by Moira Dunne, BeProductive.ie
Organisations that promote a wellbeing culture can benefit from increased output and better business outcomes. There is plenty of research to show that “happy” employees are more productive. But let’s talk about how the reverse can also be true. A productive culture helps wellbeing because being productive is can help people feel happier about their work.
- Getting the important things done.
- Feeling a sense of achievement.
- Taking control of their time and their output.
And with a greater sense of achievement at work, employees can more easily switch off and refresh afterwards. A productive culture helps wellbeing and helps employees improve work life balance.
Encouraging mental fitness should be a key part of any wellbeing programme along with physical fitness and healthy eating initiatives. On the other hand a lack of productivity can have a negative effect on the employee’s stress levels and general mental wellbeing.
Causes of Stress in the Workplace
Here are some of the common reasons given by employees for workplace stress. These factors also cause a lack of productivity:
- Changing demands and priorities
- Inefficient systems and processes
- Lack of clarity around role and expectations
- Poor communication with managers
- Long hours, poor work-life balance
What is a Productive Culture?
A culture of productivity encourages everyone to perform at their best level. Employee wellbeing and happiness can increase as well as engagement and output too. A Productive Culture helps Wellbeing.
By removing barriers to productivity an organisation can enable people and help them achieve more. To foster a productive culture an organisation should examine the processes and the management styles.
- Do people have clarity about what is expected of them?
- Are there bottlenecks or inefficiencies?
- Do managers plan the work ahead of time?
- Are people collaborating ?
- Have the employees got the right skills to be productive?
- Are the managers enabling productivity?
Managers and teams can work together to identify local barriers to productivity. This can strengthen relationships as they change how they communicate and work together.
Quick Tips To Improve Productivity
Managers should be empowered and supported to make changes to processes or working practices. Some of these changes may take time to achieve.
However, there are some practical changes an organisation can make quickly for very little cost:
- Provide clarity around everyday roles and responsibilities
- Develop a productive approach to meetings to reduce time and improve follow up
- Use smart practices to reduce Email processing time
- Regularly review and set team priorities
- Reduce factors that interrupt solo work and productivity.
A Productive Culture helps Wellbeing
A productive culture helps employee wellbeing by reducing stress and increasing a sense of achievement and control. Ands this can provide many benefits for the organisation too and improved business results.
References
Are Happy Workers More Productive?
About the author
At beproductive.ie we run team workshops and webinars on Wellbeing. If would like to book a session, contact our Productivity Consultant Moira Dunne to find the best solution for you.
For more productivity tips and ideas, you can access the beproductive.ie blog here.
