Homer Simpson summed up motivational balance in the workplace best when he unwittingly became a manager under supervillain Hank Scorpio: “If Tom Landry’s hat doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what will,” he moaned to his employees, who had been working around the clock.

His solution was hammocks.

While this comical exchange was funny because of its relevance for many workers across many industries, it also highlighted a key issue: how do you keep your staff motivated when the workloads require extra and long hours?

Here are a few tricks to keep the creative juices flowing after 5PM, without dulling morale and motivation in your workforce.

Consider and monitor the health and wellbeing of your staff

First and foremost, you don’t want to risk jeopardising the health of your employees.

Researchers from Australian National University have found that anything beyond 39 hours in the working week can put workers at risk of developing mental health problems.

Despite this, the study revealed that a quarter of all Australian are working beyond this 39-hour threshold.

So when the time comes to call on staff to do overtime, it is important to provide the necessary resources to assist them through the tough waters.

Conversations about wellbeing are vital and access to medical assistance when necessary should be made available.

A good way to negate the big weeks is to offer time in lieu, where these workers can take a partial or full day off to make up for the big hours racked up in previous weeks.

Provide perks and benefits to reward the extra hours

There has to be give and take, so make sure you show those that put in the effort that there are rewards at the end.

This can include simple techniques like free pizza nights/weekends for those still on deck, raffles or competitions for bigger prizes like mobile phones, paid bonuses and social nights where the team is rewarded for their efforts.

Many of these perks can be inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, but the lift they will give in morale is immeasurable.

Click here to read more about how to build a work culture with successful team builds

Keep the overtime targets realistic

It is always important to remember that staff members have families, social lives and commitments outside of work.

When big deadlines are approaching, try to spread the overtime load. Workers can’t be expected to put in around the clock, seven days a week.

Provide better pathways up the corporate ladder for those that do the overtime

There is almost no greater incentive for staff to put in the extra effort than preferential treatment.

Convey the message clearly that those that go the extra mile are more likely to be considered when promotions become available. It gives your staff tangible outcomes to work towards and is a good measuring stick for you to see if they are up for bigger and harder tasks.

Implement work from home options, if possible

It’s 2017 and the need to be chained to a desk at all times is no longer the reality.

Cloud systems, remote access and company laptops/tablets create much greater scope for your employees to be able to take some work home with them.

It can be advisable to present this as an option, so instead of coming into the office they can complete the task at home while still being able to divide their time between the job at hand and their loved ones.

Looking for more ways to improve your workplace? Follow the ZACK Group’s LinkedIn page for more on improving job environments.