Productivity may seem like the gold standard for measuring effectiveness for people and organizations—but it’s swiftly becoming an inadequate metric. In fact, plenty of people fake productivity, and there are better ways to know whether people are fulfilled, engaged, contributing and getting things done.
Productivity has always been just one metric among many that are important, but the need to redefine productivity is especially relevant now because of the way work is changing. With more remote and hybrid work, it’s critical for people to find meaningful ways to be their best and companies to measure what really matters—and sometimes it’s not primarily about productivity.
Faking Productivity
A large proportion of people say they fake their productivity. In fact, 33% of people say they fake it and 48% of managers say that faking productivity is a common issue on their team, according to a new survey from Workhuman.
Importantly, people pretend to work hard in order to avoid burnout and ensure better work-life balance. In addition, they fake it because they face unrealistic expectations or because they want to appease management. In addition, some people fake productivity because they just don’t have enough to do. All this is according to Workhuman.
Depending on the job, productivity can be an appropriate metric, but it can’t take everything into account. Many jobs don’t lend themselves to easy counting or quantifying—and it can be challenging to see the positive impacts of people’s work. Great work takes many forms that go beyond the number of client calls, keystrokes, emails or hours in meetings.
Essentially, you need to count what matters most. You still need to hold people accountable—and people want to know you’re relying on them and valuing their contribution. But better than productivity is to consider the bigger picture of performance and effectiveness—including things like results, consistency and much more.
Go Beyond Productivity
Fascinatingly, 48% of those who say they fake productivity say they’re an above average worker, according to Workhuman data—so something is getting in the way of them bringing their best.
Here’s what to measure beyond just productivity—and how you can create the conditions for people to engage and succeed.
1. Results
When you hire someone to do a job, you’re looking for their results, their outcomes and their impacts—so assess these rather than keystrokes or number of emails.
Consider a variety of results: the trust the employee built with the customer which drove long term sales—or the big problem they solved. Evaluate their performance based on the high quality of their claims processing or the brilliant way they led the team through the latest supply chain issue.
In addition, give people meaningful work to do. Sometimes people fake it because they’re not fully work-loaded or challenged. Actually, having enough work to accomplish is highly correlated with happiness and satisfaction. And when people work harder to accomplish something, they’ll have a greater sense of fulfillment compared with when they just get by, according to research published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.
By giving people meaningful work that challenges them, you’ll nurture engagement and results—and you’ll be able to focus on the results people drive, not just how many times they turn the crank.
2. Consistent Engagement
Another important metric for performance is consistency and how people show up regularly. It’s terrific to have a rock star who made the new initiative happen once, but it’s also important to value and recognize people who deliver continually over time.
In addition, it’s easy to engage when the work is exciting, but there are always tasks that will be less stimulating. Great performers stay engaged through all kinds of responsibilities—and highs and lows.
Engagement is also an effective metric, because it is tends to drive both satisfaction and productivity. The three affect each other. When people are more engaged, they tend to be more satisfied and productive. And when people are satisfied, they tend to be more engaged and productive, and so on—according to research published by the Association for Psychological Science.
Related to engagement, 54% of respondents in the Workhuman survey said that when they aren’t engaged, their coping strategy is to do the bare minimum. In addition, quitting—the clearest demonstration of disengagement—has risen to 37% since 2014. And two of the biggest reasons people leave is because they lack development opportunities and struggle with work-life balance. This is according to a survey of 21,000 respondents by the Work Institute.
Based on this, it’s critical to create the conditions for consistent engagement by giving people development opportunities and flexibility (as much as possible based on the job)—and also to demonstrate empathy. You can also move the needle by giving people a sense of purpose and connection with leaders and teammates.
Evaluate how people show up and the ways they engage over time—through the interesting projects as well as those which are less exciting.
3. Effects on the Team
Another critical metric that goes beyond simple productivity is the effects people have on their team. Performance and motivation have spillover effects. When people work with others who are engaged and productive, they personally tend to be more engaged and productive.
In addition, when people sit within 25 feet of a top performer, their performance increases by 15%, according to a study by Harvard.
As a result, you should pay attention to how people affect others—and how they motivate and engage colleagues—as well as how they contribute to the team and its processes. Do they energize others? Do they provide critical ideas in a constructive way? Do they move the team forward? Do they reinforce and recognize others appropriately?
All of these are important elements of performance.
4. Creativity
Another element to pay attention to beyond simple productivity is the extent to which people bring creativity and innovation to their work. Even the most routine tasks or tasks which require consistency can benefit from someone who is always looking to progress or do things better.
Sometimes creativity is apparent in big changes that reinvent approaches—but creativity is also important in the small ways that employees can evolve their processes and improve incrementally over time.
5. Initiative
Another way to consider performance with a more comprehensive mindset is to consider initiative. Evaluate the extent to which people raise their hand, make suggestions, offer to help others and go above and beyond.
Happiness is significantly driven by small wins in which people feel they’re accomplishing something and moving the ball forward each day, according to research from Harvard. So, taking initiative is a solid metric for performance, but also a signal of engagement and satisfaction which are correlated with productivity itself.
These aren’t always as easy to count or quantify, but they are still important measures of overall effectiveness.
People Want to Be Productive
It’s important to realize that people want to be productive and effective. When people fake their productivity, it’s often because things are getting in their way. You can create the conditions for their success—and also measure what matters more than just productivity.