Hi there
An African adage says, “praise sharpens the machete of the labourer”. It is often easier to spot errors in a multitude of all that could have gone right. One error easily cancels out every effort one has put in in delivering tasks and this is quite prevalent in workplaces and makes employees feel unwanted and under-appreciated.
Most times, we focus on productivity drivers and never really speak about actions that hamper productivity. But the truth is no matter how much we drive productivity and still actively engage actions that encumber productivity, the actions that encumber productivity will always be more amplified and hence, draining energy and drive to work and bring in the A-game that delivers excellence. Actions that hamper productivity should be discussed as much as the actions that foster productivity.
Knowing what these actions that hinder productivity are, it is better managed as to not drain employees’ energy. What could these energy drainers be?
- Criticisms: Just as earlier stated, praises have a way of a way of spiking productivity as the employee feel valued and appreciated. This doesn’t mean that faults and errors shouldn’t be pointed out and corrected but this shouldn’t be done in the open and to devalue a person’s capacity. Corrections should be done constructively to teach and build and not to tear down and trample upon the self-esteem of the employee. Also note that, tone of correction matters as much as the choice of words.
- Favouritism: This is arguable in workplaces but be certain that this exists in organizations. No employer sets out to prefer one employee or some employees above other others; this can sometimes happen unconsciously. This breeds an air of apathy and envy within the organization and the other employees who feel they are not in the “favoured” team tend not to deliver to their full capabilities because they feel they efforts are unappreciated or underappreciated.
- Too Many Meetings: Accepting to be part of too many meetings can be draining as these meetings can run for a while and take a lot of time. We agree that sedentary lifestyle is harmful but with the meeting tools that have helped us have meeting remotely still, they don’t exactly take away the fact that long meetings leave you with brain jam either by having to listen for too long or talk for long or even both. Meetings should be concise and be reserved to absolutely when necessary.
- Mindless Engagement on Social Media: This is mostly the reason why organizations place restrictions on the sites employees can access with the workplace wi-fi. One notification can lead to another and before one realizes it, an hour has gone past without anything meaningful to show for the hour. The deal isn’t for employees not to take breaks but mindless surfing of the internet can take a lot of productive and hours and before one realizes ample productivity time has been spent liking, retweeting and commenting on posts or even downloading videos and games.
- Negative Co-workers: You are only as good as the company you surround yourself with. No matter how positive and enthusiastic you are, hanging around co-workers who spread negativity either about the organization or about employees will drain the productive energy of employees. Employers should be intentional about the organization’s values that invariably affect the work culture.
Productivity drainers are mostly unconscious but with deliberate actions, they can be put in check. The points mentioned above are not totally wrong but to everything, there should be a sense of being moderate and balance such that it doesn’t encroach into productive hours.
Remember that, employees redundance and stagnation can also be productivity drainer and having your employees trained is a way to boost productivity and that is why you should be a part of our Audited Financial Statement for Non-Accounting Executives especially for employees and executives that deal with these reports should register and make it a date.
Until I come your way again, stay safe, work hard and not just smart.
Love,
Lizzy.