Performance and Productivity

No matter where you look in Britain you can see the destructive, as well as positive, outcomes of a rapidly changing, worldwide business and economic climate.  No department, or employee – whether your organisation is a 5 person, small business, or a 20,000-employee, multinational corporation – is going untouched.  There are several consequences of all this change.  Here are just a few:

• fluctuating morale

• inconsistent communication throughout the organisation

• insecure employees.

• reduced customer loyalty

• increased employee turnover

• higher than normal business expenses

• senior management unsure of what corporate direction to move

• vulnerability to competition

Successfully promoting the acceptance/embracing of change to your employees in this climate of uncertainty is one of your primary tasks.  Here are a few things to consider:

• keep the lines of communication open and honest throughout the organisation

• don’t shoot the messenger who brings bad news

• share as much information as appropriate, and on a timely basis

• consistently communicate corporate goals and direction throughout the organisation

• share bad news with your employees on a timely basis, don’t wait for them to find it out on their own

• don’t change things for the sake of change

• think through the consequences in advance

• recognise most people fear change…the less they know about what’s going on, the more negative the effect it’ll have on their performance

• encourage upward feedback of employee attitudes, concerns, issues, and frustrations

• encourage ‘out of the box’ and reality thinking

• reward employees who present unique ideas, solutions, or innovative approaches to new problems caused by change

• don’t punish poor performance during a time of rapid accelerating change…rather, find out why it’s happening and how you, or the organisational culture are contributing to it

• explain to employees that the changes you are going through are necessary to remain competitive and to continue to excel

• reassure employees their position is secure in the new environment

Productivity factors

In an age of restructuring, downsizing, reorganising and a general re-evaluation of purpose, mission, corporate destiny and direction, a concern for employee as well as organisation productivity is at an all time high.  What is employee and organisation productivity and what are the essentials involved in attaining it?  Following are just a few of the “basics.”

Productivity is when an individual or organisation grows and achieves greater success with the least amount of wasted resources, effort, and time.

This definition takes into consideration a number of issues.

• reduced employee turnover

• high level of employee satisfaction and empowerment

• profits that can sustain the organisations continued growth

• market share that can contribute to continuation of the business enterprise

• effective communication throughout the organization as well as in the marketplace

• well-trained and motivated employees throughout the organization

• innovative product development and a sensitivity to what consumers want and need now, as well as what they will want and need in the future

• leadership and vision

• management team in touch with the reality of the marketplace as well as the internal issues within their own organization

• clear, established corporate direction uniformly communicated throughout the organisation

• corporate accountability at every level

• definition of what success is for that organisation

• commitment to the health of the community, whether that community is the provincial/state, national, or global population.

Coach/advisors are often asked by their corporate clients how to improve sales, management or overall organisation productivity.  It’s never a simple answer, as you can see from the above list…and it’s not a complete list of the issues worthy of being considered when you evaluate overall organisation productivity and effectiveness.

There are several key issues to consider:

• employee, customer and market loyalt

• your management style

• your corporate culture

• communication patterns and systems

• your corporate direction/vision/prime focus

• competence levels of your employees

• your competitive posture

• the perception(s) of your organisation in the marketplace (vendors, customers, competitors)

• attitudes and perceptions of your organisation by your employees

• your commitment to employee training and development

A lot to consider?  Perhaps.  But, if you want a productive organisation and not pay only lip service to productivity, you might want to spend some thinking time about these points, as well as other issues that affect your organisation.

And that’s worth thinking about…