TOW#491 — (Non)Productivity

What does work/employee productivity actually mean?

It’s basically a very simple formula: the value (money, products, services, etc.) created by every employee during working hours. Nevertheless, while this sounds simple, measuring or expressing the productivity of a company’s employees is a very serious and complex issue, requiring lots of analysis, understanding of the business, the impact of external and internal factors, employees, management, etc. Of course, people who work in ‘human resources’ know much more about these things and can therefore give us a deeper insight into how these issues can be resolved systematically.

Since I’m not one of them, in this week’s tip, I’ll focus more on the negative factors that lead to reduced employee productivity (on an individual level), and how we might be able to mitigate them. Here are some of the most important negative factors that decrease productivity, and what you can do about them:

• Atmosphere at work: definitely one of the most important aspects of employee satisfaction and directly related to greater or lesser motivation/productivity at work. If the atmosphere is bad then your effort and productivity will go down.
o Of course external factors influence our work. But, try to find your own motivation and stimulation in what you’re doing, and how to do it better and get the best results. Mostly for yourself and your own development. If the situation is unbearable, think about finding another job/environment;
• Ego: a big ego can be reflected in many aspects of decreased productivity. Disrespecting bosses, giving too much importance to oneself, seeking confirmation and recognition from superiors, not completing tasks (or completing them how you wanted, rather than how you were asked), and so on.
o Understand that you’re part of the system and that each of you contributes (to a greater or lesser extent) to the development of the grand goal/vision. Regardless of your (greater) performance compared to others, in the end you’ll be rewarded (with a bonus, recognition, knowledge, experience, contacts, etc.);
• Insufficiently engaged: this is mostly connected to weak motivation to work. Key factors could be the manager, the boss, colleagues, atmosphere, salary, etc.
o Here too, as mentioned above, whatever the factor, don’t look for motivation from outside. Ask for what is yours and what you deserve, but don’t get demotivated or less engaged just because the manager didn’t say “well done!”. I’ll say it again, everything you do is primarily for yourself and your own progress and development;
• “Delayed gratification”: this concept is generally linked to monetary motivation, as in “If I don’t get a raise, I won’t do my best”. As a result, productivity drops.
o Go ahead and ask for more money, but don’t let it stand in the way of your professional growth. On the other hand, the rule is actually vice versa — “do your best, and then you can justifiably ask for what you deserve”;
• Distraction: lacking focus, disinterested, undisciplined, chatterbox, etc.
o First, try to understand what’s at the root of your distraction. Is it just your character, or something’s happening in your life at the moment, or something else? In any case, if you want better results, you must work on your focus and on strengthening discipline;
• Defensiveness (negation): linked to ego in some way. You don’t agree with suggestions, you boycott them, think negatively about projects and so don’t finish them properly.
o If you know better, recommend something to the team (and fight for it with good arguments). In the meantime, if you’ve already agreed to finish a particular job, don’t be the “bad guy”, give your best so that your part of the task is done right;
• Weak active listener: can impact upon productivity in the sense of badly transferred or received information, tasks, activities. It could be costly if things have to then be corrected afterwards.
o Active listening means: (1) I listen in order to understand, (2) I process what I heard, (3) I give “feedback” — in the form of questions, conclusions, body language, paraphrasing and so on, all with the aim of better understanding the task at hand.

Wishing you success with the changes to come,

Petar Lazarov

“Tip of the Week” Team member

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