When your employees stop feeling productive, it can stop your business functioning at an optimal level. Tasks won’t be completed on time, emails won’t be answered, and your outstanding customer service will decrease. While it can be easy to blame your employees for their lack of effort, have you ever considered that you might be the cause? If you don’t accommodate or understand what your employees need, it can be difficult for you to motivate them to work. This can then affect their productivity, which in turn can adversely affect your business. So to help you avoid this, here are some things you, as an employer, might be doing which could be hindering employee productivity.
Not providing an attractive work environment
If your workplace looks tired, uninspiring and untidy, it’s not hard to see why your employees might be feeling unmotivated. Your employees should look forward to spending a large portion of their day within this environment and not dread it. So rather than letting this continue, it’s time to give your workplace a facelift. Contact painting service providers such as Omega Industries to give your workplace a fresh lick of paint. Don’t be afraid to use brighter and more vibrant colors. Replace the furniture and provide storage solutions to make the space more fit for purpose and comfortable. Also consider adding adaptable lighting and artwork to the space too. This should give your employees a more attractive environment and suitable place to work in each day.
Not being clear with expectations
All businesses have goals and targets they need to reach every day, week, month and year. Your business is probably no exception. But if these aren’t conveyed clearly to your employees, it can prevent them from knowing what they are working towards. This lack of focus could be why you aren’t getting the results you need.
Hold regular meetings with your employees to communicate your expectations. You can also use this time to generate ideas and give insightful feedback. Remember that each of your employees are likely to have separate responsibilities. So while you should have expectations for your entire workforce, you should also have individual ones too.
Leading through fear
Some business owners feel that the only way they can gain respect from their employees is by leading through fear. However, this too could be hindering your employee’s productivity. If you frequently focus on negatives and make your employees fearful, they will be less likely to give their input. They might also be anxious to inform you of issues due to the response they are likely to receive. So change the way you manage your team and start being a positive leader they are happy to follow. Your employees will respect you far more if you lead by example rather than by fear.
Now you know what you might be doing wrong, you can take steps towards rectifying these issues. The longer your employees lack of productivity continues, the more damage will be caused to your business. So start turning things around today to keep your business firmly on track.