HR Conundrum: Productivity vs Wellbeing

As managers and HR professionals, we’re often tasked with increasing productivity and motivation within our teams. Doing so is no small feat; you need to balance employees’ increased demands with their personal and professional wellbeing.

Increasing worker productivity is about far more than setting additional tasks; it’s about getting employees in the right mindset to go the extra mile. Here we discuss the conundrum of making employees more productive while supporting their wellbeing:

Can increased produtivity go hand-in-hand with wellbeing?

Most managers are conscious about asking too much from our colleagues. We fear that doing so may increase their risk of burnout – leading to impacted wellbeing, and decreased long-term career satisfaction.

Many of us remain conscious of this when tasked with increasing productivity within our teams. By asking more of our employees, are we putting their personal wellbeing at risk?

* Productivity isn’t just about tangible output!

Increasing productivity depends entirely on how you measure it in the first place. Contrary to popular belief, productivity isn’t all about real-time tangible output!

It’s therefore difficult to measure productivity on paper; just because one employee outperforms another, it doesn’t mean they’re any more productive!

Productivity is about long-term development, too. While one employee may focus on exceeding their weekly targets, another may focus on improving their skills through learning and training.

How to increase employee productivity without impacting wellbeing

While it’s important to have realistic expectations about employees’ performance, there are healthy, practical ways to drive productivity without impacting wellbeing. Here’s how you can encourage your employees to be more productive while maintainig careers satisfaction:

– Remain aware of their wants, needs, and expectations

Just as managers hold certain expectations as to their employees’ performance, employees hold certain expectations about their work-life experience. It’s important to remain aware of these, and keep track of how they change over time.

Survey your colleagues regularly to find out what motivates them in their roles, and equally, what holds them back. This could inlcude anything from your leadership strategy to their workplace benefits package.

Keep your HR strategy dynamic; adapt your approach regularly to meet employees’ renewed expectations – otherwise, you’ll struggle to drive productivity while maintaining satisfaction.

Read more: Employee Value Proposition – What it is and why it’s important

– Incentivise going the extra mile

Very few employees come to work just for the money; they need additional incentives to inspire creativity, productivity, and commitment.

Don’t try to increase productivity without first considering employee incentives. Make your colleagues want to go the extra mile by offering additional workplace benefits to your top performers. This will nurture a healthy level of competition within your teams, driving performance while promoting wellbeing.

Perofmance-based benefits may include bonus schemes, monthly/quarterly prize draws, staff social events, or even just a simple certificate! Get creative, and employees will return the favour.

– Use SMART targeting to avoid micromanagement

Employers looking to increase productivity often turn to micromanagement strategies to drive quick results. While this may work in the short-term, it can have a serious impact on employee wellbeing over time – including your own!

Instead, consider setting SMART targets for your employees to help them navigate and fulfil their objectives. This simple structure helps to create goals that are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Relevant
• Time-based

Critically, SMART targets tell your employees what they need to achieve, when they need to achieve it, and how they should work towards it. Think of this like a long-term to-do list, helping employees to deliver the best results while minimising the risk of burnout.

Read more: How to eliminate workplace burnout in five simple steps

– Focus on learning & development

Coming back to our earlier point – productivity isn’t all about real-time tangible output. It’s important to give your employees the tools and resources they need to develop into self-sufficient high performers.

Focus on learning and development within your teams. Use workshops, peer-learning, and in-depth training to ‘upskill’ your colleagues over time. This is the most effective way to increase long-term productivity, while strengthening your workforce from within.

Normalise learning at work; office hours don’t need to be about hitting daily, weekly, or even monthly performance targets. Instead, make sure your employees are comfortable to research, discuss, and develop new skills within the workplace.

– Build sustainable workplace relationships

Social interaction is a crucial part of your employees’ worklife experience. Nobody enjoys working with someone they don’t get along with; it’s human nature! This is why it’s so important to build and nurture strong, sustainable workplace relationships within your teams.

Staff socials, networking, ‘tribe’ meetings, and cross-department interaction are the core building blocks of your workplace society. Don’t neglect these incredibly important aspects of your workplace culture!

As a manager, it’s important to maintain positive relationships with your wider team. This means approaching your leadership role with care, ensuring never to alienate employees, and making their wellbeing a priority. Use constructive criticism – not reprimand – when approaching employees’ mistakes, and be sure to focus on their strengths ahead of any perceived ‘weaknesses’.

Introducing…

Talos Engage: Identify & eliminate employee engagement issues

Want to inspire success and satisfaction within your workforce? Talos Engage is the answer!

We’ve created a gamified app for monitoring employees’ real-time sentiments; they simply swipe right on the things they love, and left on the things they’d like to change.

Data is formulated into a user-friendly report, giving you limitless visibility over employees’ wants, needs, and expectations! You can even filter down into specific cohorts like department, location, seniority, or job role.

This will allow you to rectify any engagement issues before they begin to impact your workforce – driving productivity, boosting satisfaction, and increasing staff retention.

Find out what motivates your employees

Identify the things that motivate your employees to go the extra mile, and what holds them back. Adapt your HR strategy to inspire creativity and prosperity within your workforce!

Build a workplace culture that inspires success

Adapt your workplace culture with data-backed strategic changes! Inspire your employees to hit and exceed their goals, and incentivise increased productivity.

Get real-time feedback on your leadership strategy, workplace culture, employee benefits, and much, much more!

Discover an easier way to motivate your workforce, while meeting their unique expectations: