Stress&Productivity: Company’s don’t run on paper they run on people
January 1, 2008
Canadians are some of the least productive workers in the G7.
The G7 workforce is the most educated and materially blessed in the world. Productivity in the work place is directly related to job satisfaction. Many of us believe that money is the most important fact in job satisfaction.
Money can translate into benefits, pensions, as well as salaries and bonuses of all kinds, and yet…….. what people really want is the chance to contribute to the company through their own gifts and talents. People want to know they make a difference at work and the first step toward excellence aka productivity is the ability to have input into the way you do your job.
One of the geniuses of Microsoft and founder Bill Gates is the stock purchasing plan. If people own stock they feel that they are part of the management, they have a say in the operations of the company.My friends in the USA are telling me about a new term “presentism” being at work physically without any commitment to do the job. People are coming to work without any passion without any buy-in, they put in their time like prisioners and go home exhausted. Their work performance is effecting their entire life.Think about enforced indolence for 8 hours a day. If you spent 8 hours a day listlessly doing work that bores you, work you my think is not worth doing, you are creating an energtic path away from passion.
I was once told I would not fit into the workplace in Toronto because I laughed to loud, had too much fun at work, this stunned and amazed me. It was true, I would have been noisy. I would have also been energetic and commited to what I was doing. I have worked for myself for the past decade and am now working at a paid position 40 hours a week, it is a low level job and what constantly amazes me that my co-workers are so commited to doing a good job. The resources to suppport them in excellence are small. Often unskilful leadership, exemplified by poor to no communication stand in the way and yet these low status, poorly paid workers, soldier on, caring about the customers and the company. The furnace doesn’t work in the warehouse, it has been repaired numerous times it still doesn’t work. No manager knows the status of it’s repair, the warehouse staff do there work in freezing conditions and are still told they aren’t productive enough. No one has even offered a space heater or seemed to care if there is no heat. One manager as heard to say he liked it he was alway to hot on the floor and was happy to come and work in a cool place. He seemed unaware that he spends perhaps 2 hours out of 8 in the cool and then returned to the warmth. The worker who spends 8 hours in the cool doesn’t find it so charming. Contests are set up, staff participate and no on ever hears who won. Sales promotions are explained differently depending on which manager is asked for details.
The information from the morning meeting is left to trickle down to anyone who is not present. And yet…….customers are served, as a matter of fact, these workers deserve awards for customer service, everyday at least a dozen times I see someone go above and beyond making the sale and making a difference for this customer.These workers are discouraged. They are not told what they need to know to do the job the company expects. They are often called on the carpet because some other worker tattled on them, training is negligible.
On the job training has transformed to “with the customer waiting training”.
Dedicated workers watch some other workers not do their job and see that managers don’t speak up because it’s hard to find people or it’s a busy time and we need him/her we’ll talk to him/her after the rush is over. These same unproductive workers get the same bonuses as those who have worked with dedication and commitment. What message is being send here? It seems that those who are dedicated are on the same level as those who literally couldn’t care less about their work.
So what is the answer? More discipline, more money, more training, more checklists, more workshops, more Coke in the fridge?
The number one thing you can do is to acknowledge people and listen to them. People would rather have you critize their performance than ignore it. It reminds me of my family doctor telling me my son was simply trying to get my attention by acting so badly. It was true as soon as I set some rules his behavior improved.The number one thing we need to do in Canada is talk to our co-workers, realize that we are in this together. Imagine that everyone you work with went home……. How would you do your job? If you are a manager or an executive or a board member, when was the last time you had coffee with your c0-workers? not your fellow executives but the workers the people who make it happen in the cubes and corridors of your organization, you no the ones we think of as lower status? I will guaruntee you that if it is longer than 30 days ago since you had face time with the”little people”, you are out of touch with the operations of your company. Companys do not run on paper they run on people.Paper makes people think you don’t trust them. People make a company one you can trust.
Energetically if you withhold your attention from your co-workers you are a blockage and a blockage of energy causes stagnation. It’s the law.
In my next article in this series, I will talk about building an energetic workplace.
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