If you have noticed your employees are less productive than they once were it is likely there will be a good reason for it, especially if they once were productive members of the team.
Lets have a look at the top 5 reasons. And if you are a sensitive soul you might not like number one.
Its not them, its you
Its true that you could be the reason that your employee is less productive. Maybe you aren’t delegating effectively or giving them the support they need to be able to do their job.
Maybe their workload is unmanageable, so rather than trying to plough through it unsupported they are downing tools.
Perhaps they don’t buy into the business culture or even particularly like you as a person. Hey, it happens!
But being unhappy at work can make it very difficult to stay motivated and get through tasks like they
did when they were new and enthusiastic.
What to do about it?
Have an honest discussion with them. Ask questions like ‘what can I do to support you?’ If you don’t think they will talk to you and you get the impression that they don’t like you personally then see if you can enlist the help of an HR manager or other manager within the company to talk to your employee.
Or, if you are worried that this will single people out and make the situation worse try introducing 360 appraisals for the whole staff body so they have the opportunity to constructively feedback on you and their other managers. You might find herein lies the reason your staff are less productive.
They are having personal issues
We all know the old adage ‘leave it at the door’, but that’s not really possible a lot of the times. We aren’t robots and compartmentalising personal issues isn’t easy to do for long.
It also isn’t healthy and can damage your employee’s long term mental health, which can also have consequences on your business.
Read: Three Pillars of Health-Mental Resilience
Personal issues, such as bereavement, relationship worries, financial issues, or a lack of security can decrease the productivity of your staff.
Depending on the culture of your workplace and the employee themselves you might not know they have personal issues, you might just see a lack of productivity.
What to do about it?
It is important to strike the balance here between prying and being supportive. Ultimately this will be judged by the employee themselves but if you know them to be a private person then proceed with sensitivity.
If you have the Wellspace Wellbeing Application you will be able to see if your employees are feeling stressed, depressed, or anxious and can take steps to support them. Emotional resilience training as part of the Focus Wellbeing training will give your staff the skills they need to be able to manage their personal lives effectively.
Or, if you feel that they need more intense support you can always sign them up for one to one individual wellbeing support with one of our experts.
Talk to your employee about their lack of productivity and give them the opportunity to disclose personal issues without pushing or asking.
Offer your support and see if there is anything you can do to make their life easier whilst they overcome their problem.
Don’t forget that everyone has a difference tolerance level and a different way of coping. This means that what affects one person deeply will not affect another the same way, so avoid making any judgements about their needs.
They have become disengaged or demoralised
Even if they like you, their line managers, and the business, your employee might be less productive because they have become disengaged or demoralised.
This can be because they have had a difficult customer issue and it has knocked their confidence.
Or maybe they haven’t progressed in a while and they are starting to wonder what the point of it is.
Whatever the reason, disengaged or demotivated staff either leave, or gradually bring down the morale of the rest of the team.
It is important to tackle this one head on.
What to do about it?
As with every resolution, the first step to solving this reason your employee is less productive is to have a conversation.
An employee who is disengaged or demotivated might cite money as the reason might discuss their salary or bonus, or they might not know the reason they are not getting through as much work.
Discuss KPIs, progression opportunities, training, and their responsibilities with them.
It could be as simple as getting them on some meaningful training, setting challenging targets, or giving them some more responsibility.
It is also worth having a look at your appraisal process to make sure your staff have the opportunity to express their ambitions, skills, and development requirements.
They need training
It could be that your employee is less productive because they are struggling with an aspect of their role and lack the skills needed to do it deftly and speedily.
Identifying training requirements and giving opportunities to go on courses and gain qualifications is really important for your staff’s development and productivity.
It benefits your business in other ways too, not just productivity. Your staff will learn new skills and bring them into the businesses, opening up quicker, safer, and more cost effective ways of working.
NVQs are great because they allow your staff to gain a qualification that is based on their job, which means they can improve their current practice and learn new skills at work.
What to do about it?
If you haven’t already, include training suggestions on your appraisal systems.
Its really important that your training is worthwhile and implemented. Anyone can go on a course, but actually using that knowledge when they get back to the office is the key.
Make sure that before your staff go on training they are justifying how it will help them with their role and improve their productivity.
When they get back their line manager should be reviewing the training with them and working together to implement the things they have learnt.
They are moving on
We don’t have jobs for life these days so it is likely that at some point your staff will leave for greener pastures.
If they have been engaged and churning out work previously you might not see a dip in their productivity during this process, but for others they might check out early.
Maybe they are coasting along doing the bare minimum during their notice period. Or, worse, browsing job boards and filling out application forms at work.
Either way, it needs tackling.
What to do about it?
If you think this might be the case, have a frank discussion with them.
A notice period is not an excuse for slacking off and you can still put in place targets for them to achieve, and consequences if they don’t.
Get In Touch
You can trial the Wellspace workplace wellbeing programme for absolutely free for the rest of 2018! Click on the link or get in touch!
If you would like to speak to us about training or any other aspect of our corporate wellbeing programme, you can call us on 0808 178 0748, fill in your details on our Contact page, or email info@yourwellspace.com and one of our team will get back to you.
