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A friend of mine who is a Human resource expert asked for my thoughts on employee productivity and the best tools that could be deployed in achieving high staff /employee productivity.

Let me start by sharing what I have observed with most Nigerian employers which is their belief that every employee is in it for the money (Salary). this could be the reason most reward benefits in most organizations come in the form of Naira and Kobo. I have therefore come to the conclusion that employers who consider financial benefits as the only way of rewarding their staff would likely continue experiencing disproportionate levels of staff productivity and I will buttress this with a very few illustrations.

The Banking industry is one of the highest paying sectors in Nigeria with regards staff remuneration but ironically, we have had a larger number of staff of these banks abandon the so-called paying jobs for a life of uncertainty in Europe and America. It is interesting to note that most of these people were considered the best hands in their various units as such their jobs were not under any form of threat.

We also have the second group of employees who leave their jobs for a lower paying job just for self fulfilment and happiness. So, what are employers not getting right or seeing?

According to Harvard business review, there are 3 top things every employee wants in a job and they are

• CAREER – This is about having a job that provides autonomy, allows you to use your strengths, and promotes your learning and development.
• COMMUNITY – This is about people, feeling respected, cared about, and recognized by others. It drives our sense of connection and belonginess
• CAUSE – This is about purpose, feeling that you make a meaningful impact, identifying with the organization’s mission and believing that it does some good in the world.

I have been in several meetings where employees were asked “Why are you making excuses, have you not been paid salaries? Are you saying we should have withheld your salary?” and I shuddered in disbelief. Employers must understand that salary is not the number 1 item on the priority list of most employees, rather they want to be respected, valued and make an impact on the organization, they want to be stakeholders and not people used at any cost to meet some unrealistic targets.

The kind of negative attitude seen today in most work places evidences the fact that there is something fundamentally wrong. Some employees despite receiving regular salary payments still bring negative attitude to work. As Dr. Wolfe notes that the journal of Occupational and Environmental medicine has diagnosed a workplace condition called “Presenteeism” – being at “Work” without being productive. Its like absenteeism but worse, he says “because with presenteeism, employees still show up and receive a full paycheck but they disrupt and demoralize other workers. The cost of presenteeism in the US alone is estimated to be hundreds of billions of dollars, resulting in over 2.5 billion lost workdays per year.

HR business partners in every organization must begin to look beyond salary as the only way to reward staff and draw up policies centered around the 3 Cs of Career, Community and Cause. Unfortunately, most human resources units have become an extension of the MDs office and only come in when there are disciplinary issues or when to issue a termination of appointment letter as instructed by the business leaders.

HR experts must learn how to monitor performance trends, guide employees in discovering their strengths In line with the key performance indices. There should be a trained life coach in every HR unit whose job will be to transition people from where they are to where they need to be.

Remember, “Treat a man the way he is, he will remain that way but treat a man the way he should be and he will become what he is destined to be ..”Better”.

Think, Create, Grow.

Obinna Onwuelingo

Life Coach

info@obinnaonwuelingo.com.ng

www.obinnaonwuelingo.com.ng