Improving Productivity in the Workplace

There are some basic points to consider before any productivity program is implemented within an organization.

What is productivity? Productivity is generally defined as a ratio of quantity and/or quality of results to the resources expended to achieve that result (the ratio of “output” to “input”). To improve productivity, an increase of output to input must be achieved. This can be done by:

• providing the same amount or additional goods and services at lower input costs, including time, or
•  reducing the amount of input resources needed to maintain a prior level of output, or
•  doing both.

 In short, productivity means getting more done with less.

Basic steps to implement productivity changes:

1.  Put individual productivity in context. Any productivity program should set out for employees what management considers effective work, defining the role of each job in the overall scheme of the total objectives for the organization.

2.  Change focus to development. Former approaches to spur motivation and performance solely through combinations of reward and punishment have given way in most organizations to programs designed to develop the individual talents of workers. The focus is not on applying outside forces to make the employee react in a specified manner, but instead on creating an environment in which the innate behavioral characteristics of the individual worker are brought out in a manner beneficial to the company.

3.  Revise methods and techniques. It is the challenge of management in general, and human resources in particular, to develop and channel employee talents and behaviors into actions that benefit the organization. Management must find ways to encourage ingenuity, promote attention to quality, foster communication and cooperation, and develop other forms of useful worker behavior that will avoid a stagnant outlook toward the job or an apathetic approach to work.It is not enough any more to assume that employee morale and productivity can be handled via supervisory training programs, adequate wages and ample fringe benefits. Rather, the challenge for HR becomes the development of programs that result in convergence between the needs and desires of employees and the economic and productivity goals of the company.

4.  Set clear, achievable goals. Productivity goals should be set realistically so that they can be actually achieved by workers. Any company productivity program designed to improve input and output figures should include the following:

• Integrate any productivity program into existing work processes; don’t just tack it on as an afterthought to existing procedures.
•  Modify existing performance evaluation processes to reflect the new productivity standards targeted in the program.
•  Make a long-term commitment to the program, avoiding the perception that it is some untested business school approach that will be abandoned at the first sign of failure. Make sure management stresses long-term results, not merely quick fixes.
•  Introduce the program gradually so that employees will not feel threatened or fear that this is just another “flavor of the month” program.
•  Resist the temptation to impose a one-size-fits-all system throughout the organization. What works in one department may not be successful in another.
• Don’t immediately increase standards if employees quickly achieve the incentive levels, as this may result in an outbreak of employee cynicism toward the program.

These measures should encourage employees to take the productivity program seriously.

5. Provide tangible and intangible rewards.  The program should provide for some reward, in the form of money, time off or recognition that is geared to attaining desired productivity levels. Encourage feedback from employees on the workings of the system and any appropriate ideas forwarded by employees. The program should foster commitment by increased communication, control, and responsibility for employees at all levels, not just senior management.

6. Monitor and follow-up. Provide at least some form of measurement and review to determine whether the incentives set for employees are actually working and whether the results sought from the program match the economic goals of the company.

Source: CCH Human Resources Management HR Practices Guide, a product of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.
(Submitted Oct. 2008)

Productivity goals should be set realistically so that they can be actually achieved by workers. Then, provide some form of measurement and review to determine whether the incentives set for employees are actually working.