In today’s modern economy, employees are spending much longer at their desks. Certainly longer than the traditional 9-5 work week. But more hours spent at work does not automatically translate into more productivity. The success of a company is directly related to the performance of its employees, and the most successful companies are the ones with the most effective performance management systems. So what strategies can companies adopt to maximise their employee performance?
The Harvard Business Review published an article in March 2017 entitled “Great Companies Obsess Over Productivity, Not Efficiency”. In this article the author wrote that many companies think of efficiency and productivity as synonyms, when in fact they are quite different when it comes to strategy. In a comprehensive study of workplace productivity by Bain & Company, a number of conclusions were made. It was found that the average company loses around 20% of its productivity to what is termed‘organizational drag’. These are the structures and processes that consume valuable time, such as overly long meetings, email chains that run on and on, and projects that drag on, even when it is clear that they will not work. In times of no growth, gains in efficiency is most often quantified in terms of lay-offs. This was the business model utilized by General Electric, HP, and many other companies in the 1990s and 2000s. However today’s business world requires a different perspective. As Michael Mankins writes: “without top-line growth, continuing to wring out greater profits through efficiency has become the managerial equivalent of attempting to squeeze blood from a stone”.
In contrast to efficiency, increasing productivity is about doing more with the same. In other words, it is about streamlining. Linked to this is letting employees enjoy customisable roles within the company, allowing them to contribute in a variety of ways that also have personal significance. For this to occur, a company has to choose candidates that are self-aware enough to be able to adapt to these roles, and also to foster an atmosphere that embraces diversity.
Understanding and implementing Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ is also relevant. In his 1943 paper, Maslow proposed a motivational theory composed of five human needs. These needs are are as follows: firstly, there is a physiological need, which requires things like maintaining office facilities, and paying workers a fair salary; secondly, a safe working environment is also vital, as is maintaining high quality health benefits; thirdly, a sense of ‘belongingness’ helps to foster productivity, by promoting collaboration between teams and offering equal access to programs and employee initiatives; and the final two are esteem and self-actualization. The former is about recognising contributions and providing valuable feedback, while the latter is about offering personalized training plans and high level mentorship.
In conclusion, recognising that your employees have lives outside of the office goes a long way to improving their productivity inside the office. Often improving productivity requires nothing more than showing that you place their needs first, and letting them know that their work is valuable at an individual basis. Furthermore, allowing a flexible work environment that fasciltates for personalised career development motivates employees to do more efficient and high quality work.
Adam Watson