| In today's tough business environment there are fewer | | | | 8. Celebrate successes and milestones. |
| options for making a satisfactory profit. One of the | | | | 9. Catch people doing it right. |
| remaining options is to improve labor productivity. | | | | 10. Coach people doing it wrong. |
| Normally, improving labor productivity is considered to | | | | 11. Review your targets. |
| be too difficult and for many organizations it is not | | | | There are several reasons why productivity is low in |
| seen as a viable option. Productivity increases can be | | | | many workplaces. |
| achieved by purchasing expensive machinery or | | | | 1. Management has never explained to the staff how |
| industrial robots to replace people. However, there are | | | | their jobs are assessed. |
| many businesses that cannot afford to invest vast | | | | 2. There are no expected standards of performance. |
| amounts of money in trying to achieve productivity | | | | 3. There is no feedback to the staff. |
| through these methods. | | | | 4. There is no positive reinforcement. |
| The first way to increase productivity should be to | | | | If people don't know specifically what is expected of |
| up-skill supervisors and managers so that they can lift | | | | them in measurable terms, it is unlikely that they will |
| the performance of their teams. This is the most | | | | perform to the level required. Every member of staff |
| cost-effective way of increasing workplace | | | | should know:- |
| productivity. | | | | - The results that are expected |
| Eleven steps for supervisors and managers to lead | | | | - How their work is measured |
| changes in productivity:- | | | | - What sort of behaviour is required to do their job |
| 1. Set a fair and reasonable level of expectations | | | | effectively. When employees have a good |
| regarding the performance of the employees. | | | | understanding of how their jobs are measured, it's |
| 2. Communicate that level of performance to each | | | | critically important to take the next step: now |
| staff member and get agreement that the level of | | | | supervisors and managers have to spend some with |
| performance is fair and reasonable. | | | | each employee discussing ways to produce the |
| 3. Ensure that every member of staff has a clear | | | | desired outcome. |
| understanding of how their job performance is | | | | This can be described as on-the-job coaching where |
| measured. | | | | the supervisor or the manager coaches the person |
| 4. Make certain that there is a system of up-to-date | | | | doing the job so that they have the tools, the |
| daily feedback so that the person can see how they | | | | knowledge and skill, to successfully do the job. |
| are performing. | | | | This sounds easy to do, but is not. Successful |
| 5. Set up a system of communication on a daily basis | | | | businesses train their supervisors and managers how |
| so the employees can be given information about | | | | to be effective workplace coaches. By using the skill |
| progress on their jobs. | | | | of coaching, the supervisors and managers are able to |
| 6. Make sure that the system of up-to-date feedback | | | | train and communicate effectively. Then the |
| is translated into graphs so that trends can be | | | | employees are able to understand what to do |
| identified. | | | | differently. |
| 7. At every opportunity use positive reinforcement with | | | | This, coupled with relevant feedback creates a higher |
| each employee. | | | | level of labor productivity in their workplace. |