MANAGING EMPLOYEES PRODUCTIVITY

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S. S. A. Zaidi

Training and Development Consultant

0091-9987644300

The key to unleashing employee's productivity in an organization is held by the management. To a very great extent the style of management and the way the employee's work is organized has a direct impact on the productivity.

An employee's performance on the job is the function of his ABILITY and his WILLINGNESS to work. In many cases it has been observed that an employee does not perform at the level he is capable of, though he has necessary skills and competence to do the job. The obvious reason for this is his unwillingness to work. The lack of will to do his job has an impact on his work output. This affects the organizational productivity adversely. Why this unwillingness to work is the question management should try to add an answer to. Many studies conducted have revealed that employee's unwillingness emanates from the work that does not provide him recognition, responsibility, growth and advancement. The major highlights of these studies have been their findings that employees with higher job satisfaction care about the quality of their work and are more committed to the organization. If the employee gets what he seeks from his job, he experiences job satisfaction that motivates him to perform above acceptable level.

However Motivators are different for different individuals. The role of Management is to find out those things that an employee seeks from his job and then so structure the job that it provides him what he seeks. This would spur him on to perform at relatively higher level leading to increased organizational productivity.

All employees start their career with a motive to achieve success. This motive propels them to ACTION. Management therefore needs to ensure that conducive conditions are created to foster and inspire this motive.

The two most significant conditions conducive for sustaining this motive at optimum level are

Organizational Culture / Climate
Job Characteristics.

ORGANISATION CLIMATE / CULTURE

Organization climate and culture should provide support for reasonable bonafide mistakes that would not impinge on the overall financial credibility of the organization. Every organization has rules. These rules explain the way business transactions are and should be done in the organization. A departure from any of these rules is taken as a ?Mistake? or an error. A mistake is just an event. It is actually the first step in learning. Learning comes from making a mistake and correcting it. Therefore, if the organizational support is not there, the creativity that emerges from the need to achieve would be lost to the organization. It would lead to frustration and apathy on the part of the employees. And consequently the productivity would be adversely affected.

Frustrations among employees are also caused by role conflict and role ambiguity. Overlapping of functions and encroachment upon other's areas of responsibilities produce a dampening effect on the performance. To safeguard against this it is essential that each employee in the organization has his role and extent of his authority clearly defined.

Open communication, clearly defined roles, opportunity for up gradation of skills, scope for employees to use their skills and knowledge and avenues for their growth and development should be the visible elements of the organizational culture and climate so essential for the sustained motivation of employees.

JOB CHARACTERISTICS

Job assigned to an employee is another equally important factor. It should be challenging and there should be encouragement and appreciation. Success on the job should lead to better and more important assignments. A job with these characteristics will certainly reinforce the employee's motive to achieve success. This will lead to higher job satisfaction and therefore increased productivity.

Shakespeare said, The fault, dear Brutus, is not in the stars but in ourselves?.

Applied to Management, it would mean that problems of productivity may very well be not in their employees but in the behavior of the Management. Any tactics designed to manipulate employees would not help in increasing productivity. Management should strive to find ways to unleash the potential for work that exists in most of the employees. Managers work with and through people and therefore they should be sensitive to the needs and requirements of people who work for them. If they are, they can increase employee's achievement by inspiring their inner urges to ACHIEVE in consonance with the organizational goals. Although financial rewards instill a brief ?HIGH? regarding job satisfaction, the effects wear off quickly. The Management, therefore, should take steps to foster sustained high morale and as a result higher productivity and quality.

Telltale signs that morale problems exist, should not escape the attention of the management. These signs may be irregular attendance, increasing turnover and increasing customer complaints. However most management instinctively know when things go awry, but they may not admit it to themselves for the fear that acknowledging it may mean admitting the existence of a problem with their own style of management. But if a journey towards better productivity is to be successful, this EGO problem must be overcome.

In all the organizations managers manage Money, Machine and Manpower. Efficient management of Money and Machine depend upon efficiency of Manpower i.e. employees. No amount of money dedicated to equipment/infrastructure will translate into the desired results unless a reasonable investment is made in those who operate the equipment's. Finding good employees is not that easy, so management should put in a little extra effort and consideration into keeping the ones they have, happy and productive, making them feel that they are a part of the organization and giving them recognition for the job they do. If the management do it, they will see the productivity graph of their organization soaring.

All review comments

Zulfiqar Naqvi

Stop managing their time. Start managing their goals. This brilliantly written blog highlights the fact that Productivity in the workplace is an important aspect of every company and when top management understands this concept, success is just around the corner..

Diptirekha Das

No organisation would prosper without giving the deserving due & credit towards it's manpower . The write-up by Mr zaidi is perfectly focusing the issue of managing employees productivity. I feel the write-up very well equipped with the real issues of management of an organisation. Also feel the write-up very impressive & helpful towards understanding the smooth running of successful organisations. Thank you. Diptirekha Das.