Last Sunday, I was chatting with a close friend and he said: “Monday is here again and I will be working from 7am to 9pm again. I just hate this.” He was so mad when he made this statement and you could see the face of someone who hates his job. I just excitedly came back from the office at 8:30pm since I left church straight to the office and anxiously waiting for Monday morning to be in the office by 6:30am latest 7am.
As we continued talking, I concluded he will not be productive as a genuine employee because I believe in the concept, passion breeds productivity. For those of you already living your passion, changing lives and making money out of it, please go give thanksgiving to God. [Smiles] That’s a rare gift.
Many managers and entrepreneurs have this big issue of having happy (passionate) and productive employees. It’s your responsibility as the leader to find out what your employees are most passionate about by observing what makes them excited as they work with you because passion leads to high performance.
I once had a staff meeting with my team and I asked them: “State the vision of the organization, state your purpose, and show me where there’s a link.” This was intentional because I wanted to be sure they know they are part of something bigger than them, because it resonates with their purpose and passion. It is, therefore, your responsibility as a manager, entrepreneur, leader and as an employee to find that alignment.
How to improve employee productivity
If you are a manager or entrepreneur, do these two basic things to increase your employees’ productivity to their work in a special way.
a) Get them excited about the mission. Do your best to keep your team members excited about the work they are doing. Make them feel they are spending their lives right by serving humanity through the vision.
b) Understand their purpose & find the link with the organization’s vision. Plus, always remind them it’s more than the job, it’s about creating value for humanity.
If you are an employee and you are like this my friend, here’s what I recommend (basics).
a) Invest time to understand clearly, what your passion is and make sure it can solve a problem in the society (No one pays for passion. People pay for skilled passion).
b) Develop relevant expertise in the area you are passionate about.
c) Start looking for a job (if that’s your case) in the industry or sector you are passionate about. Go for conferences, networking events in the sector you are passionate about and build relevant networks, which can lead to recommendations or possibly job offers.
d) Be a risk taker. Take the risk to quit your job the right way and start a business in the sector you are passionate about. Stop waiting for the right time or the right money.
e) Get ready to attend my upcoming workshop on “Turning Passions to Relevant Careers.”
I will also like to indicate that I have had companies, startups and NGOs buy copies of my book “35 Days of Re-Defining You for Success” as a special gift for their staff as a strategy to aid employees understand their true selves and become better versions of themselves and serve the institution better.