutions are enabling HR teams to identify
and address employees’ physical issues, such
as ergonomic discomfort or fatigue, and
mental–emotional problems such as feeling
overworked or anxious.
Similarly, SAP found that wearable
technology, gamification of wellness goals
and milestones, and fitness and wellness apps
allow for high levels of engagement with
beneficial technology for mental wellbeing.
Using Digital Technology to
Promote Employee Wellbeing
CASE
STUDY
Source

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SAP also have a number of other resources for
employees to avail of when it comes to their
health. Along with the mental health first
aiders, SAP also encourage their workers to use
their Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
Similarly, SAP have established mindfulness
classes that can be attended virtually as a
group or experience solo to aid in employee
wellbeing.
SAP’s approach can be viewed as a ‘whole
person’ approach. The company cultivates a
healthy workplace culture through health and
well-being awareness campaigns, employee
success stories, and by showcasing local SAP
initiatives around the world. Its Health
Ambassador Network offers employee well-
being support and shares best practices within
the company and covers 90% of its global
workforce.
Other Measures to Increase
Employee Wellbeing
CASE
STUDY
Source

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The attendees of the MHFA training acquire
basic knowledge to identify early symptoms
of mental health problems and psychological
crisis. For example, depression, burn-out,
suicidal tendency, anxiety, psychosis or
substance abuse. They learn how to address
their observation in a respectful way, openly
and empathically listen and communicate
with the effected person and guide towards
professional support.
Mental Health First Aiders also follow a set
structure when helping their employees,
called ROGER. This stands for Reacting, Open
and unbiased listening and communication,
Give general support and information,
Encouraging someone to seek professional
help, and mobilising Resources.
Outcomes of the Mental Health
First Aiders approach
CASE
STUDY
Source

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There are several ways that you can become a more
supportive manager to help improve your employee
wellbeing. The three main ways are-
1. Know what your employees are striving for. Find
out what their goals are and help them to achieve
them. This can include setting out strategies to help
them achieve their goals, and ensuring that they
have everything they need to accomplish them.
2. Set a good example. Often employees will follow
the lead of their manager. Try practicing your right
to switch off, and ensure that you are approachable
and willing to help employees.
3. Let employees know what their options are.
Ensure that your team know what resources are
available to them. Do they require extra training,
support or help from other workers? Make sure that
all employees know where to request help from.
Being a More Supportive Manager

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Resilience can be seen as the ability to
recover and adapt quickly from a traumatic
event or stressor. In other words, it’s a type of
inner strength.
Resilience in the workplace can help people
recover from challenging experiences. It can
also assist their growth and development.
Resilience directly impacts how likely
employees are to suffer from burnout and
workplace stress. Research suggests that
people who have low resilience are four times
as likely to suffer from burnout or workplace
related stress. Resilience is also associated
with increased work engagement, job
satisfaction, and organizational commitment.
What is Resilience?

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There are many ways to increase resilience in
workers. The four ways we will be looking at
over the next few slides are:
1. Pay attention to your health
2. Practice relaxation techniques
3. Get connected
4. Practice reframing threats as challenges
How to Increase Resilience in
Workers

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Research suggests that employees that get
adequate sleep are 4.2 times more likely to
be resilient.
However, sleep isn’t the only aspect that
influences your resilience from a physical
perspective. To improve your physical well-
being and boost your resilience levels,
focus on eating healthily, staying hydrated
and exercising regularly.
The relationship between physical health
and resilience is bidirectional. While
physical health supports resilience,
resilience can also lead to better physical
recovery.
Pay Attention to Your Health

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Part of developing resilience is training the
mind to stay relaxed, even in the face of
stressful situations. Try these ways to help
practice relaxation:
• Spend time with friends and family
• Try yoga or Pilates
• Find activities or hobbies that help you
relax, like drawing, gardening, or cooking
• Try out relaxation and meditation apps
• Practice mindfulness
• Listen to classical music
Practice Relaxation Techniques

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As we’ve seen, a person’s social network
can provide a buffer against stress and aid
resilience. Social support helps people to
manage stress. It also helps because social
support helps people solve their
challenges and find new opportunities.
One reason more extroverted individuals
may tend to be more resilient is because
they are more likely to reach out to others
when they need help.
It is also important to develop personal as
well as professional networks, as these
can be a source of guidance and support
during times of stress or simply to provide
a nurturing relationship.
Get Connected

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When we see something as a challenge, we can
recognize the possibility of growth. We also
perceive that we have the resources to deal
with that situation. This view results in feelings
of energy, anticipation, and excitement. These
feelings tend to mobilize people for action and
problem-solving.
Whereas when we see something as a threat,
we can end up perceiving that the situation is
beyond our control. This can make us feel a
fight or flight response, or we can develop
feelings of fear, anxiety or anger.
By reframing threats as a challenge, it can help
us to build resilience and a “can do” attitude.
Practice Reframing Threats as
Challenges

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Identifying Burnout
Symptoms in Employees
03

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Throughout the modules we’ve explored
different ways of preventing workplace stress
and how to create a better environment for
employees.
However, it is also important to be able to
recognise the symptoms of burnout, or
workplace stress.
Over the next few slides we will explore seven
different symptoms that employees might
experience that you as a manager will be able to
recognise. This in turn will help to ensure that
an intervention can take place before the
employee suffers to ensure that their needs at
work are met.
Identifying burnout in
employees

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These are the seven most common symptoms
of workplace stress and burnout:
1. Emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion
2. Disengagement
3. Increased absenteeism
4. Isolation
5. Higher sensitivity to feedback
6. Emergence of physical symptoms
7. Decreased productivity
The Seven Most Common
Symptoms of Workplace Stress

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Are employees reporting feeling drained when
they first wake up in the morning? Do they
talk about struggling with sleep issues?
Employees suffering from exhaustion will find
they’re dragging themselves to work and then
unable to start or focus on a task.
By listening to your employees, you will be
able to recognize if they are feeling exhausted.
Talk to your employees to see how you can
help.
Find out what they need in order to set them
on the right track to improve their mental
wellbeing.
Emotional, Mental, and Physical
Exhaustion

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Employees losing interest in the things they
previously found enjoyable—like socializing
with family and friends—can be an early
warning sign.
Within a work setting, employees may stop
participating in meetings, avoid taking on new
projects, or stop returning phone calls and
emails.
As they continue to disconnect from the
environment around them, employees often
lose enthusiasm for their job, resulting in a
lower quality of work.
Disengagement

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Employees that are burned out or are suffering
from technostress are more likely to take extra
sick days off. Sometimes it is in the hope that
the day off will restore their spirits.
Others may use the time off as a way to avoid
projects, managers and employees that cause
them stress.
However, increased absenteeism may also be
recognised in a situation where some
employees may come in late and leave early to
avoid interactions with co-workers and
supervisors.
Increased Absenteeism

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Formerly extroverted employees who suddenly
become distant may just be having a bad day or
experiencing stress in their personal life.
If this isolation continues, or if formerly
sociable employees become angry when
someone tries to speak with them, it may be a
sign of a bigger problem.
Isolation can be even harder to detect in
remote employees, since you may not be able
to tell if they are withdrawing from
relationships without directly asking them. This
is why having a support network can be so
beneficial to employees.
Isolation

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You might notice some employees react
badly to feedback. When employees
begin taking criticism more personally,
reacting to it with increased
defensiveness, anger, or other signs of
stress, it can be a sign of burnout.
In these situations, feedback can be
blown out of proportion, with employees
responding with things like: "I guess I
can’t do anything right.”
If an employee is more irritable or angry
than normal, it may be likely that they are
suffering from workplace stress.
Higher Sensitivity to Feedback

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When employees suffer from exhaustion and
stress for prolonged periods of time, it can
often create physical symptoms. These can
include panic attacks, chest pains, increased
heart rate, nausea, and headaches.
Employees may even lose their appetite and
then lose weight, or they may start to gain
weight from using food to cope with their
stress.
Emergence of Physical Symptoms

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As the condition worsens, so will productivity
and performance. Stress prevents employees
from concentrating on the tasks at hand, and
feelings of being overwhelmed and unable to
catch up might make them feel as if their efforts
aren’t worthwhile.
If you notice that an employee that normally is a
hard worker suddenly becomes less productive,
they might be suffering from prolonged
burnout. It is important at this stage to
communicate with employees to make sure that
they know they can reach out to you as a
manager and you will support them.
Decreased productivity

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Check out the following YouTube video
to help improve your learning
outcomes. This video explores how to
identify signs of burnout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZ
5CW5qsktM
WATCH
How to identify signs of
burnout

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Creating an Action Plan,
Including Wellbeing Policy
04

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Having a Digital Wellbeing plan in place can
lead to a better working environment for staff,
less employee burnout and clear boundaries
with regards to working hours and the right to
disconnect.
Within earlier modules we discussed how
digital technology can impact our workers.
When thinking about a Digital Wellbeing plan,
consider the following:
• Technological dependence can impact
employees’ ability to concentrate and focus
due to constant notifications interrupting
their work.
• Productivity is increased when employees
do not have to worry about checking their
phone so often. This results in better
individual performance and will therefore
improve the company output overall.
Why is it Important to Have a
Digital Wellbeing Plan?

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Since working from home has become more
prevalent since the COVID-19 pandemic, it
has become increasingly harder for
employees to disconnect once their workday
finishes. They may feel obligated to check
notifications on their work phone or work
over their hours.
It has been reported that up to 40% of
workers are struggling with remote working
since the pandemic.
Managers must ensure their employees are
equipped to work remotely without these
Digital Wellbeing challenges.
Source
Digital Wellbeing and working
from home

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“
A recent study of legal
professionals by
LawCare found that
overuse of technology
and the blurring of
boundaries between
home and work life with
the availability of
technology is a key
contributor to burnout.
“
Source

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Each workplace will have their own
unique needs with regards to creating a
Digital Wellbeing plan.
For example, in some industries it may
be necessary for employees to work
outside of their usual hours or take
phone calls after the work day has
ended in some situations.
This must be managed appropriately
however; such as implementing a limit
to the number of after-hours phone calls
that an employee needs to respond to.
Things To Consider Before
Making An Action Plan

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In order to create a successful plan and
policies, consider the 3 ways in which
health and wellbeing are affected by the
overuse of technology:
• Physical – headaches, back problems,
eye strain etc.
• Mental – stress, burnout, reduced
productivity and low morale leading
to poor performance.
• Emotional – social media is
particularly prone to causing panic
and anxiety due to fake news, feelings
of inadequacy and work/life
imbalance.
Factors That Can Affect Digital
Wellbeing

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Considering the factors we just outlined
will help you to address and respond to
these issues to prevent them from
affecting employee wellbeing.
Integrating a Digital Wellness plan into the
core of your workplace will ensure you use
technology in a way that serves the
worker and makes them more productive,
rather than technology becoming
detrimental to the workers’ mental and
physical wellbeing and leading to burnout
and stress which can affect the company’s
morale and work output.
Creating an Effective Digital
Wellness Plan

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1. Research: Collecting data from
employees can give an overview on
your workplace’s current digital
wellbeing health. This may include
asking employees what they struggle
with currently regarding the use of
technology in the workplace, or
assessing absences due to work
related stress or burnout. A focus
group may be useful at this stage to
determine what employees want or
need regarding the Digital Wellness
policies.
Steps to roll out a plan
and policies

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2. Determine goals and aims: Using the information you have collected in the previous step,
create a wellbeing plan and policies. Examples of these goals may be:
• Reducing employee absenteeism due to stress by a certain percentage.
• Eliminating out of hours phone calls, texts or emails.
• For remote workers, scheduling meetings outside of lunch hours to encourage employees to
take a lunch break.
3. Promote the plan: Ensure all employees know about the plan and are clear on its goals.
Open the lines of communications so employees can give feedback on the plan in order to
ensure its success.
Motivate your staff to participate in the new wellness plan by creating engaging content such
as weekly wellbeing newsletters, content that promotes Digital Wellbeing or non-digital team
activities such as workout classes or a weekly team walk.
Steps to roll out a plan and policies

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4. Lead and create a culture of disconnecting: Lead by example and foster a healthy
workplace culture of switching off. Show employees it is ok to step away from the desk and
create a fun and social activity for all staff to engage in such as a walking club for the office
to decompress and take a break away from the screens.
5. Incorporate Digital Wellness into every facet of work life: Managers should ensure they
are encouraging staff to engage in the wellbeing plan and actively making suggestions and
efforts for improvement. When employees feel like they have a say they are more likely to
be more productive, engaged and valued. Managers can appoint a wellbeing ambassador
for the team to improve morale and make the workplace a happier and more resilient one.
You should also take digital workloads into consideration when performing staff appraisals
or performance reviews.
Steps to roll out a plan and policies

53. There are 5 essential steps when
it comes to creating a Digital
Wellness policy, which we will go
into in more detail in the
following slides.
It is important to follow each
step to ensure an effective policy
which all employees can refer to
as needed.
Creating a Digital Wellness
policy
Explain The Need For The Policy
Outline the Aims of the Policy
Objectives of the Policy
Effective Communication
1
2
3
4
5 Reviewing and Monitoring
Source
The Five Steps:

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The “how and why” is an important step when
writing a wellbeing policy. This will help you to be
transparent with workers and also ensure the policy
is effective.
It is important that you explain how and why mental
wellbeing can affect workers, as well as highlighting
the benefits of positive wellbeing in the workplace.
You can also explain about organisational culture and
how it impacts the workplace.
For example, you may have recognised that within
your organisation there is a norm of working past
your contracted hours. While staff may not initially
mind this, it might end up causing issues in the
future particularly surrounding burnout, staff
turnover.
Step 1. Explaining the Need for
the Policy

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It is important that your policy has a clear-cut
aim so that workers know what to expect and
what the outcomes and intentions of the
policy are. Remember to regularly assess and
update the policy as your business changes
and grows.
Examples of the aims of your policy may be to
foster a culture in the workplace that
promotes healthy habits that take place away
from screens, such as exercise programmes.
For example, try encouraging a daily walk
with colleagues on lunch for social aspects
and reducing stress.
Step 2. Creating an aim
for the policy

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Objectives of your policy should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time
Specific to ensure successful outcomes. Here are some examples of objectives to implement:
1. To foster a culture of digital wellbeing in the workplace, ensuring that employees adhere to their
workload and do not overwork themselves.
2. To provide guidance and support for staff who feel burnt out or stressed due to digital wellbeing
issues.
3. To raise awareness of the importance of physical wellbeing to combat the negative effects of
technology.
Step 3. Objectives of the policy

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“To foster a culture of digital wellbeing in the workplace, ensuring that employees adhere to
their workload and do not overwork themselves.”
Actions for this objective can include the following:
• Set realistic working hours to enable employees to switch off after work.
• Ensure that targets and deadlines are realistic to reduce stress among workers and lower the
risk of long working hours.
• Create digital wellness resources and information packs that are easily accessible by all
employees.
• Avoid sending emails during lunchtime to enable staff to take a break away from their desk.
• Disallow emails/phone calls between certain hours so that remote workers are not constantly
glued to their mobile phones.
Example of an Objective

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“To provide guidance and support for staff who feel burnt out or stressed due to
digital wellbeing issues.”
Actions for this objective can include the following:
• Engage in open communication and regular team/individual meetings so staff can
have their say on how they are feeling.
• Liase with HR or consider assigning a digital wellness ambassador in your team that
staff can go to in confidence with their concerns.
• Offer stress-busting activities such as yoga or lunchtime walking for workers to
decompress and give them a break from technology.
Example of an Objective

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All staff should be made aware of the
wellbeing policies and procedure, as well
as any resources available to them. The
policies and procedures should be
handed out and discussed at new
employee inductions.
They should also be updated regularly as
needed and all new changes should be
circulated via email to every employee.
Regular reminders about the policies and
procedures should be given, and it
should be easily accessible via a shared
drive.
Step 4. Effective communication

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Ensure to continuously review and monitor
the policies and procedures. Measure the
success of them also and determine if any
changes need to be made.
Staff should also be made aware of their
responsibilities in ensuring policy actions are
implemented for their own health and
wellbeing.
For example, if a worker has a concern that
they are working longer hours than they are
supposed to, they should go to a manager or
HR in order to determine how the policies
and procedures can be used or updated to
prevent this issue that could cause them
stress or burnout.
Step 5. Review and Monitor

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End of Module 4
Thank you for reading the Modules.
To find out more about the Digital Crossroads project,
you can find more information at our website:
www.digitalcrossroads.eu
You can also follow the project on social media:
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/company/digital-crossroads-
programme
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/DigitalCrossroadsEUProgramme

62. Co-funded by the
Erasmus+ Programme
of the European Union
Thank you for reading the Modules,
and we hope you enjoyed them.
To find out more about the Digital
Crossroads project, you can find more
information at our website:
www.digitalcrossroads.eu
You can also follow the project on
social media:
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/company/digital-
crossroads-programme
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/DigitalCrossroadsE
UProgramme
End of Module 4
Thanks for reading!