Five Reasons For a Lack of Productivity
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By examining the reasons given by the admittedly unproductive employees, one can quickly derive and implement low- or no-cost ways to connect employees for an improved bottom line The top five reasons for this lack of maximum productivity are:
1. Lack of supervision.
There has been a trend in recent years to empower people by placing them in teams and letting the teams to self-manage their responsibilities. It is definitely true that this contemporary style of management improves results over traditional strict management.
Unfortunately many companies have gone too far in removing supervision. Supervisors still have a strong role in setting goals, holding their people accountable, and providing the resources necessary to get the job done. These supervisory responsibilities require supervisor becomes a coach for each employee, having daily contact at a minimum.
2. Insufficient training.
Many supervisors think that empowerment is nothing more than giving people the ability to make their own decisions. This thinking is far too simplistic for success. Giving people the ability to make their own decisions requires providing the education they need to make intelligent decisions.
Fortune 500 companies have learned the value of training and almost all of them have ongoing training programs. Small and midsize companies often overlook the value of providing training in important people skills such as time management, problem solving, decision making, or communication.
3. Exclusion from the decision-making process.
When was the last time you were excited that somebody made an important decision for you? You probably resented it. Most employees are no different: they do not want someone else deciding important aspects of how they do their jobs and meet their goals.
Including employees in the decision-making process is an important aspect in connecting them to a shared vision of your organization’s future.
4. No reward for good performance.
We all like to have acknowledgment for our accomplishments. Employees will be much more successful when you show appreciation for their efforts.
A common misconception to giving rewards is the belief that rewards should be monetary in nature. The truth is that employees crave specific verbal complements — which are absolutely free to the employer.
5. No opportunity for advancement.
Don’t be tricked by this heading. We are not talking about reality here — we are talking about perception. If employees do not feel they have an opportunity for advancement they will not connect to your organizational goals and visions. It’s a simple absolute truth.
I worked with one organization that claimed they had absolutely no opportunities for advancement due to financial constraints. I wondered aloud how they were so sure nobody was going to quit, retire, or die.
This company had fallen into the misconception that opportunities for enhancement needed to be immediate and constant. The opportunities offered by a company can be available anytime within the next five years. It is more important that opportunities exist than it is how quickly they can be realized.
Author Rick Weaver is President of Max Impact Corporation, a leadership and strategy development company. He offers more anecdotal leadership lessons in his book, “Life’s Leadership Lessons”, a collection of 53 anecdotes about his life. Rick reveals how the people, events, and things he has encountered in his life taught him valuable leadership lessons. The book is available in paperback, e-book, or a Kindle download. For more information or to download the first chapter to preview, visit: Life’s Leadership Lessons.
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