IT Service Provider Gains Greater Control over Workload and Employee Turnover

An IT service provider with over 200 employees saw an increase in turnover, particularly among experienced engineers.

Teams were dealing with incidents, frequent meetings, tickets, chat messages, and constantly shifting priorities. As a result, deep work became increasingly difficult, and frustration within teams grew.

The situation

The organization had previously invested in wellbeing programs, but found that these did little to address the daily root causes of workload pressure.

• turnover among experienced engineers was increasing;
• incidents regularly interrupted planned work;
• employees were constantly switching between meetings, tickets, and chat;
• clear agreements on availability and interruptions were lacking;
• cynicism and decreased engagement were becoming more apparent.

The approach

Centrum voor Stressmanagement mapped out for each team which factors caused the most pressure and disruption.

Following this, practical agreements were established to better protect focused work and prevent having too many tasks open simultaneously.

Better protecting focus

Teams were assigned dedicated focus blocks during which employees were interrupted as little as possible by meetings, messages, or other tasks.

Fewer tasks at once

Limits were agreed upon for the number of tasks that could be in progress at the same time. This created more capacity to actually complete tasks.

Clear agreements on interruptions

Teams established agreements regarding which situations required immediate attention and which matters could wait.

Part of the existing workflow

The agreements were integrated into sprint planning and retrospectives. Tech leads were assigned a clear role in monitoring and evaluating them.

What changed?

The new workflow brought more calm and focus to daily operations.

• all teams began working with dedicated focus blocks;
• the number of concurrent tasks was limited;
• employees experienced greater control over their work;
• there were fewer disruptions and greater focus during sprints;
• cynicism decreased and engagement improved;
• after four months, turnover stabilized.

Why this approach worked

The organization no longer merely attempted to mitigate the symptoms of workload pressure, but also changed how work was organized on a daily basis.

Because the agreements became part of existing sprint planning and retrospectives, there was no need to introduce an additional process alongside the standard workflow.

“We are building with focus again – and you can see it in the quality.”

Head of Engineering · anonymized

What other organizations can learn from this

• frequent interruptions can cause structural workload pressure;
• protected focus time helps employees to actually finish work;
• fewer tasks at once provides better clarity and peace of mind;
• agreements are better sustained when integrated into the existing workflow.

Recognizable within your organization?

When experienced employees leave, teams face continuous interruptions, and workload pressure remains high despite previous measures, it can be valuable to examine the way of working itself first.

Centrum voor Stressmanagement helps organizations uncover the root causes of workload pressure and translate them into practical agreements that provide employees and teams with greater focus.