Many employers struggle with how to help employees from becoming overwhelmed with the abundance of training information available to them.
Employers must provide all employees with the essential information required to do their job. They need to also provide an ongoing employee training plan that keeps their team working well together.
The challenge is that the level of employee distraction continues to rise. Interruptions from other employees, mobile phone pings, and even family issues can derail employees from performing well.
It’s helpful to learn a few tips about overcoming information overload so employers can keep their employees working at optimal performance levels.
What is Information Overload?
Information overload is when people feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they need to process. As a result, employees can suffer from burnout and become less productive.
Employees suffering from burnout may find it challenging to focus on their tasks. Their productivity will decrease, thus negatively impacting a company’s bottom line. They could even leave the company if not given the support they need.
Here’s what happens to the brain when a person suffers from information overload.
The hippocampus is the part of the brain that processes new information and stores it for future use. When a person becomes overwhelmed, this area of the brain will become depleted, thus decreasing the person’s ability to learn new things.
The amygdala is in charge of detecting threats and responding accordingly. It’s where our fight or flight response comes from. The fight or flight response occurs when an employee feels overwhelmed by too much training material.
They will reach a stress threshold, which then triggers a negative emotional response. Workers getting to the mental burnout point will often exhibit symptoms like heightened heart rate or sweaty palms.
Dangers of Information Overload
Several dangers exist when a worker meets information overload:
Reduced Productivity
If a person becomes so overwhelmed by the amount of information presented to them, they will shut down. When employees shut down and become unresponsive, their productivity level decreases. Employers must build a training plan for employees that takes information overload into account.
Loss of Confidence
As mentioned above, the brain’s hippocampus turns off its learning capabilities when it can’t keep up with processing new information. The result is a reduction in employee confidence levels. Confident employees remain engaged with their work. They perform well because they have belief in what they’re doing day-to-day.
Becoming Easily Distracted
When employees feel overwhelmed with too much information, they often become distracted. They can’t effectively focus on important work tasks. This can lead them to make mistakes that cost a company money in lost employee time and wasted resources.
What Causes Employees to Encounter Information Overload?
There are many reasons why employees suffer from information overload and burnout.
The most common reason is when employers dump too much information on their workers at once. Employers must remain careful about doing this during onboarding or when providing ongoing training.
Employees may also feel overwhelmed if they’re trying to learn new things while simultaneously performing their job duties. It’s a lot to ask of someone, and it’s often why many employees struggle with juggling multiple tasks at once.
Family responsibilities can also contribute to employee burnout as they try to balance work and home life demands.
Technology overload is another factor that plays into employee stress levels. With so many email notifications, social media alerts, and phone pings, it’s hard for people not to become distracted by all the digital noise.
Why It’s Important to Overcome Information Overload
Employers need to help their employees overcome information overload. It starts with creating a training plan that takes employee wellbeing into account.
An employer must remember how new or overwhelming information can affect learning abilities. They also need to take steps to slow down the teaching process. Doing so allows workers the time required to absorb new material.
Here are three positive results of keeping workers free from distractions and information overload.
- Positive Employee Attitudes: Happy employees are more productive and stay engaged with their work. They’re also easier to retain as they see the value in what they’re doing day-to-day.
- More Effective Communication: Professional relationships suffer when an employee doesn’t feel like his or her employer understands their needs.
- Higher Employee Productivity: Employers who help their employees overcome information overload will see a direct increase in employee productivity levels.
Solutions for Information Overload
Employers can take several steps towards helping employees prevent information overload.
First, they should take employee concerns seriously. If an employee is complaining about feeling overwhelmed, it’s important to address the issue promptly and respectfully. It could be that the employee needs help learning how to manage their time better or prioritize tasks more effectively.
For example, many people find it helpful to use a daily planner or calendar app as a way of scheduling out their day. Doing this can help them stay focused on completing tasks in bite-sized chunks.
Another solution that helps to overcome information overload is providing an employee training plan that teaches employees how to organize themselves and their work. Teach skills such as time management skills, how to set priorities, and how to better manage stress levels.
Employers should also create an environment where employees feel comfortable speaking up if they’re feeling overwhelmed. Set up regular check-ins with workers or schedule designated times for people to ask questions about their job duties or upcoming projects.
Technology tools like email filters and notifications settings can help reduce the number of digital distractions in an employee’s day.
For any of these solutions to become successful, both the employer and employee must remain on the same page and stay willing to work together.
Conclusion
Information overload is a real problem in today’s world. Employers can help by creating an employee training plan that minimizes distractions and helps prevent information overload from occurring in the first place.
They can also provide solutions such as one-on-one check-ins to ensure their workers are staying productive and happy. With both parties working together, information overload doesn’t need to distract from building a profitable company.