2021: a new time for improving productivity
Some jokes are now circulating on social media that say that after the COVID19 and the tremendous snowfall of these days in half of Spain, only one alien attack is missing, which will follow.
And yes, it is true, we are in times when any forecast, no matter how reasonable, can be easily discarded in seconds. It is indeed difficult to make any forecasts in a year in which we constantly live on the edge. Words like confinement or teleworking are already part of our lives, so we have to know how to adapt to them. The capacity we have in transforming data into solutions will make it possible for our product to have longevity, knowing that any forecast can be complicated.
At the same time, and to add more edge to these lines, it seems that everything is against us as a society. From a sociological point of view, our main problem is the type of society we are based on, i.e., Latin countries are by definition social and familiar. Many Northern European countries easily coexist with this kind of new words, such as isolation or teleworking. The Nordic people live confined part of the year, given their climatic conditions, and are also used to a sunless culture.
Is it a chimera to be productive with such a panorama?
I don’t think so, on the contrary, this is the best time to better estimate our processes and increase profit.
I’m going to start with a process that is vital for me at this moment and that is often ignored due to its intangibility, the motivation. Or is it not part of the company’s productivity? I hope nobody thinks so. If we read updated statistics about the state of our psyche, we will see that we are on the verge of depression. Not being able to maintain our way of life affects us a lot and, obviously, this affects productivity. Therefore, the main task of the human resources team should be to motivate employees, offer them clear horizons, and lead their emotions with verve. There is too much bad news with too much darkness to ignore. Therefore, structuring internal communication seems to me an indispensable element so that our teams don’t see their optimism decline.
Tools such as employee portals or quality of life allow us to reach the final employee, offering them a better experience within the company. Human resources management must be close at hand, offering warmth through these channels. This interaction seems to me to be fundamental so that motivation does not diminish and therefore we can maintain our same productive quality standards. An employee being able to change a shift, see his or her payroll, or simply receive corporate information should not be something new. Communicating best practices or how we solve a problem is fundamental to the business corpus.
On the other hand, we assume that from home we are as productive as at work, if not more so. Through multiple channels, we are notified every minute of the next meeting and often miss the coffee moment with our colleagues, as we spend the whole day changing virtual rooms. The productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency of people in the right place at the right time at work is vital. So, let’s determine what that place is. Digital transformation and process automation increase our work capacity. In other words, workplaces are no longer static, which means we can offer the best solution from our sofa at home with the right means.
In periods of total digital transformation like this, the way we sell, produce, or create is more important than the sales themselves. Therefore, knowing perfectly and adapting to the traceability of our value chains can make us more profitable. We must assume that profits are not strictly sales but can also be greater emotional stability of our employees, a lower rate of absenteeism or a more sustainable structure of our internal communication. Oversizing a staff or the opposite, not having it perfectly established, generates problems that affect effectiveness and efficiency, that is, a snake that bites its own tail.
In short, we are in times of production improvement, in which public administrations will finally be added. Hence, for example, projects that are beginning to be seen in some Autonomous Regions about the effectiveness and efficiency of public officials and all the protocol aspects that regulate their work.
Written by José Ramón Villaverde
José Ramon is a WFM specialist and has extensive experience in human resources. Given his passion for culture, he was the host of the television show ‘La nueva ruta del empleo‘. His greatest hobby is writing, being the author of 4 books: ‘Otto, (Editorial Hades 2019)’, ‘El baile de las ortigas (Editorial Haces 2017)’ and ‘Deconstrucción de una lágrima (Editorial Hades 2014)’ and the non-fiction book ‘Películas, buenos consejos y cómo encontré trabajo‘.