Employee Motivation

There are a number of factors potentially affecting an employee’s level of productivity, which can vary from person to person. These factors can be external or internal and may have nothing to do with work at all. Employers can do little to nothing to prevent outside factors from affecting staff, however he or she can create and maintain a civil, tension free workplace to mitigate the work related factors affecting productivity. It should come as no surprise that lasting effects from the international economic downturn of the last decade has led to lasting results. An increasingly competitive job market combined with a lack of upward mobility can lead to a variety of negative feelings in employees. Interpersonal office issues can gain momentum in these instances, creating an atmosphere of downright animosity. In situations such as this, managers and employers need to be on the lookout for potential powder kegs. One must be proactive in this circumstance. It may seem instinctive to some managers to look the other way and let employees work out their differences on their own. This, however, is a mistake. Left to their own devices and resentment, tense and potentially aggressive employees could escalate the situation to a fever pitch. The ultimate outcome of such a situation will undoubtedly be negative for the employees involved as well as the business as a whole. Workplace violence has been on the increase for a number of years and with employers continuing to ask more of their employees, office environments are ripe for tension. Check out our next post for some suggestions on preventing workplace animosity