The workplace is a challenging environment for everyone. It’s challenging for employers who feel frustrated about paying disengaged workers. It’s challenging for employees who feel discouraged by the unrewarding nature of their work. And it’s a challenge for the company itself because it’s struggling in a fiercely competitive marketplace.
Fortunately, the situation is not as dire as it might appear to be. Many effective solutions have been created like applying innovative management techniques to engage workers and the use of software that measures performance.
Let’s take a look at how employee performance and productivity can be improved by engaging the workforce and by measuring job performance.
Engaging the Workforce
Initially, when someone joins a company, they feel positive about their decision. They accepted the job because they thought the pay was fair and they expected to grow with the company. Unfortunately, it’s rare that this enthusiasm lasts for long.
In most cases, the honeymoon period lasts for a few weeks. In a few cases, it may last for a few months. After the honeymoon period, disillusion sets in.
Any number of factors could lead to this disillusionment. It might, for instance, be due to office politics, a colleague stealing credit for the employee’s efforts or some pejorative comments by the supervisor.
What can be done?
A simple remedy might be to make the employees feel recognized and appreciated for their best performances. For instance, the employee could be recognized during a corporate banquet award ceremony. Giving the employee a beautiful crystal award designed by EDCO in front of the whole company would quickly lift his or her spirits.
Another solution might be to make the employee feel more included in company projects, like including him or her on a volunteer team for a community service project.
As an example of an engaged workforce, let’s look at what Google is doing right.
Google has a wide number of programs that engage employees, making them feel that they’ve come to work at the right place. Google makes employees feel valued by giving them an amazing number of perks and privileges. These include up to $5,000 reimbursement for legal expenses, eighteen weeks off with pay for maternity leave, financial support for child adoption, free meals, and a variety of free services and amenities.
Google doesn’t make billions of dollars a year (Google reported $110.8 billion in 2017) because they hire the best people and develop the most sophisticated technology on earth. It makes billions a year because the best people want to work at Google and are willing to help this tech giant advance its visionary business goals.
Measuring Job Performance
Peter Drucker, the famous management consultant, pointed out that we can only improve what we can measure. This is true for a wide number of business processes, and it is true for increasing employee productivity.
How do you get an employee to become more productive? Do you simply scold, threaten, cajole, or demand that they step up their game? This will only work when the boss or supervisor is around to keep an eye on them. In the long run, these crude methods only stir up resentment and ill will on both sides. Managers feel exasperated and employees feel humiliated.
A better method is to use software that measures how well an employee performs. For instance, the best way to discourage people who show up late for work and leave early is to use Attendance Tracking Software (ATS). When an employee’s attendance is measured, they will self-regulate themselves to make sure that they comply with the company’s attendance policies.
Besides software to track employee behavior so that they can see for themselves where they are underperforming, gamification software is another useful way of enhancing employee productivity. This software uses points, rewards, and leaderboards to make work tasks feel as interesting as playing a game.
In conclusion, you can transform a dysfunctional workplace into a happy and productive place by doing two simple things: using management techniques to help people feel enthusiastic about their jobs and software to help people measure their own performance and find their work more enjoyable.