SUMMARY
An organisation needs to go above and beyond their traditionally defined roles to keep up with the dynamic employee needs
How employees are treated in a workplace can have ripple effects throughout an organisation
Numerous challenges affect employee engagement and experience. Each of these challenges is a significant contributor to poor employee performance and their existence is controlled by the leadership of the organisation
Covid-19 has brought about a drastic shift in workplace culture. With the move to remote and hybrid working, organisations have started to re-evaluate their priorities. They are focussed on building work environments where employees can feel motivated, inspired and productive irrespective of where they work.
Before we can effectively manage employee performance issues, we must uncover the challenges our employees are facing. It is our responsibility to understand if these issues are hampering their performance. Every organisation is made up of different management styles, personality types and personal goals, which can often lead to workplace conflicts.
Creating an aspirational workplace environment can be a challenging endeavour. But the responsibility doesn’t lie solely with the management. Instead, it is shared amongst all in the organisation.
An organisation needs to go above and beyond their traditionally defined roles to keep up with the dynamic employee needs. One way to go is to conduct wellness and engagement activities. They assist in building a highly-engaged working environment. Every startup should strive toward delivering a great employee experience where initiative is the norm and not the exception.
But first, we must understand the numerous challenges that need to be overcome to enhance employee engagement and experience.
An Environment Problem
A challenging work environment will impact and often impair the performance of the employees. When the workplace is devoid of appreciation or competent management, the quality of the employee experience deteriorates.
If the employees do not have the proper tools and resources to perform their job, the inevitable result will be poor work product. Similarly, in an environment with poor management, job performance will naturally drop. A management that doesn’t take into consideration their employees’ needs and fails to treat them with respect will see low productivity and a high attrition rate.
To solve this problem, we need to carefully examine and identify the factors that may be contributing to the employees’ inability to successfully perform. Do the managers have the necessary skills to lead the workforce? Is appreciation part of the workplace culture?
We need to change the negative aspects of the environment by providing adequate resources, recognising employee efforts and removing other obstacles.
Good Technology
Lack of modern technological support will make the employees frustrated and unhappy. Modern, efficient and state-of-the-art tech can help employees maximise their efficiency. The organisation needs to invest in tools that can help streamline communication between employees and improve the company culture.
Motivation Problem
The lack of motivation at a workplace can lead to a lack of accountability in the mind of the employees. This leads to actively disengaged employees who openly demonstrate their unhappiness and disregard. This ends up undermining the productivity of others and can easily infect the workplace culture.
To address this issue, we need to counsel these individuals. Additionally, holding them accountable for their performance and their negative impact on company morale, will help the startup reach a positive level of employee engagement.
Physical Workplace
A safe work environment is an essential determinant of the overall experience of the employees. Startups can set up a modern office space that gives an employee the chance to unwind and get back to the task with a refreshed mind.
Skills Problem
One of the most contributing factors to an employee being successful at the workplace is whether they have received adequate training to do what they have been hired to do. If employees are doing their jobs without proper training, mistakes will only increase over time. This will lead to high frustration levels amongst the employees, who will begin to feel inadequate and unsupported for falling short of their objectives.
These employees might then will begin to hide their mistakes to keep from exposing their inadequacies or simply check out. In either case, it’s costing the organisation time and money in errors and lost productivity.
To solve this challenge, it is very important to have a training strategy. The startup should organise proper training at the inception of the employment relationship as well as throughout the life cycle of employment. The training sessions will ensure that the employee can perform their job and also provide an opportunity to upskill. A properly trained employee is a competent and confident employee who can successfully perform their responsibilities, resulting in positive outcomes.
Different activities such as team-building exercises and offsites, reignite the camaraderie between employees, something which has suffered in a remote setup. In the post-pandemic world, managing employee lifecycles in a remote, geo-distributed workplace has become important for a healthy workplace environment. Many organisations are now opting for the hybrid model route, where employees work out of the office and remotely.
Each of these challenges is a significant contributor to poor employee performance and whether they exist or continue to exist is controlled by the leadership of the organisation. Getting the most out of the employees starts with understanding that as an employer.
How employees are treated in a workplace can have ripple effects throughout an organisation. To achieve an aspirational environment at the workplace, a profitable business and a happy workforce, an organisation must invest in its employee experience. Building a great employee experience and a rich, vibrant company culture is vital as we all continue navigating through uncertain times.
