Employee Productivity And Pressure: How The Two Relate

Pressure is often viewed as a negative influence in the workplace. Managers commonly believe that pressure leads to inhibited work performance and a poor mindset that can cause even the most experienced employees to work at less-than-optimal levels.

There’s just one thing wrong with this perspective: It assumes that you’re placing too much pressure on employees, immobilizing them and triggering fear that works against any productive workplace.

If you place too little pressure on workers, you have another problem entirely. Your employees may not feel motivated or as if they need to complete their work by a certain time (or do so well). But just like the tale of Goldilocks, there’s a “just right” middle ground that you as a SMB owner or HR professional need to identify and implement for your business.

What is the Right Level of Pressure?

The right level of pressure looks something like this: It’s enough to push employees to make positive improvements and change without feeling as if they may lose their job if they do something incorrectly. Employees will feel as if they can challenge themselves and change without losing their job over a mistake.

Many professionals (yourself included), likely know that this is the ideal ground where you want to stand with employees. The problem lies in implementation and transitioning from your current state to one where both you and your employees will thrive.

Taking Steps in the Right Direction: How to Switch the Level of Pressure in Your Workplace

Employee productivity is directly related to the amount of pressure employees feel. As such, it’s important that you switch up the pressure and make positive changes (no matter how gradual) in the right direction.

Here are a few tips on how to do so effectively:

• Assess Your Current Workplace - Do employees seem too comfortable or too stressed out? Are they not applying themselves? Are they failing to take breaks out of fear of not accomplishing tasks? All of these factors will help you determine whether you need to increase or decrease pressure.
• Create Consequences - Once you determine how you want to proceed, it’s important that there are consequences (both positive and negative) for successes and shortcomings. For example, if an employee is coming in late, they should be penalized whereas if an employee is excelling at their tasks, they should be rewarded (and not necessarily with monetary benefits).
• Provide and Solicit Feedback - Without talking to employees and engaging in a conversation about how the work environment shift is working, you may never know how employees feel about it. By soliciting and providing feedback, you can constantly adjust your workplace to ensure it’s working as best it can.

Take Some of the Pressure Off Your Shoulders With Flock...

As a SMB owner or HR professional, there’s a lot of pressure on you not only to run and grow your business but also to remain compliant with state and federal regulations as well as provide comprehensive, attractive benefits to your team. With Flock, you can eliminate the pressure and enjoy benefits that address these common problems.

Flock tracks time off, centralizes information storage, allows for 24/7 access to benefits, keeps your business compliant with state and federal regulations, and allows for social networking in-office. This supports your efforts to regulate pressure while supporting a thriving brand.

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up and enjoy Flock (for free) today!

Share your thoughts: Do you find that you’ve evaluated and implemented a strategic amount of pressure to place on your team? Or, have you never considered such a tactic? Share your strategies in the comments below!

‍