The Power of the Social Being
In previous articles we’ve emphasised the impact of big data and increased productivity on improving your workplace. Furthermore, it has been explained how this increases company turnover. However, for many companies, labour is their biggest asset. Therefore, we’ve decided to put the focus towards the people on the ground. Let’s see how applying social ideas to your workforce can bring the best out of them.
Humans are social beings. Social interactions between humans have established a wide range of values, social norms, and rituals. Collectively, these form the basis of society. Before getting too philosophical, let’s recognise the impact on your staff interactions in the workplace.
Top Spot
We can play on this idea and use it to maximise your staff’s performance. We can use the example of how social interaction on the sports field can breed self-esteem and confidence. A social work place is the ideal environment for people to thrive. This is because they feel comfortable about expressing themselves and adopt a ‘need to achieve’ attitude. Try to create an environment where everyone shares a common interest. This can be achieved through staff-rewards and creating great company culture.
So far we’ve painted the picture that humans are simple, social beings and all get along. If you’ve ever walked into a business, you’ll know this is not the entire story. People also respond to competition. In 1898, Norman Triplet proposed the idea of Social Facilitation. He expressed that increased task performance arises through the mere presence of others doing the same task. Most of all, this applies directly to your workplace. Social Facilitation formulates the best recipe for a highly productive workforce.
Social Influence
Unproductive workplaces are vicious cycles. While other staff members see that the majority aren’t pulling their weight, they will adopt a similar attitude. However, if we flip this on its head, people also respond to positive behaviour. Hence, those who see a highly productive, enthusiastic group will adopt a similar attitude. In addition, they will begin to be ‘lifted up’ by their colleagues.
Try quantifying performance and encouraging competitive engagement. This will breed a culture where everyone is trying to reach the top of their game. Give your staff scores for their performance and see who can reach the top of the leader board. Generate an environment where social competition is the norm.. Allow your company to reach its full potential.
There are various tools you can use to help create a productive culture, why not try out South African-based staff time-tracking solution, ClockInstant to help your supervisor’s always know exactly what time your staff are arriving and leaving your various work sites, whether that be your own site or a clients. Your admin staff also become more productive as the software automatically creates staff timesheets for payroll.
