As humans, it is in our nature to want to add value to the organisation that we work for. It is more than believing in a fair day’s work for a fair day's pay, it is an intrinsic driver of human behaviour. When organisations create a productive environment where employees can thrive, they receive the most from their employees. We need to ensure that the work someone is doing is adding value and they are not just going through their day chopping down trees without taking the time to step back, sharpen the saw and look at if what they are doing is truly being productive and in turn giving fulfillment to the employee.
One definition of productivity can be doing things that we value (that is how I can justify a yoga class as being productive) therefore it follows that productivity in a workplace is spending time on things that are going to provide value to the business and improve the current standing. Answering the same question 50 times in a month and not taking the time to have it put on a share point or intranet and email it out to the organisation is an example of being busy and not productive. This is also insanely frustrating, but it so often happens, we are too busy cutting down the trees to stop and sharpen the saw. Sharpen the saw people, it takes a bit of time, but the rewards are being able to do more fulfilling work.
Interestingly the converse is also true. Happy employees are also more productive. When they are in a good headspace feeling valued, exercising, treating themselves well they are going to contribute more meaningfully to the organisation. World-renowned motivational speaker and time management expert Brian Tracy says:
“Productivity is vital when it comes being happy. But don’t confuse being productive with being busy. Simply adding more to do to your daily task list can create more stress and frustration in your life, making you miserable. Being busy means doing more and more things while being productive means doing something with purpose.”
Ask yourself: Is what I am doing accomplishing something? Am I creating an environment where my team can achieve or is the environment so reactive that we never get to work on the fulfilling projects? Carve out the time required to implement processes that have the team work proactively and productively, engagement will improve and in turn, the organisation will benefit.
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