Productivity Planner

Is your organization or department facing the continual challenge of improving employee productivity? Is the goal to increase productivity always one of your top business goals? A recent survey suggests that maybe you are directing your actions toward the wrong solution.

A recent longitudinal survey by Siorta Survey Intelligence reported in Harvard Management Update that of the Fortune 1000 companies surveyed approximately in 85% of them employee motivation or morale significantly declined after the first six months. This survey revealed several key factors that contribute to the de-motivation of employees:

Communication

Management

Workplace culture including teamwork

Motivation is a critical piece in the overall productivity puzzle. If people are not motivated to do what they need to do, the goal to improving employee productivity will not be achieved.

This survey confirms what other surveys suggest is that the majority of any workforce is not actively engaged. All of this disengagement and de-motivation is costing the U.S. economy to individuals businesses billions of dollars annually. Just read about all the lost productivity during the national football playoffs from local football pools to actual time off the job.

To reverse this trend means that organizations need to develop their employees. This development begins with the strategic plan and more importantly the values statement within that plan.

When this values statement is communicated to everyone and everyone is held to the same standards, motivation will increase. Also, when the employees know the companys goals, current initiatives, etc., they are far more likely to work a little harder because they know why they are working so hard.

Poor communication is much like asking people to hit a moving target. Then when management behaves in a way that de-motivates your employees, can you truly blame your employees for their poor productivity?

Take time to look at your organizational communication, your management and your overall workplace culture if your goal is to increase productivity. Jim Collins writes about having “all the right people in the right seats on the bus.” His analogy is good, but it misses one critical point that being the environment of the bus. If your corporate culture environment is toxic, it truly does not matter if you have the right people in the right seats.

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Tags: , , Leadership, Inspiration, Management, Organizational Culture //