If people are the greatest asset that a business has and time is money, how can businesses strike a balance between productivity and job satisfaction?

Our Associate Director - Operations, Liam Swift, shares his insights on how Vertas is striving to improve job satisfaction in our latest article.

#employeewellbeing #worklifebalance #leadership #jobsatisfaction #productivity

Happy colleagues are a business’ greatest asset, but when it is pitted against the age-old philosophy ‘time is money’, how can we as senior colleagues find the balance between productivity and job satisfaction?

I think it is quite simple really; if our employees are overworked and overtired, then their job satisfaction goes down, which in turn decreases productivity.?

That in turn then means they try to work more hours to complete the task, which affects wellbeing and health, and may result in sickness, which then decreases productivity further. It is a vicious circle.

As a leader, it is important to recognise when someone isn’t satisfied with their work. I think it is incredibly important to find out what the source of the issue is and talk to people - find out what they want or need to feel happier in their role.

At Vertas, there are a number of small but significant changes that myself and other senior leaders have adopted to find the right balance. We have put a great emphasis on investing in employees’ futures so they feel valued within the company and know they are trusted.?

I enjoy helping to develop colleagues, and recognising and showing appreciation for their strengths to see which roles they are happiest in. Giving an employee that extra bit of attention will go a long way in them feeling appreciated, which can help with job satisfaction.?It sounds simple, but ‘checking in’ is vital – understanding how an individual is feeling and if they’re experiencing pressure can provide the leadership team with a much clearer picture of job satisfaction and in turn, productivity.

On a practical level, it’s important to allow people the freedom to discover their most effective way of working. The old view of working a 9am-5pm has become outdated. After all, everyone is different when it comes to productivity and we need to play to each person’s unique strengths. For example, I find that I am most productive between 4pm-7pm on a Friday afternoon because it’s when it is quietest. However, I leave the emails in my outbox and don’t send them until Monday because I don’t want people to feel like they have to reply over a weekend. For some people, they may find that first thing on a Monday morning is when they achieve the most.

And at Vertas, we have no internal emails on a Wednesday unless it is business critical and we don’t email before 6am or after 6pm because people feel like they have to respond. It’s important for people to have time away from work.

The Coronavirus pandemic has obviously forced most of us to change the way we work, myself included. Some colleagues worked from home, but if they didn’t have a separate working space from their living space, then it became harder for them to switch off. But on the other side, there is no commute so people in theory have a little bit of extra free time.?

The important thing however, is to take your time off and create a work life balance - use your holiday, switch off your work phone and talk to a manager if you are feeling the pressure. But in order for this to become ingrained in the business, this mind set has to flow from the top down. There is no point labouring the point to colleagues if all they see is the senior and leadership teams burning the candle at both ends and working out of hours.?