Productivity. The word continues to make its way into just about every business conversation today – yet, for all the emphasis and awareness, many companies fall short of being able to truly align and engage employees on this issue. The reality about productivity is that if buy-in is achieved, in line with company strategy, the result is an increase in shareholder return and business growth.

 

When we speak of productivity, what do we actually mean? It is a simple but important question – particularly because there is often a discrepancy between what a business perceives to be employee value add through measurable output and what an employee feels he or she is ‘putting into the job’.

 

From a Human Capital Management (HCM) point of view, productivity is understood to mean outputs from a particular activity and the metrics involved in measuring these outcomes include time, quantity and quality.

The explosion of online, social and mobile technologies has resulted in a 24/7 worldwide workplace. Long gone are the days when business was confined to desktop PCs and a 9-5 working day. Today, organisations are increasingly operating from multiple locations and on multiple time zones.

 

In a global marketplace characterised by speed, efficiency and follow-the-sun operations, today the distributed workforce is a critical business enabler. In such a landscape, business models are triggering a redesign in IT architecture; flexibility, simplicity, security and continuity are key imperatives that are enabled by trends such as application growth, virtualisation, cloud computing and enterprise mobility.

 

However, where productivity is the name of the game and speed is how you win, are CIOs focusing enough on end-user experience and employee productivity? For example, a large Internet company recently calculated that a page-load slowdown of just one second could cost up to $1.6 USD billion in sales each year. This shows that by enabling fluid global collaboration, quick downloads and speedy cloud-based applications, CIOs can directly demonstrate real business impact. As they strategically redirect their IT investments to bring their ecosystem of employees, partners and customers closer together, CIOs are at the centre of a radical rethink in IT – one that caters to the demands of a global business and a highly distributed workforce.

 

There is no silver bullet that can enable a CIO to accomplish all the large goals of an enterprise. Applications, storage, networking and security all play into the mix. The network itself has evolved from simple HQ-branch architectures to now include Internet VPNs, and business class internet services, leading to a complex hybrid network. But no matter which technologies are used, an optimised network is the one that ultimately ties it all together, matching applications to the right path with the right characteristics. Dispersed businesses demand a LAN-like environment across the hybrid WAN; one that enables employees to experience IT in a manner that makes them feel that the applications, files and data they need are always local. Regardless of bandwidth limitations, application design, distance or latency, the environment not only demands high performance levels, but it is a critical imperative for survival.

If the phrase ‘employee value proposition’ has you running for the hills, relax, this essential but easy-to-compile plan is not as intimidating as it sounds.

 

An employee value proposition (EVP) is quite simply the exchange or transaction that occurs between employer and employee; the ‘give’ and the ‘get’ between the company and its staff. It details the experiences that are offered by the employer in exchange for quality performance and productivity from its people.

 

Contrary to what many people think, an EVP is not a feel-good employer branding exercise. Rather, it is a vital tool that has a direct, and very real, impact on employees’ level of engagement, which in turn directly affects productivity and business success.

 

Every company has an EVP, even if it has not yet been formally defined and communicated. By recognising this, employers have the opportunity to be deliberate in articulating their EVP and maximising it to attract, retain and engage their employees as well as prospective employees.

For five days a week, for nine to twelve hours a day, our places of employment are where most of the population spend most of their time. With mornings and afternoons spent at the office, it has become a home away from home for many people.

“The space in which we work needs to be comfortable and accommodating, so that we enjoy spending our time there. The state of the working environment is conducive in boosting motivation and driving productivity,” says Lyndy van den Barselaar, Managing Director of Manpower Group South Africa – a company offering global best practice in human capital management.

Whether you're an entrepreneur running you own business or a professional working your way up the corporate ladder, investing in your health should be one of your priorities, says Dr Anuschka Coovadia, a health and risk management expert at KPMG South Africa.

 

"Most people don't realise it, but the cost of neglecting your health is often greater than the cumulative return generated by your entire investment portfolio," she warns.

South Africa’s leading workplace intelligence company, Know More, is on a quest to improve the satisfaction levels of the country’s knowledge workers.

 

Know More, a division of leading interior designers, Giant Leap, has a simple mantra: that an effective work environment makes people happy, and happier people work better.  This idea is supported by numerous studies that show that employees who are happy with their place of work are more productive, less likely to leave the organisation, take fewer sick days and are far better advocates for their organisations. They will go the extra mile in terms of customer service and performance, ultimately generating more revenue, helping their organisation progress.

 

Because of this, as part of their workspace consulting services, Know More has partnered with leading workplace satisfaction experts in the UK, Leesman, to offer a unique service to South African companies – a standardised employee workplace satisfaction survey to help them measure the satisfaction their staff members have with the facilities, activities and features of their workspace.

 

Leesman is the world’s most comprehensive, contemporary workplace effectiveness performance benchmark. The Leesman Index tool enables employers to monitor exactly how well workplace environments are supporting employees in the work they are undertaking and to see the impact on organisational performance.

 

The survey measures the individual activities each employee is undertaking in their role and then examine their satisfaction with the mix of facilities and features provided to support their work. Know More can then provide analysis of how these factors are impacting on key measures such as productivity, pride and enjoyment.

 

Know More believes that in offering a central and unified effectiveness measurement solution, organisations can learn from the vast range of comparative data that will quickly collect. But it also recognises that organisations are all different, so it can work with companies to understand the culture and concerns of the organisation and develop additional questions, while still offering a cost-effective yet results-led solution to CRE performance evaluation.

 

This analysis model is being used as a starting point for organisations that want a deeper understanding of the relationship between people and place. Since its launch in Summer 2010, Leesman has been adopted by organisations globally who have deployed our survey in 24 countries with responses now from 37,000+ employees across 255+ locations. These clients see this depth of understanding vital in helping them make a real difference to the operation of their organisation.

Through its partnership with Leesman, Know More is the only company that offers the Leesman survey in South Africa and in addition, provides in-depth analysis of the results offering both quick wins and long-term solutions to ensure that companies are maximizing their space to increase staff satisfaction.

 

For more information on Know More’s services, email Peter Townshend at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , visit www.knowmoresa.com or call 011 8801490. Know More is a workplace intelligence company and division of Giant Leap. It provides clients with an in-depth understanding of their workplace and offers a comprehensive consultancy service to ensure clients’ offices are as productive and profitable as possible.

As important as it is to start off your workday with a bang, it is even more important to end it on a good note. Here’s how to do it:

 

Go through your To-Do list – Tick off what you have accomplished and what you haven’t, and transfer these items over onto your new To-Do list. Having a sense of completion also gives one a sense of accomplishment. It is easier to sleep at night knowing you have achieved what you set out to do for the day.

 

Compile your new To-Do list - While fresh in your mind, draw up your new To-Do list for the next day. When you start your new day afresh with a plan in place, it gives you a few minutes breather when you get into the office to enjoy that freshly brewed cup of java!

 

Tidy your desk – File what needs to be filed. Shred the waste you no longer need. Place dirty coffee cups in the kitchen. It’s like arriving home to a bed that hasn’t been made…it can only be a start to a bad day if your desk isn’t tidied from the day before.

 

Tie up loose ends – Use the time to complete the tasks you were busy with so you can start anew the next day. It always helps to start afresh and not try complete stuff from the past day.

 

Finish your emails – Take 10 minutes to go through the less important emails you haven’t had a chance to check or go through. Flag those that are important to look at the next morning…it prevents a back log.

 

Reflect on your day – Take time out, even if driving home, to congratulate yourself with a pat on the back with what you have achieved, or consider where you feel you could have done better. Learn from where you have succeeded and where you have failed. Where you feel you need guidance, rely on a mentor or colleague to help you in the future.

 

Say Goodbye – Say goodbye to colleagues - besides being good manners, it gives them the opportunity to ask for anything they may urgently require and sets a good basis for interpersonal relationships.

 

Be kind to the environment - Turn off any machines, computers, printers and lights in your area. The environment needs all the help and support it can get!

 

Disconnect – Switch off from your day’s work. Enjoy your evening and time with friends and family. Renergise and prepare yourself for a new day tomorrow. Don’t be scared to leave work behind and enjoy your time out. Go for a run, hit the gym, shop or do what you enjoy most.

 

Don’t feel bad going home – There is a only a certain amount of productivity within each of us. There is no point in working when you are exhausted. It is better to head home with a good plan in place for the next day, and a clean desk where you can start afresh in the morning.

Social media is still considered to be a personal matter in the workplace and most employees believe it should remain this way. These findings are part of the latest survey results from the Kelly Global Workforce Index; an annual survey conducted by Kelly Services®, a leading international recruitment firm based in America. The survey is managed in conjunction with leading recruitment firm, the Kelly Group to represent the opinions of over 90 000 people from across the globe about work and the workplace.

“Interestingly, many are using their networks to make career decisions with more and more employees using social media in their search for a job. With that said, most workers agree that their social media pages should remain in their private domain. Furthermore, a large majority of employees believed it to be more professional to separate their private and working lives in the social media space. In support of this, only 1% of those surveyed indicated a social media presence as the most influential organisational attribute that would attract them to a position when job seeking,” explains Kelly Group chief executive, Gareth Tindall.

Status Update

“What we believe to be a positive trend is the fact that only 30% of those surveyed, feel it is acceptable to make use of social media while at work. With this in mind, it makes sense that younger employees, who fall within Generation Y (36%) and Generation X (30%), are in support of this practice. While older generations, the likes of Baby Boomers (19%) and the Silent Generation (11%) are in their minority when it comes to accepting the use of social media on company time,” adds Tindall.

Industry Tweet

Significantly, the Kelly Global Workforce Index indicates that workers with professional and technical skills are 30% more likely to accept the use of social media during working hours than those who work in admin, customer service, light industrial and office clerical (24%). The marketing industry is the most accepting of social media with 40% acknowledging they condone the likes of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for personal use at work.  Those who conduct their business in the transport and distribution, central and local government, as well as hospitality, travel and leisure sectors are on the other hand, the least accepting of this practice.

Like or Dislike

At the end of the day most employees, “like” it or not, are well aware that social media is best reserved for personal time. “What we found to be particularly interesting is the fact that while over two thirds of those surveyed believe it is wrong to log on to their personal profiles while on the clock, only 12% have been ordered to stop making use of social media at work. This is surely indicative of a workforce that is self-governing and conscientious which is unarguably a positive sign,” says Tindall.

News Feed

South African opinion, it seems, is keeping with this trend because some 65% disagree with the use of social media at work. Only 20% disagree that logging on while on company time impacts negatively on productivity and 59% expressed concern about mixing their personal and professional connections through social media. A further 77% believe it to be unacceptable to share opinions about work with friends and colleagues using social media.

Social Media Etiquette

In conclusion, it seems safe to say that a certain level of etiquette is expected by users who inhabit the social media space. Furthermore, the Kelly Global Workforce Index has confirmed that most employees across the globe display a sense of responsibility when it comes to the use of social media at work. This they achieve by being careful not to blur the lines between their online personal and work spaces.

Stress is increasingly becoming the most problematic factor within the workplace. Increased living and working pressures are causing heightened symptoms in employees suffering from stress. The worldwide economic troubles as well as increased costs of daily living are having an impact on businesses as employees fail to function optimally, resulting in poor performance and lost time. Manpower South Africa and clinical psychologist Dr Giada Del Fabbro discuss how stress levels are impacting on South African corporate productivity.

 

“Extreme stress can drastically alter a persons behaviour, health and performance. For many though, the impact can be significantly minimised through the right attitude and approach to dealing with stress. This is however becoming such a prominent problem in the workplace that many employers are now needing to find ways to assist their employees in managing stress in order to keep their businesses operating effectively,” says Lyndy van den Barselaar, managing director for Manpower South Africa.

 

“Stress severely decreases the psychological resources and coping skills of an individual, so you are less able to manage your emotions, deal with pressure and more likely to act out destructively. Problem solving and decision-making skills are impaired. Stress further impacts the immune system meaning that a person is more likely to get ill and exhibit prolonged recovery periods, leading to lower productivity.

 

Increased conflict between employees is one sign of a stressful working environment, but it also negatively affects work-place performance and results in increased absenteeism, to name just a few common symptoms.

 

States Dr Del Fabbro, “Less common or noticeable symptoms include those individual psychological mechanisms based on escapism, where lifestyle habits undergo changes. This can include the abuse of illegal substances, even within the workplace environment, an increase in entitlement and resentment towards senior staff to compensate for the feelings of stress. It may also include an increase in risk taking behaviours in the form of office affairs, theft and fraud, physical confrontations and changes in grooming habits.”

 

“In response to stress, people may become more immature and child like in their responses, which may result in spiteful acts such as car damage, bullying, viruses, and social media hacking. In certain vulnerable personalities, there are pre-existing and ongoing psychological problems that may result in extreme behaviour such as violence with the intent to kill a fellow employee or hurt the business,” says Dr Giada Del Fabbro, A Clinical Psychologist.

 

All individuals experience stress of different types from different levels and in different aspects of life. However each individual also deals with these stresses in unique and individual ways. Some are better than others and for some, who have very poor stress management strategies, even the smallest incidents in their lives can result in large doses of performance effecting stress.

 

“In most cases HR departments and businesses are realising that prevention is better than cure and implementing the right channels and actions to curb and lessen stress on employees can lead to heightened performance and reduced downtime. It’s estimated that 40% of employee absenteeism is attributable to stress and this results in millions in lost revenue each year for businesses. It is estimated that over 500 million rand is lost each year from absenteeism and loss of productivity due to stress in the workplace,” explains van den Bareselaar.

 

Since 1946 The World Health Organisation has defined health as not only the absence of disease but a state of complete physical mental and social well-being. In 1986, it included that health be viewed as a resource for everyday life, not the object of living. The South African federation of Mental Health has stated that the majority of adults spend 50% to 80% of their waking hours at the workplace, and just under 70% of employees will experience stress severe enough to inhibit coping with their day-to-day duties.

 

Numerous factors are currently leading to heightened stress levels, both around the world and here in South Africa. With global economic woes threatening job security, continual increases in costs pushing already strained budgets even further, businesses cutting back on staff counts because of the rising costs of business overheads and an increase in social stresses brought on by political insecurity, employees are feeling more pressures from within and without the workplace than ever before.

 

“Everybody experiences some form of stress in their daily lives and it’s important to find ways to reduce stress levels. Some of these strategies are quite simple and easy to implement, some require a simple mind-set change as to how individuals perceive stress. For employers it’s important to remember that allowing their employees to partake in actions that reduce stress can actually improve employee performance. Remember the power of time for employees, it is often more persuasive than money in improving performance or creating gratitude.”

 

“It’s important that employees remember that things are not always as bad as they appear and that they take time to relax and forget their troubles for a while with friends or family. Like Kurt Vonnegut says ‘Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you'll look back and realize they were big things,” says Dr Del Fabbro.

 

“In addition, Human Resource Departments, together with line managers, should play a far greater role in assisting employees with managing stress, and should be trained to identify the early stages of stress so as to ensure employees get the correct treatment and support to offset the probability of under performance, absenteeism, increased emotional tensions, and violent behaviour,” concludes van den Bareselaar.

 

Signs to look for that may suggest succumbing to stress include:

• Frequent illness
• Constantly tired
• Irritability and mood swings
• Lack of concentration
• Fidgeting
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Break down of relationships
• Suicidal tendencies

 

Some strategies for combating stress in the workplace:

• Leisure time – Take time to relax enjoy a hobby or do some exercise.
• Positive relationships – Friends and family will lighten the burden of everyday stresses.
• Social Interaction – Getting out with friends and socialising is a great cure for stress.
• Diet and exercise – Eating healthily and getting regular cardiovascular exercise will positively affect your hormones and chemistry of your body.
• Time management – Time management is crucial to combat the feeling of never getting enough done on time.
• Don’t take life so seriously – Stop to smell the roses sometimes and put things into perspective.
• Talk – your HR department and your line manager should be there to help you, so take the time to talk to them about what is troubling you. If you don’t feel comfortable talking to them, contact a counsellor or Life Line.

International research initiated by Human Resource and labour experts confirms that the welfare of staff is a growing priority in the workplace. An online report, published on www.peoplemanagement.co.uk reported the findings of a UK-focused Workplace Wellness Survey, jointly conducted by a health solutions provider and a London university - vielife and London South Bank University. The survey questioned 100 HR Directors and financial directors at companies with more than 1000 employees. It found that 44% of Finance Directors and 38% of HR Directors believed employee health was a priority for their companies. Moreover 60% of Financial Directors and 72% of HR Directors agreed with the notion that workplace health is a threat to UK productivity and competitiveness. Insurance firms and academic institutions in South Africa have initiated similar wellness surveys. Issues such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and depression have been singled out as chronic conditions amongst employees. Management at Accsys, a national supplier of management solutions within HR, payroll administration, time & attendance and access control, says South Africa is moving steadily in line with global trends related to employee health. This applies to both physical and psychological health. The company believes the issue is particularly pertinent for the South African environment because of the country's dynamic labour environment. It is an environment of constant change and development, fuelled by evolving legislation and other socio-economic factors. These factors include skills development, employment equity, tax regulation, and increasing living costs. There is a clearer understanding amongst management in business that a healthy workforce results in greater productivity. Economic and political leaders agree that health-related matters are affecting key industries including manufacturing, retail and construction, as examples. There is greater interest and investment in technology, programmes and systems to help improve the wellbeing of employees. We know that in the current economic climate, people are under intense pressure – as are the businesses in which they work. Stress is widely accepted as the root cause of many ailments. Management know that a healthy and focused individual is better for the business, and human resources is leading in efforts to use websites, health monitoring systems and social initiatives to support employees. Accsys believes the health of employees will increase in importance in the immediate future and will dominate many HR and recruitment strategies going forward.

Facts - A UK-focused Workplace Wellness Survey found that 44% of Finance Directors and 38% of HR Directors believed employee health was a priority for their companies - 60% of Financial Directors and 72% of HR Directors agreed with the notion that workplace health is a threat to UK productivity and competitiveness. - In SA issues such as high blood pressure, cholesterol and depression have been singled out as chronic conditions amongst employees. - The South African labour environment is unique – influenced by factors such as skills development, employment equity, tax regulation, and increasing living costs. - Health-related matters are affecting key industries including manufacturing, retail and construction - Stress is widely accepted as the root cause of many ailments