What affects the performance of employees?

The performance pathway model brings the training and development process into visual perspective by highlighting the key factors that influence job performance. The performance pathway begins with the individual, moves outward over a timeline and ends with a measurable outcome.

Think of one or two employees whose work performance could use a booster shot. Keep those people in mind as you learn how to apply the model, or think about applying it to yourself.

Person

Individuals bring many traits with them to the job. Some are functional, while others are dysfunctional. The “person” section of the model identifies eight essential factors that impact job performance: knowledge, experience, skills, abilities, awareness, values, motives and needs. As individuals grow accustomed to the job, these factors change over time.

For a high achiever, they change in positive ways. For example, their knowledge increases, their experience broadens, their skills develop, their abilities improve, their awareness grows, their motivation strengthens, their needs expand and their values deepen. Such a person is ready for change and will adjust to whatever comes his or her way.

Underachievers bring these same types of traits to the job, but they are looking to maintain the status quo rather than improvement. Typically, it takes them longer to become accustomed to the job. Meanwhile, they are searching for the minimum acceptable requirements and not thinking about raising their level of performance. The last thing they want to undergo is a transition.

Job Demands

Job demands are the conditions under which the person is expected to perform. Unlike a job description, which lists tasks and duties, job demands define work in terms of past, present and future expectations. For example, was the person hired or promoted into the position because of his or her past job performance, present job requirements or future job potential?

A “doer” would relish the opportunity for advancement and greater responsibility, while a status quo-seeker in the same job would be threatened by an increase in job demands. The underachiever would be content with a job that never changed, while a doer becomes bored without opportunities for growth and development.

Training and Development

“Training” relates to immediate, short-term upgrades and improvements. “Development” has an evolutionary focus related to future growth and long-term potential. The maintenance of individual skill levels is determined by the organization’s training and development philosophy. For example, if the philosophy is to hire or promote people who are fully trained and ready to perform, the organization must emphasize recruitment and selection processes. Under this strategy, the organization would expect higher levels of performance in a shorter period of time. On the other hand, if the strategy is to train and develop people on the job, performance expectations are lower, and people have more time to get it right.

Behaviors

Actions people take in response to their work environment are observable and either functional or dysfunctional. Job-related behaviors, if observed carefully, can provide leaders with the first clue that people are accepting or rejecting change. For example, leaders will see doers moving forward, trying new things and making change happen, while status quo-seekers, if not closely supervised, are holding back, avoiding anything new and reverting to the old ways.

Performance

Performance is the measurable outcome of the interactions between the person and his or her job demands, training and development, and behaviors. Here, at the end of the pathway, is where the leader discovers what is working and what is not. But it is also a beginning — a place to start again. Armed with the results, the leader is now in position to show the low performers and underachievers how to retrace their steps and target specific areas for improvement. They will benefit by walking through the model step by step while the leader points out where, what and how they can do better next time.

High performance is sustained by maintaining a balance between job demands and training and development, which means that the organization is providing education, in some form, in anticipation of future job changes. Leaders introduce new elements to the job only when employees demonstrate confidence in their current skills and abilities.

It doesn’t makes sense to wait until performance declines before providing training. Underachievers are reluctant to admit they do not know how to do something, which means it will be up to the leader to discover their weak spots and keep their job skills current.

The key to long-term growth is continuously assessing future job demands and then providing developmental opportunities for employees working beyond their capabilities. Keeping track of current performance is important, but knowing each person’s potential is even more critical.

As time passes and job demands change, followers accept that at some point in the future, they will need do things differently. However, if forthcoming duties and responsibilities are beyond their knowledge, skills and abilities, it will negatively affect them and drive the pathway downward — resulting in a performance loss, as depicted below.

In a dysfunctional scenario, leaders take action after the fact — belatedly providing training to the employees most negatively affected by the change in job demands. Rather than remedy a bad situation, this training may escalate the tension, because unless they make the purpose of the training clear, a clash in expectations is bound to occur between the leader and the impacted follower. The leader will expect performance to improve, while the follower is expecting to achieve equilibrium — to return to the pre-change level of performance. If post-change performance does not improve after the training, the leader decries the waste of time and money, and the follower receives a poor performance evaluation. It is no wonder change brings about fear.

There is wisdom in the saying, “The certainty of misery is better than the misery of uncertainty.” People would prefer to know in advance how change might impact them — the bad with the good. In a functional scenario, followers are prepared for the change in advance:

If leaders want positive acceptance of change, they should hold frequent meetings; publish charts, graphs and plans; and share their view of what is about to happen. It is up to the leader to create a vision of the future in the minds of the people most impacted by the change. Training people to prepare for change will affect their behavior positively and drive the pathway upward — resulting in a performance gain.

We all know how important employee productivity at work is. But do we know the critical factors that affects our productivity while we are working? This article covers the 5 critical factors that you need to inspect for maintaining a productive work environment.

Worried about your employees’ productivity?

A productive workforce is the engine behind every successful business. Having a set of hard-working, productive employees will make reaching your goals and targets a breeze. Conversely, an unproductive workforce will make it impossible to get anything done.

There are several factors that affect your employee’s productivity levels. Here’s a detailed look at 5 of these factors and how to harness them to keep your employees productive.

1 — Work Environment

An employee’s work environment influences their mood, drive and overall performance in your organization. The idea is simple – give your employees a supportive work environment, and they’ll be productive.

But what is your work environment?

While your work environment includes structural elements such as lighting, ventilation, furniture and office equipment, it’s scope is far beyond material things. It also includes your company’s work atmosphere.

If your work atmosphere is built on principles of cooperation, healthy competition and empathy, your employees are going to be highly motivated and driven.

Why?

Because their workplace is a safe zone for them to express themselves and perform to the best of their abilities.

If you spend a significant amount of your life working, it is important to invest even just a few minutes into making your work environment better for yourself, your coworkers, and your employees

There’s a strong support system of coworkers alongside them to help them achieve their goals. This security can boost your employee’s productivity as they’re not constantly looking over their shoulder – concerned about what’s going on behind their backs.

The key to creating a healthy environment is to promote values such as transparency, co-operation, teamwork and accomplishment. Make these values a part of your culture by asking your top management and HR teams to advocate them on an everyday basis. You should also reward employees who practice these values during appraisal time.

2 — Processes

Processes, or their absence, has a huge impact on organizational productivity.

Implementing processes is one of the most effective ways to boost team productivity. A process defines a specific sequence of steps for executing a particular task.

Good processes are defined after a lot of trial and error. Therefore, they are the fastest, leanest and most reliable methods for accomplishing tasks. When you have a process, you don’t need to waste time figuring out what to do. You just execute.

The most productive companies build processes for nearly all their recurring tasks and projects. For example, most HR teams have a process for employee onboarding, but employee offboarding is usually neglected, which can even lead to legal, platform access and data privacy compliance issues.

However, if you use a SaaS management tool like Torii, you can easily define and automate the IT aspects of your offboarding processes. For example, you can revoke a departing employee’s access to the company’s web app accounts with just a few clicks. Given how hard it can be to keep track of all the SaaS products you’re subscribed to, there’s major value to be found in building a standard process for keeping it all mapped and centralized.

3 — Goals

Clearly defined work goals are great for boosting productivity levels because they’re measures of productivity themselves.

Consider this…

How do most companies measure the productivity of their workers?

By evaluating if they reached their goals or not.

Informing your employees of their goals is a great way for them to have a target in mind. It’s the perfect way to channel and direct their energy towards productive tasks only.

Goal setting also helps alleviate any employee doubts. As they have a specific set of goals to work towards, they won’t be asking questions like:

• Who should do this?
• Is this what’s expected?
• What’s the exact deliverable?
• What’s the due date?

The best way to set clear goals is to map them in a project management tool like ClickUp. The software allows you to assign tasks, add due dates and time estimates, specify task descriptions and subtasks, set priorities and even exchange task-related comments.

As everything is clearly outlined in their goals – they won’t be wasting time asking questions and can get cracking immediately.

4 — Employee Wellness

Employee wellness is a broad term encapsulating the mental and physical health of your employees.

Why?

A healthy and happy employee is going to have far more physical and mental resources to invest in their work. This helps them become extremely focused and avoid procrastinating.

While sick or stressed employees may finish their work – they’ll have to work far harder and longer than they usually do. This is going to delay your deadlines and risk employee burnout.

If you are putting off important goals, procrastination will severely impact your professional success, future income and even your health and happiness

Employee burnout is the total depletion of an employee’s physical resources when coping with work. Once employees hit burnout – they’re never going to be as capable as they once were – leading to irreversible drops in productivity.

Always encourage your employees to take care of themselves. The best way to do this is by setting the example yourself. For example, you can start serving healthy food options in your office cafeteria to nudge your employees towards a healthier lifestyle. Accenture even started issuing FitBits (exercise tracking bands) to their employees to encourage them to stay more physically active.

Caring about your employee’s health is also a great way to humanize your brand. By prioritizing their health over deliverables, you’re treating them as human beings – not cogs in a machine. This will lead to increased job satisfaction and motivation – which, in turn, will boost their productivity levels.

5 — Training

Your employee’s training plays a huge role in how prepared they are for their jobs. The more prepared they are – the more productive they’re likely to be.

Think about it…

An untrained employee won’t know what they have to do or how to do it. They can exert all the effort they want, but if they don’t know where to direct that effort, it’s going to be unproductive work.

Most people look at training as simple, role-specific instructions – however, that isn’t necessarily the case. Your employees need advanced domain-level training as well. They have to thoroughly understand the field they’re working in before understanding what their job entails.

Why?

Because advanced training helps them understand the bigger picture.

For example, a salesperson in the B2B field will have to change their approach and processes once they transfer to the B2C arena. Knowing about B2C consumer psychology will be a huge advantage in their work.

Ensure that you implement thorough training procedures during onboarding to educate employees on:

• Detailed domain knowledge of the fields they’ll be working in
• your work processes.
• the duties they’re expected to perform.

Moreover, the more informed they are – the more capable they’ll feel, which, in turn, will boost their productivity levels.

Conclusion

Employee productivity is a key determinant in your company’s success. No company will get very far without a solid, productive workforce behind it. That’s why it makes sense to spend time and money investing in your employee’s productivity.

Ensure that you build the right environment, processes and principles in your organization to facilitate job satisfaction. This, in turn, will have a positive impact on how committed and productive your workers are. And once you have a productive workforce, the sky’s the limit.

Jitin Kanwar is a digital marketer at Time Doctor, a time tracking and productivity monitoring software designed for tracking hours and productivity of remote teams. Previously he has run his own business in the travel industry as well as worked with various brands as an executive and as a freelancer ensuring sustainable revenue and growth. Jitin is a creative and dynamic marketer with proven expertise in consistently penetrating new markets using digital channels.

CakeHR is an award-winning HR software company that provides attendance, performance and recruitment management for customers worldwide. More information at www.cake.hr