by Suzanne Rose

Created on: August 18, 2010

Employee performance can make a big difference in your company.  There are many factors that hinder this, and knowing what they are can help a company control them to attain the maximum productivity.  Consider the following factors.

The company does not pay fairly

If the company does not pay in line with what similar companies pay, then they might not get the employee performance that other companies will.  There are several factors at play here.  First of all, they may have difficulty getting good employees who will perform at top level.  Hard workers might be looking for jobs that pay more fairly.  Also, those who are there might feel like they are being cheated and thus will not care as much and will not work as hard.  Sometimes a company even ends up making more money by paying a little more than other companies because the employees might more than make up for it in increased productivity.  In addition to actually monetary payout this can also go for benefits.

The company acts like it doesn’t care about its employees

If you think that your company has no interest in you, then you might wonder why you should have interest in it.  For instance, if they fire people at whim, then you might not feel any loyalty to them and might try to get away with whatever you can such as taking long lunches or leaving early.  If the company makes an uncomfortable work environment such as by having the temperature too hot, stuffing people in offices or having the desk chairs terribly uncomfortable, then they might feel angry at the company and “try to get their revenge” by not working hard. 

A cruel boss can also hinder performance.  If the superiors are disrespectful or mean to the employees then the workers may retaliate by looking like they are doing the work when the boss is around but then work less when the boss is not there. 

Too lax of an atmosphere

Job performance can also suffer when the company does not take steps to make sure that the employees are regularly working.  If a lot of workers are always surfing the Internet, for instance, and no one ever does anything about it they will learn that it is okay.  If people are always chatting and not working, less will get done.  It should be a professional atmosphere instead.

You should figure out any particular factors within your company that might be hindering performance so that you can address them and hopefully improve productivity.  One idea is to allow employees to submit anonymous complaints or suggestions on how to increase job satisfaction and thus performance.  The above factors are some you might come across.

Learn more about this author, Suzanne Rose.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.