The workplace is one of the most stressful places in the world, even at the best of times. And when those moments occur when the workforce is in full panic mode, and everyone is on the brink of breaking, there are two things that you can do; you can improve your employees work rate and productivity, or you can stop it dead in its tracks.
You may work in HR or you may be a manager and you are probably thinking it is not your job to handle your employee's stress levels, but if you want the best out of your workers, it is. Knowing when to push and when to pull back is important when it comes to keeping your employee's productivity alive.
After reading this article, you will be able to identify the methods that harm your employee’s productivity and the solutions to prevent that from happening.
Hours and over hours
It may be a revelation to some people but working more actually produces less. Yes, you read that right. When your employees take on more hours, you will see an initial big jump in productivity, but this will only last for a month or so and is followed by a steep decline in work rate that will continue to tumble. Studies show that employees working 40 hours a week will produce work at a better rate and standard than employees working 60 hours a week. Less truly equals more! So, if you want to know how productive your employees are being, check their hours.
Support
One of the most underrated and under-used forms of communication in the working environment is support; that is not to say you have to cheer on your employee as he/she fills out a spreadsheet, but words of advice and guidance are the best way to get great results. It has been proven again and again in business that team member support increases individual performance, so, showing your employees a certain level of support will not only increase confidence and productivity it will also eliminate trial and error methods that occur in the workplace when collaboration and correspondence are not utilized.
Multitasking
The most effective way to complete any task is to focus, but that can be hard when you are doing six other things at the same time. It may seem like a good idea to get your employees to do two things at once, after all, the more, the better, right? Wrong, especially if you want that work to be of a decent quality. Multitasking is a full-proof way to increase stress which in turn decreases productivity, so if you want the best results helping your employees to prioritize on single tasks will increase focus, speed and results.
Empathy
This is not to be confused with support; empathy is an entirely different beast! Showing your employees a decent level of compassion and empathy goes a long way to getting amazing results. It doesn’t mean that you have to become a walk over or a shoulder to cry on, but what it does mean is a connection will be made at every level in the working environment, which creates a bond and strengthens teamwork as well as communication.
It may come as a bit of a surprise but it doesn’t take that much to make your employees productivity levels rise, but it also doesn’t take much to make them fall either. So, finding that delicate balance can be hard to begin with but once you find your stride and take note of some of the warning signs above, you will notice the results instantly.
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- Are You Killing Your Employees Productivity? - August 8, 2019
