Productivity is always an overarching goal, whether you’re growing your business, nurturing your employees, or making drastic alterations to your brand or marketing. But productivity boils down to the individual, not necessarily the goal. And these days, in the holistic working environment, we have to focus on the individual. But, what makes an employee a productive individual? Is it about their environment, their individual attitudes, or is it about a combination of factors?
Do Targets Really Help?
Targets serve the business well, but sometimes, depending on the caliber of the employee, they may stifle themselves under this pressure. But what could be a good balance between the two is constant feedback, so they can get a true opinion of their progression. Instead of telling them every 6 months they have to make changes to X, Y, and Z, “or else”; think about showing their progression and giving them small, barely noticeable targets. It’s easily done now, especially with programs like the ELMO performance management software package, we are able to provide detailed feedback to an individual’s productivity. In many ways, this is an efficient way or providing efficiency. By moving the goal a little bit further out each time, they will improve their productivity without even noticing it. This is embodied in the 80/20 rule, also known as Parkinson’s Law. In essence, the Law means you always do the tasks within the allotted time, so by reducing the time limit by 20%, it becomes a manageable goal.
Providing Employees With The Right Environment
The right environment can encompass many different things. As an employee can function well in one environment and falter in another, we have to give consideration as to the overall culture of the business and if their individual working arrangements suit them. This is why remote working has become so popular now because people’s lives outside of work are too much. And we can’t ask them to be dedicated to the business constantly, because they have their own lives to leave. The right environment isn’t just about giving them the right chair or the ability to work from home and they need, but it’s about having the right people around them that nurtures their ability and spurs them on. The company culture is one of those components that is far more important now than ever used to be. When we look at the factory line setup of work, even in contact centers, we can see that it’s an isolating way to be. Having the right people around them in conjunction with manageable targets are two factors that work together well that can improve productivity.
Ultimately, keeping an employee productive is about making them efficient but without them succumbing to exhaustion or anxiety. While targets can be anxiety-inducing, if we learn to embody the 80/20 rule, but also ensure that the culture becomes the forefront of your organization so employees can feel nurtured, but also confident, this means that productivity is something easily integrated, but without the employee feeling that they have got to make drastic alterations.
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