Promote Productivity in Your Workplace

Employees slumped in their chairs, IM’ing instead of working? In case your office is more chat room than workplace these days, Alex Somos, co-founder of Guelph, Ontario, Canada-based consultancy Juice Inc. has some ideas:

Employees need to understand an organization’s measurable objectives, Somos points out. Once they grasp those goals, your leaders will be able to establish processes and systems to support the outcomes your company is after.

Don’t overlook what’s happening inside employees: “The first response from people is generally an emotional one,” he says. “The ability for managers and leaders to understand the feelings economy can create unprecedented results.”

You also want to make sure employees stay focused. Somos says to recognize the symptoms of “corporate ADD,” such as disorganization and distraction.

Listen to what employees have to say. “The higher up a person becomes in an organization, the less they hear about what’s really going on,” he explains, “CEOs rarely hear the candid truth, and if they do, it is sanitized and couched, without the real message getting through.” So no dilly-dallying…or holding back.

March 05, 2007

By Margery Weinstein