Difficult to define
According to Recruiter.com, defining the term “workaholic” is problematic. How do we distinguish a hard-working person with an excellent working morale from a workaholic who has a real problem? One of the basic differences is that a person with high working morale can not only work in an intense way but also relax in an intense way and spend their free time in a quality manner. A workaholic has lost this ability and whenever they are not working, they feel a sense of guilt.
Detecting a workaholic
Detecting a workaholic is, of course, not easy as it usually requires insight into the personal life of the given employee. But if you see that the employee is always the first to arrive at work and the last to leave, while seemingly neglecting their personal life, hobbies and other activities, or that their performance is declining in relation to the number of hours they put in, and they generally look exhausted, you should be on your guard.
What should you do with a workaholic?
If you see someone with these symptoms and you want to have a heart-to-heart with them, do the following:
- Talk to the employee. It is possible you have misinterpreted the symptoms and the problem might be entirely different. Talking to the given person is a must.
- Do not pay overtime and set out firm working hours. Limit the given employee in the times they are at work. Tell them coming in early is no use as no one else is at work. You could stop paying overtime or find some other way of regulating the time the person spends at work.
- Prevent the employee from taking work home. You might do this by asking them to leave their work laptop at work or ensuring they can only log into systems from the workplace.
- Give the employee time off. Allow the employee some time off so they devote themselves to other things than work and thus redefine their priorities.
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