8 Reasons Your Employees Are Unproductive – And How to Help

Unproductive employees may be struggling for reasons beyond their control; the decisions your company makes could be contributing to their low efficiency and performance. Here's how you can help

Worker productivity has been a persistent issue in the UK, with performance steadily declining since the 2008 financial crisis. A 2021 study by the London School of Economics revealed that productivity in the UK rose by 87% between 1981 and 2019, while median worker wages only saw a 62% increase—a 25% gap between productivity and wage growth. Implementing an effective employee information system could help address this disparity by enhancing the tracking and management of employee performance, streamlining communication, and facilitating more accurate assessments of productivity, ultimately leading to better alignment between productivity and wage growth.

It would be easy to blame this lack of productivity on laziness or a lack of motivation. But there are more complex factors at play, such as issues with workplace culture, lack of investment in skills and training, and changes in the use and expectations of digital communications tools. Join us as we explore the eight reasons why your company could be struggling with unproductive employees.

Eight reasons employees are unproductive - and how to help them

1.Your work environment is not fit for purpose

Do you find that your employees are constantly looking for spaces to collaborate, that they have to book meeting rooms to make calls in peace, or that they retreat to work at home when they have demanding projects to complete? All of these could be signs that the physical workspace you provide them is not fit for purpose and does not meet their needs, wants and preferences. The impact of office design on productivity is well documented, and there are several aspects to consider. For example, if you want your employees to collaborate more, the solution is not as simple as switching to an open-plan office: Researchers who studied employee interactions at two Fortune 500 companies found that after switching to an open-plan office, face-to-face interactions decreased by 70%, while digital conversations increased to compensate.

In addition to the spatial design of the office, you also need to carefully consider the seating plan. A 2017 analysis of the productivity of 2,000 employees at a large technology company over a two-year period found that replacing an average employee with one who was twice as productive could increase the productivity of neighbouring employees by up to 10% on average. The researchers estimated that more strategic seating plans could increase the profits of a 2,000-employee company by as much as £800,000 a year.

The digital tools you invest in and provide also play a key role in maximising your employees' productivity, and are particularly important if you're working in a hybrid business or one that relies on remote access. Whether you're replacing landline phones with mobile phones or VoIP systems, using collaboration apps like Slack or Microsoft Teams, or even investing in more modern HR software like IceHrm's that can automate repetitive tasks, there are plenty of ways to upgrade your technology and enable maximum productivity.

2.Digital communication is getting out of control

First we were inundated with email, and now we're inundated with other forms of digital communication, like messages on Workplace from Facebook, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Google Hangouts. All of these apps are designed to make communication easier, but with the constant pings vying for our attention, it can be nearly impossible to focus on the task at hand. Ignoring the various notifications can be just as problematic as acknowledging them: how do you recover from an hour of offline time when you have hundreds of one-line chat messages to read in different channels or even apps? The average Slack user sends 200 messages a day, and researchers have found that it's not "unusual" for workers to spend 80% of their workday communicating with colleagues via email, meetings, and instant messaging. For some, the compulsion to check digital chat messages and emails has become almost addictive - just like we endlessly scroll through social media apps like TikTok and Instagram.

So what's the alternative? Some companies are advocating for a model that focuses on asynchronous communication, where deep work, productivity and performance take priority over hyperconnectivity. Perhaps it's time to review your employees' primary communication methods and find out how much time they spend messaging their colleagues (even for work purposes) rather than focusing on the task at hand. Consider consulting with individual teams and departments, as well as your entire company, to establish guidelines and parameters for using the various collaboration and communication tools you employ.

3.Managers are unqualified

Much of the blame for low employee productivity lies with their managers: in a 2017 study on the causes of low productivity in the UK, nearly a quarter (23%) of workers said poor management hinders their efforts to work effectively.

In many cases, however, it is not the fault of leaders themselves that they are ill-equipped for leadership roles: companies invest sufficiently in their training and development. Also in 2017, a survey by consultancy firm h2h found that 77% of leaders did not feel adequately prepared for their first leadership role, and 74% spent most of their time on tasks other than managing their team.

In a study published in 2017 by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), the UK scored just 3.03 out of 5 for good management practices, lagging behind countries such as the US, Germany and Japan. The same study found that four in five bosses - that's 2.4 million UK managers - are 'accidental' managers and do not have the necessary training, with almost three-quarters (70%) of companies admitting that they did not train their first managers. The Chartered Management Institute (CMI), which conducted the study, found that companies with effective management development programs are 32% more productive than those struggling with haphazard managers.

4.Your performance management strategy doesn't fit the way you work

Some twenty years ago, when the business world was less complex and slower than it is today, it made sense to review employees' performance once a year through a formal appraisal. Managers held them accountable for their behavior over the previous 12 months and got rid of employees who weren't up to scratch.

But in today's volatile and past-driven environment, appraisals make little sense. How likely are the goals set today to still be valid and relevant in 12 months? And what is the use of just assessing past behavior without setting goals for the future development of the employee's skills and knowledge?

If you still rely on once-a-year reviews, it's time to move to a culture of continuous feedback and performance management that not only focuses on immediate tasks and projects, but also helps employees develop their skills to keep up with the changing world of work. After all, unproductive employees only know their performance is a problem if the situation is addressed clearly, confidently and in a timely manner.

5.The company's values ​​and goals are not embraced

To truly improve employee engagement (engagement is a key driver of productivity), they need to embrace your company's values ​​and goals. And that's only possible if you've defined and clearly articulated those values ​​and made them an integral part of how your company operates, for example by building them into your hiring and performance management processes. This embracement should not only help you increase regular productivity levels, but also encourage and unleash discretionary effort.

6.You don't recognize or reward your employees' hard work

Recognition and reward don't have to come in the form of expensive raises, bonuses or annual awards. A simple, well-timed and public thank you can go a long way in making employees feel valued, engaged and motivated to be more productive. A 2016 Gallup study found that only one in three U.S. workers had received recognition or praise for a job well done in the past seven days, and that workers who didn't feel adequately appreciated were twice as likely to leave their company in the next 12 months.

Expressing gratitude publicly for work done - for example, on forums like Yammer or through dedicated apps like Totem - also sets a standard for other employees to follow, Gallup says. "In this way, recognition is both a personal reward tool and an opportunity to reinforce the company's desired culture in other employees. Think about how your company can reward employees for actions that clearly align with its goals and values, for big and small successes, and for helping a team member in need; even small "thank yous" can make a big difference.

7.You don't provide adequate health and well-being support

It stands to reason that healthier and happier people are more productive than people who are unhappy or unhealthy. But it's difficult to quantify the impact of health and well-being on productivity. Researchers at Mercer, a global human resources consulting firm, studied 158,000 employees at 450 employers and found that the healthiest workplaces not only have lower absenteeism rates, but also save an average of 11.5 days of unproductive time per employee per year.

Workers who ate poorly lost 3.5 days per year of productive time, according to the study, while those with moderate to severe depression lost 33 days per year. "The health of the workforce is perhaps the biggest factor employers have in their power to increase productivity," commented Dr. Wolfgang Siedl, partner and head of corporate health consulting at Mercer Marsh Benefits.

So how can employers help? Review your benefits program and add wellness benefits, such as a health plan or medical or dental insurance, or offer access to an employee assistance program (EAP) or a discounted gym membership.

By this, we don't mean yoga classes during lunch breaks (unless your employees ask for them), but a culture in which leaders actively care about employee well-being (especially mental well-being) and regularly check in on whether employees are stressed and how they as leaders can prevent burnout, for example.

8.They still expect them to work a five-day week

The concept of the four-day workweek is growing in popularity, with smaller experiments around the globe reporting higher productivity, satisfaction and employee engagement. One example is tech giant Microsoft: its Japanese division closed every Friday in August 2019, maintained pay levels and found productivity increased by an incredible 40%. The company also found that electricity consumption fell by 23% and employees printed 59% fewer pages of paper.

Workers' willingness to accept shorter working hours or weeks is growing. A 2022 survey of 10,000 office workers found that three-quarters (72%) would be willing to work the same hours four days instead of five for the same pay. More than half of respondents (52%) said they believe a compressed four-day workweek would increase their productivity. .

So is there a really good reason why you're requiring your employees to work the standard 9am-5pm schedule five days a week? As Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist, said in the Harvard Business Review, "People waste a lot of time at work. I'd be willing to bet that in most jobs, you can get more done in six hours of concentration than in eight hours of unconcentration. If you want to take a radical approach to improving the performance of unproductive employees, flexible work hours or the four-day work week might be a good place to start.

Employee productivity is influenced by various factors, from work environment to management practices. By addressing these issues and leveraging effective tools like IceHrm, you can help your team perform at their best. Take steps today to create a more productive workplace.