An old saying “Money can’t buy happiness” is often denied by the public living under the poverty line. The reason is, different income classes strive to meet ends in different ways and it is a common notion that everyone works hard to earn money. However, in organisations, it is far from true. As per US HR surveys, 35.7% of US workers quit jobs owing to a negative or toxic work environment in spite of being paid in the most fair ways. Employees report that the most prominent factor in influencing their resignation decisions after pay is surely behaviour of seniors and subordinates, workplace politics and little to no motivation of working hard.
Similarly, 38.9% of all US workers think that they can give up on current jobs and join new ones if a better work environment is promised. They say that even if continuous perks and benefits are offered, and promotions are promised, they will not change switching decisions owing to the fact that negativity at the workplace affects mental health to a detrimental extent. This in turn demotivates the employees and slows down their performances, affecting the overall organisational dynamics and operations.
The question then arises; how to provide an encouraging workplace to employees for productive performance and overall organisational growth. Following are some tools to help management do it:
What to do?
1. Performance Management
The first and foremost tool every HR management needs to use, to make the most of employees’ productivity in organisations is their performance management. The process of measuring, acknowledging and commending an employee’s performance in a particular time frame is called performance management. This can be done in a variety of ways, and companies can choose whatever suits them. However, the important part is the transparency and the attention to detail. Regular appraisals of employees not only motivate them to work and show effort, but also inculcate a sense of responsibility and goal orientation. When every employee knows his performance is under scrutiny, he will obviously perform better.
The question is who should appraise? Recent studies show that 60% companies with 360 degrees appraisal feedback have shown more productivity and better forecasting strategies than companies who appraise otherwise. In 360 degrees feedback, an employee is appraised by his senior, his colleague and his junior. This means that appraisal from all sides is performed, giving equal chances of behaviour and performance monitoring to everyone. This makes sure nobody treats the other employee unjustly and all employees work together for collective organisational goals.
2. Role Comprehension
Employees perform best when they know what is to be done and why it is important. In simpler words, breaking down an employee’s day to day tasks into smaller goals and sub goals, with weekly or fortnight targets to achieve, will not only enhance an employee’s understanding of his job but will also show him his role’s significance in the organisation. Linking job roles to organisational vision and goals, and communicating this to employees through collaborative meet-ups and weekly sessions would not only help every employee comprehend his role but also motivate him to work harder towards organisational objectives.
3. Feedback Encouragement
Not only do employees need an account of their performances, they also need to monitor the organisational strategies used to make them work for their objectives. As per US stats, 22% of all workers from different jobs feel alienated from their workplaces. They explain that they feel “slave-like” and see no harmony between personal goals and organisational goals.
This happens when criticism and feedback from the employees for the management are discouraged, and instead the upper organisational hierarchy imposes authoritarianism on the lower ones. In such organisations, employees who tend to speak against unfair strategies, unrealistic goals and tight deadlines are often terminated, leading to overall employee dissatisfaction and sometimes loss of competent employees.
To combat this issue, every organisation should inculcate a sense of inclusion and raise voice against concerns in employees by providing them feedback opportunities after every week or month. This can be done through survey questionnaires which every employee shall fill in without disclosing identity so that everyone answers truthfully.
4. Training and Development
Apt training leads to timely development and fosters productivity in employees in the long run. Organisations where employees are regularly given training sessions and certifications have seen higher employee retention and engagement rates as per statistics.
These trainings are mostly needed when operations are upgraded e.g. from manual to digital, or when a new and easier way to perform a job is to be introduced to a certain employee. In today’s era IT assisted training has taken a toll on organisations because company operations are shifting to a digital paradigm. Employees are now trained to use IT integrated tools and digitise their way of accomplishing their goals.
It is revealed that managing IT assets intelligently is also an art many companies still require, to overcome digital challenges faced by employees today. Companies where under trained employees use IT tools, digital breakdowns are witnessed more frequently. Using IT Service Management tools can overcome this issue. By using such software, IT teams of companies become well aware of how IT services are being utilised in the company, where and in which departments are they deployed and what sort of training are required to use them, and when they need upgradation. This helps eliminate faulty IT practices and replace them with more user friendly and effective ones, aligning digital services with business goals.
5. Flexibility
Providing flexible working hours to employees is another hidden gem for extracting the best performances out of them. As per surveys, companies which allow remote working to their employees, in case of urgent leaves or jobs that can be done from the comfortable settings of one’s home have seen more happy and satisfied employees than companies who force their workforce to come to office premises daily.
Similarly dress codes and seating arrangements have a great impact on employee’s psychology and work ethics. Employees should be allowed private cabins which discourage a sense of being watched all the time, and comfortable dress codes should be introduced to make employees feel at ease.
6. Non-Monetary rewards
Encouraging off time for workers and allowing them to take healthy breaks from work is a part of employee performance nourishment. Companies where taking leaves are discouraged through unpaid leaves not only show high lay off rates but also low organisational performances in the long run.
Employees should be given incentives like longer paid leaves in return for achieving a specific organisational objective. Similarly promoting employees internally rather than hiring new ones for job postings through external recruitment is another positive way to make employees feel their commitment and contribution to the organisation is being valued and appraised. In this way, employees continue to struggle for better positions within the organisational hierarchy, improving their performance with every passing day.
Conclusion
To end, it is pertinent to say that organisations can excel ahead in this competitive world only if employees are treated justly and prudently at every step. This is because employees are one of the important building blocks of a business and companies need to devise collaborative strategies to enhance employees’ motivation and enthusiasm for working towards a common goal. Ventures where employees feel threatened, insecure or unworthy mostly lose their competitive workforce and end up spending millions on training and hiring new staff after shorter periods of time. Hence employee retention for an organisation is as essential as cutting costs and utilising other resources effectively.
Guest writer.
