Striking a Balance: 5 Things That Can Both Help and Hurt Employee Productivity

Your business’s success depends on your staff’s productivity, and if you aren’t hitting your goals, you may have to make some changes. The problem is you can’t just implement a change without considering how it can affect your team. Many factors can both help and hurt productivity. Here are five things that can cause disruption or bring your team to a new level.

1. Employee Relationships

The people on your teams must be able to get along. They should be able to find common ground, talk to one another in the break room and work together as part of a team on a big project. Your workers can even become friends. These friendships in the workplace can encourage familiarity and bonding relationships that can help people to increase their productivity as part of a team. When people can talk freely, they can also exchange ideas. The conversation can help them to come up with solutions for the issues that affect your business.

However, friendships and relationships in the office can also hamper productivity. Workers can become friends at work but lack the maturity necessary to separate fun from work. There’s also the possibility that employees could become romantically involved, and the personal relationship could take them away from their duties. If they break up, and they’re not mature enough to handle it, then that could create drama that can cause issues down the line. The human resources team needs to make rules about which types of relationships are allowed, and those guidelines must be enforced.

2. Corporate Culture

Somewhat tied to relationships is your corporate culture. A positive corporate culture will have managers and employees working together in a cohesive environment where no question is off limits, and everyone is provided a chance to succeed. This positive culture can increase employee productivity because they’ll feel more enthusiastic about what they’re doing and know that management has their backs. Collaborative environments allow employees to put their heads together and come up with solutions to complex problems.

However, many companies also have a toxic corporate culture. This is a place where there aren’t any core values, there’s a lot of gossip, employees are constantly tardy, and there’s unfriendly employee competition that makes work unbearable. You may start your company culture with the best of intentions. But if you notice that your staff is no longer engaged or they stop showing up altogether, then you may need to look at the example of a positive culture and make some changes.

3. Workload

Managers must also be careful with employee workloads. If you have a positive company culture and you provide a hefty workload to your employees, then healthy competition in the office may make that work more manageable and even fun for the employees. However, there has to be a healthy balance.

Overworked employees will not be satisfied at work, and they’ll show that by providing minimal effort. Managers must set workload limits. Do that by talking to each employee to ensure they’re not being overworked and note how much work an employee can take before their quality starts to suffer. If additional training is necessary to get that worker up to speed, provide what they need.

4. Employee Self-Image

When it comes to productivity, we tend to focus on the numbers and not employee well-being. If a worker isn’t performing to the best of their ability, they may have a poor self-image or low self-esteem. However, many people have a positive self-image, and that quality may be why they’re good at their work. Self-image is tied to professional success because these folks are more confident, and they know the value they bring to the table. They’re also more resilient and may be more equipped to take on big projects.

Confidence is essential, but being overly confident can sometimes affect employee productivity. A person can be so confident in their work that they feel they can do no wrong, so when they make a mistake, they’ll defend it to the end, which can cause arguments and create a hostile work environment. If your workers perform physical labor, overconfidence can lead them to take unnecessary risks that could result in physical harm.

5. Workplace

The actual office where you work can also affect productivity in good and bad ways. Your office should have plenty of space to move around, and there should be suitable airflow throughout the building because that clean air helps your team to breathe and make better decisions. The office should also be well-lit, with natural light shining through the windows whenever possible. Good light can help your team to see their work, and sunlight can help your team to stay motivated.

That said, you also don’t want your employees to be distracted by their workplace. This can be a big issue for employees that work remotely. People who work from home are often more productive because they don’t have to go through a long commute, they can create their ideal office environment, and since they’re at home, they rarely call out sick.

Still, there are many distractions at home that can hinder productivity, so management must create rules for remote employees and check in on their teams regularly to ensure their home environment is helping and not hurting their productivity.

Conclusion

It’s essential that you look at the processes at your workplace and strike a balance so that your employees are engaged but not hindered during their day-to-day business. Put new processes in place, analyze their effectiveness, and then adjust to meet your productivity goals.

Originally published at https://facilethings.com.