Employee productivity is a crucial aspect of the success dynamics of a company and it takes more than the employee’s potential to increase productivity. Set capability aside, and a number of environmental factors too play a role in determining whether a company’s employees are at their productive best.

If you have two employees of equal calibre and commitment giving contrasting outputs, it would serve you to sit back and think what is going wrong with the non-performer. A work related factor may be troubling him or her, or the person might be struggling with lack of motivation at work.

To put the human aspect of an employee before the resource aspect works not just in the employee’s favour but in the larger interests of the company to ensure productivity is good as it will help cut costs, deliver to deadlines, improve the work culture and promote retention i.e. essentially meet all the larger objectives.

As a manager heading a department, you are essentially responsible for the output the department delivers. This makes you directly responsible for the well-being of your employees too. Have an equation with every employee: A personal touch to this relationship opens up many knots and eases the employees. They may be reporting to you on the professional front, but knowing something about them beyond work will endear them to you.

If the bright girl under your wing has started to look jaded and sullen of late, she might be going through a rough patch in her personal life. Talking to her, offering a helping hand and just assuring her that her colleagues stand by her can help her overcome the grief and power her recovery to productivity. This will also create a strong bond within the team and also for the concerned employee with the organisation.

For a company head, it might not be possible to connect deeply with every employee but for a department leader, it is advisable to establish a personal rapport with each person. Managers directly create an employee’s experience in the organisation and people never leave companies, they mostly leave managers.

Knowing the employee’s strengths and weaknesses, playing to the strengths and ironing out the weaknesses and motivating the employees to learn and excel can work wonders. If you notice an employee is shy and introverted, you can recommend him for personality development classes; if you observe an employee losing temper often, advise him/her to keep control.

As an employer, you should encourage your managers to shed the cold, strictly professional attitude and throw in some warm traits in their interactions. It will help create a healthy, positive work environment.

Some key elements of building an engaged workforce as follows:

Delegate work, it helps build capacity: You may be a perfectionist; each mail that goes to your clients, every report that is compiled and each plan that is drawn perfectly according to you. However, if you keep the work concentrated in a few hands, the employees will neither learn nor take responsibility.

Delegation is not only a strategy to manage time and resources well, it also empowers. When you delegate work, you transfix greater responsibility to your juniors. In doing so, you also give them greater authority and control over their job.

This also gives employees a lot of space to learn about the industry and discover their strengths. The more an employee is responsible for, the more exposure she will get and the more chances of growth and development.

Delegating work also decentralises work which results in faster and smoother processes directly impacting productivity.

Offer regular challenges: An employee should never feel static in his or her job; there should always be scope for new challenges and excitement. Any new employee is naïve to the industry and needs to learn the art of sailing with time and practice.

But learning doesn’t happen when there is nothing challenging to do in a job. Rather than restrict your employees to the monotony of mechanical jobs, make them a part of your challenges. Do not hesitate to put a project on a young shoulder. Guide them from behind, keep boosting their morale and tell them they can do it. A successful completion of the project would not only prepare them for future challenges but also whet their appetite and instil unmatched confidence in them.

Encourage creative thinking: Fresh thinking and creative working drives young employees. Rather than stick to tried and tested formulae, give your employees a free hand to develop their own codes and procedures. Encourage them to think afresh and spring up out-of-the-box ideas. Make them feel a part of the company’s think tank. This will not only nurture their talent but also keep them motivated and hungry.

Help them build their capacity: Often, despite desiring to pursue further education and training, young graduates take up jobs to earn a living. An organisation’s framework and policies need to be encouraging towards pursuing advanced studies in today’s dynamic world so an employee doesn’t feel compelled to quit his/her job to study further.

The writer is Vice-President, Human Resource, Sun Life Financial’s Asia Service Centre

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