Residential Real EstateBlocks To Your Productivity
Many factors, separately and in combination with others, will build walls to block productivity. While most people intuitively and instinctively want to be productive, they may have trouble getting over the following blocks to productivity.
Improper selection
When labor markets are tight companies may be tempted to hire anyone with a warm body and a pulse to fill a slot rather than pay an adequate amount of money to recruit the right individual. It"s no different in real estate. No matter how tight a labor market is, there are always qualified people available if the compensation or opportunity is fair. If you are baking a cake and you use the wrong ingredients, no matter what the reason, you will not produce the cake you desire.
Inadequate training
One out of three employees changes jobs annually. Companies that recruit poorly tend to train poorly as well. Training is not a one-shot enterprise, but an on-going investment to reinforce and advance skills and attitudes. Employers and managers often get caught up in a vicious cycle. They recruit poorly, and then fail to allocate sufficient training resources. (“Why spend the money when they won’t be around for very long?”) Employees’ and associates" performance suffers, their satisfaction level is low, and they leave giving the employer the opportunity to start the cycle again. Employers ought to treat employees and managers ought to treat associates as an investment rather than an expense.
Overworked
Reasonable people will accomplish a reasonable amount in a reasonable time period. But, you cannot put ten quarts of water into a five-quart container. There is nothing wrong with shifting work from former employees to those who remain. Our capacity to produce will sometimes be enhanced as we take on more responsibilities. But there is a limit. Being truly overworked causes people to do a lot of things poorly. It may be more profitable to ask them to accomplish fewer things productively.
Poor alignment with personal and company goals
The employer (and manager) has a life and a destination. And, employees and associates have lives and destinations. If employees cannot align their job with the employer and with where they are going in their life, they will eventually seek a greener pasture. Do your employees see their position as a vehicle to get them to where they want to go in life financially, professionally, and socially or is their job an expedient trade of their time for a paycheck? Do associates feel the same way?
Burn out
Most people leave their jobs voluntarily and the major reason is “burn out.” “Fed up! Can’t take it anymore!” Unfortunately, burn out is not an overnight event but a gradual process, sometimes lasting months and years, during which time, productivity and commitment diminish. Burn out is caused in different ways but has a lot to do with items 1-4 above. Many managers fail to look for signs of burn out and if they are not cognizant of the problem there will be no opportunity to prevent, respond, or rectify.