Making the news
'It's time to get pragmatic about productivity,' believes Jesse Weinberg, Co-Head: SME Segment at FNB. This is particularly true of owners and managers in the small-, micro- and medium-sized enterprise (SMME) space, who face unique people challenges to those currently being dissected in business schools and by global management consultancies.
While large corporates and multi- nationals are debating the future of work, remote employees and how best to get reluctant workers back into the office, SMMEs are grappling with capacity constraints, a sluggish local economy, supply- chain challenges and demotivated employees.
The last issue is particularly hard to turn around, because people are running on empty. As author and broadcaster Bruce Whitfield says in his new keynote address, How to Thrive at the Edge of Chaos: 'We've gone from a pandemic of disease to a pandemic of uncertainty, and a real sense of fear about the future.'
'Imagine the emotional toll on a person dealing with the loss of a family member due to COVID-19, or having to feed more mouths
to cover for those who lost jobs during the pandemic,' he says. 'Difficult emotional issues are resulting in serious challenges from a productivity point of view as employees battle to keep on top
of their lives - let alone be highly ambitious and grow professionally.'
Small ship, essential cogs
Weinberg, who merges his SMME expertise with insights gained from an MBA at IE Business School, has a personal interest in understanding the multi-faceted dynamics of business ownership and how this impacts productivity. Gaining insights simply means reaching out, and checking-in with people on the ground, be they clients or employees.
workforce - whether the person is physically absent or emotionally 'checked out'. Either way, the impact on output is very real and tangible, says Weinberg.
How to re-engage employees
Big corporates are approaching the issue of employee wellness and motivation through, as Harvard Business Review and Forbes are reporting, deploying 'soft-skill', human-centric responses like upskilling, on-site fitness classes, counselling and meditation workshops. But many of these interventions are beyond the scope of smaller businesses.
There are, however, simpler ways in which SMMEs can breathe fresh life into stagnant workplaces. Here are just a few:
- Recreate a collective sense of purpose - it is critical to align around a common, well understood strategy that inspires and directs staff, says Weinberg. Writing in Fortune magazine, authors Brian Elliott and Ryan Anderson note: 'Telling people to come in to do heads-down work rings false to employees who've proven they can be productive at home.' Instead, the appeal of returning to the office lies in a sense of community and camaraderie.
- Express sincere gratitude for work well done.
- Be respectful.
- Be transparent. As author Ron Carucci wrote in Harvard Business Review: 'Learning to provide honest responses will be key to showing good leadership.'
- Watch for the warning signs of overwork and burnout (detachment, cynicism, argumentative, lack of motivation, exhaustion, making mistakes).
- Make time for one-on-one discussions with employees and managers, to address concerns and to listen. Most importantly, recognise when such discussions should take the form of a face-to-face coffee catchup versus a virtual call.
- Exercise sensitivity to each individual's reality, empathy is truly a superpower these days. 'Especially in times of stress, people benefit from talking about what they are experiencing,' Constance Derick and Dorie Clark wrote in Harvard Business Review. 'Listening with calm and sincere curiosity, without attempting to fix everything, is extremely valuable in helping people transition following disruptive events.'
- Equip managers with the skills to coach or mentor their struggling employees.
- Reinvent old rituals such as monthly get-togethers into fun livestream or virtual reality events.
- Remember there is still a place for face-to-face events. John Eades, CEO of LearnLoft, wrote earlier this year that physically-present events have an advantage over digital collaboration in that they allow 'teams to be authentic and vulnerable with one another'.
- Offer employees motivation- boosting benefits such as flexible schedules (so they can pick up children from school), remote working (if possible), or even the option of four-day weeks.
- Relax remote work restrictions for staff who aren't 'mission critical'.
Being a small business does not exempt a business owner from an open discussion about productivity and the emotional and psychological aspects with their staff, adds Weinberg, although he acknowledges that it is still essential to focus on the business and hard business metrics.
A complex and changing environment also requires that business owners and managers take time to monitor their own levels of stress and overwork by learning to say 'no', making time for fun, family and friends, and having a trusted sounding board.
Ultimately it doesn't help focusing only on the productivity of your team if the captain is floundering, as this could result in a leadership or judgement failure at some point down the line. It's also a risk to the sustainability of the business if your workforce is actually 'breaking', notes Weinberg.
In fact, that's where the importance of pragmatism comes into play. Just like all good assets in a business require preventative maintenance to keep running effectively and efficiently, so too do the people (arguably your most important asset) in your business. Are you allocating enough time and money to ensure the emotional productivity of your people is being adequately maintained?
