Sometimes, productivity wanes. It’s not something that leadership may want to admit about a new hire or a long-time team member, but it requires the careful eye of a reviewer to be able to assess what’s working and what isn’t when it comes to incentivizing performance in the workplace.
Many times, employers talk about ‘de-motivation’ practices – that is, displaying preferential treatment to some teammates as an incentive for good performance, that in turn, drives down work productivity for less productive teammates. It’s a “Catch 22” situation, but one that is avoidable with a strong company culture.
Here are three ways you can motivate less productive employees:
- Emphasize the importance of meeting team goals. Stress that success isn’t confined to one individual but shared across teams. Likewise, when someone on a team isn’t pulling their weight, it affects others too.
- Repurpose tasks to make them more meaningful. Sometimes a decrease in work product is more about the task at hand than the person doing the work. Reevaluate your teams’ strengths and see if they would be a better fit in a different department or work function.
- Keep communication open. At the end of the day, you should feel comfortable seeking a two-way dialogue with your team about their performance. Have a 1-1 review session to address concerns, seek feedback, and drive consensus towards an improvement.
Rewarding one teammate doesn’t have to make others feel insufficient. The best workplaces know that one’s success represents the success of the whole organization.