Why Does Employee Performance Decrease? How Can It Be Increa
In today's business world, success no longer depends solely on the product or service provided, but also on the employees themselves. In this context, many factors influence how effectively employees perform their duties and how much they contribute to company goals. Employee performance and motivation are among the most prominent of these factors, as they significantly impact the level of effort and commitment employees demonstrate while performing their duties.
A workplace that prioritizes employee performance seeks long-term success, not just short-term improvements. According to an eleven-year study conducted by Kotter and Heskett (1991), businesses that adopted practices aimed at improving employee performance could increase their revenues by 682%, while those that did not achieve a revenue increase of only 166%.
In this context, some factors that can be considered to improve employee performance and ensure sustained productivity include:
1. Supportive Workplace Culture
Workplace culture is one of the most important factors that greatly affects the performance of employees and their commitment to the organization. In addition to the individual values that employees have, a workplace culture dominated by communication, belonging and a sense of trust helps them to feel more valued and motivated.orkplace culture is one of the most important factors that greatly affects the performance of employees and their commitment to the organization. In addition to the individual values that employees have, a workplace culture dominated by communication, belonging and a sense of trust helps them to feel more valued and motivated. Such a working culture not only ensures an increase in performance and productivity, but also paves the way for employees to develop a stronger belonging to the institution and the values of the institution. According to a study by Great Place to Work (2022), 88% of employees say they are more motivated when they have a supportive work environment.
2. Continuous and Constructive Feedback
Feedback helps staff identify and improve their strengths and weaknesses. In continuous feedback, observing how much the employee's performance is in line with the employer's expectations and feeling that the work they do is important affects their performance and especially their motivation in the long termeedback helps staff identify and improve their strengths and weaknesses. In continuous feedback, observing how much the employee's performance is in line with the employer's expectations and feeling that the work they do is important affects their performance and especially their motivation in the long term. Employees who receive constructive criticism are able to better understand and perform their job requirements. Gallup's State of the American Workplace (2017) report found that employees who received meaningful and frequent feedback felt three times more committed than those who did not.
3.Setting Realistic Goals
Another of the most important factors affecting employee performance is setting achievable and meaningful goals. These goals help to increase employee motivation while at the same time increasing their commitment to the goal.nother of the most important factors affecting employee performance is setting achievable and meaningful goals. These goals help to increase employee motivation while at the same time increasing their commitment to the goal. At the same time, setting SMART (specific, measurable and time-limited) goals allows business results to be evaluated in a more concrete and realistic way. However, vague or unrealistic goals can lead to performance losses in the employee and decrease in productivity. Locke & Latham's (1990) goal-setting approach is claimed to improve performance and productivity by 11% to 25%.
4. Employee Satisfaction
One of the main factors affecting performance is employee satisfaction; that is, the overall level of satisfaction that people feel about their experience at work. According to research, employees who are happy at work behave more consciously and achieve their performance goals in a more sustainable way.. Employee Satisfaction
5. Performance Incentives
Another factor that most significantly impacts employee performance is incentive, the concept that motivates employees to perform an action. Implementing effective incentive systems is critical to making it more likely, and even more crucial, that employees perform their jobs to the best of their ability. Providing financial incentives alone may not be enough to boost performance. While employees need extrinsic incentives such as bonuses and rewards, intrinsic incentives that provide meaningful satisfaction from their work are equally important. A 40-year meta-analysis by Cerasoli et al. (2014) found that intrinsic motivation alone increases employee performance, while extrinsic incentives related to performance do.
Consequently, multiple strategies may be necessary to improve employee performance and ensure its sustainability. Research indicates that the most important factors, including a supportive work culture, the importance of continuous and constructive feedback, the impact of setting realistic goals, a commitment to employee satisfaction, and performance-oriented incentives, help employees perform their tasks with greater motivation and, consequently, significantly increase their performance. While the benefits of these components alone cannot be overlooked, it's important to understand that when combined, they have a greater impact on increasing employees' sense of responsibility and organizational commitment. By adopting a comprehensive approach to all these elements, organizations can maximize their employees' potential and performance, paving the way for significant, long-term success.
Lina YILDIZ