User:Ramishka Chandrasena Wijesinha/sandbox

<!-- EDIT BELOW THIS LINE Productivity and Performance The key characteristics and mantra in achieving forecasted performance excellence and productivity goals by an organization in any industry is chiefly dependent upon customer satisfaction together with the return on investment. (Kachwala and Mukherjee 2009) According to the authors, simple business strategies will not serve its purpose, hence organizations should thrive for excellence in their performance robust fully to prosper and stand out above the rest of their competitors. In-order to accomplish the aforementioned, organizations are compelled to re calibrate their manner of functioning by empathetically managing their human resources, and to have managerial roles with unambiguous objectives and goals firmly put in place that addresses employee satisfaction as it goes hand in glove with productivity. Productivity in economics generally refers to the measures of output per unit of input, and employees that are directly involved in the line of production are measured for their performance by the time they would consume to produce and the quantity. (Chary 2009) Evolving business environments and due to the swift emergence of global competition, It has compelled organizations to utilize modern HR strategies to enforce employee productivity and burgeon into excellence in performance. Human resources asset of an organization ought to be satisfied and motivated, relatively employee satisfaction and stimulation plays a pivotal role in the long run to accomplish the aforementioned excellence. The correlation between job satisfaction and organizational performance and productivity is complex and according to Danica Bakotic in one of her research articles states that theoretical and practical studies have not acknowledged the real nature and strength of the interconnection between job satisfaction and organizational performance. (Bakotic 2016)

Abraham Maslow who was recognized as a social psychologist was intrigued by human psychology and needs on a wider scope. He is renowned for his hierarchy of needs theory which he illustrated by a pyramid, the theory clearly defines and states five different levels of human psychologies and needs according to its significance. The needs defined in Maslow’s hierarchy are, at the bottom of the pyramid are physiological or rather basic needs such as food, shelter, clothing and clean water and when these needs are met it takes priority over security needs such as personal security, health and wellbeing, job security and financial stability to state a few and at the third level is  social needs like being loved and the belief of belongingness, to having solid friendships, network of professional colleagues start to take precedence and at the fourth level self-esteem comes into the fore which represents the normal human desire to be valued and validated by others, and the fifth level of the pyramid is self-actualization. At this stage, humans perceive that they have outstretched themselves to their maximal potential. (Maslow, 2019) These aforementioned criteria can be well utilized by managers and top management in policy making and governance to better understand employees to motivate and address them in ways that lead to high productivity and job satisfaction. In the current context and work environments measuring productivity has become complexed and no longer viable, therefore leaders who focus solely on productivity as the quantity of output, generate a toxic atmosphere where employees are confused and misunderstood. Employee disengagement due to confusion and misunderstanding is a major challenge that organizations face. Disengaged employees are more or less likely to be the most unproductive among the rest of the cadre, and to make things worse it could even lead to discouragement among the productive employees. In order to combat this challenge organizations and leaders should be more engaged and connected with their employees and according to a Gallup study conducted, organizations and their leaders who manifest good engagement procedures are most likely to achieve higher productivity. (Gallup 2021) Another major challenge that organizations encounter is when they have inefficient performance management mannerisms. A Gallup study also found that most of the unproductive employees were unaware of their role and what is expected from them hence set wrong priorities and ultimately exert themselves on wrong duties which in turn created a decline in productivity. By setting realistic and clear objectives and goals only part of the battle is won, the work force still ought to be guided, coached and mentored and its imperative that leaders develop a culture of uninterrupted learning where they are empowered to learn more about the job and providing constant and constructive feedback is the way forward. Another major productivity challenge that is often not given prominence can be personal struggles of employees, and during these challenging times for them, pushing too hard on targets and performance may lead to mounting amounts of stress levels and burn outs. It is imperative that leaders reflect on the organizations ethics and corporate culture to be more engaged with the aforementioned members among the workforce and lend them a supporting hand, for the to get through their challenging times in life which creates a healthy bond. Having meetings frequently up to a certain extent can be a challenge when it concerns productivity at the same time In a physical office space getting constant app notifications exacerbates the situation and given the current working conditions during the pandemic organizations are compelled to conduct their meetings via zoom or other collaborative tools hence has minimized this aspect in concern where it has made meetings to be less time consuming as opposed to meetings being held in an enclosed office space where idling time ads on. When organizations aren’t able to produce as many goods as anticipated, when the cost of raw material surpasses the allocated budget, furthermore when the cost of labor is higher than customary and many other factors associated with external conditions such as a supplier ceasing trade, or a surge in the costs of raw materials and at the same time internal decisions over resources, budgeting and procedures aren’t favorable it is most likely to impact productivity negatively. The aforementioned challenges are faced by many organizations more or less, irrespective of their industry and if organizations possess proper policies in place, the visionary and empathetic leaders who could deliver adhering to those policies sustainably will enable organizations to be productive and be able to reach performance excellence which in turn will make the organization profitable, contrarily mismanagement will produce negative effects on profitability. The John Keells Holdings group as a leading conglomerate in the island of Sri Lanka has in place a well-defined and robust policy which has enabled the group to better manage their asset of human resources in order to generate the competitive advantage. The group is primarily based in the services sector hence factors such as productivity, performance, efficiency is crucial and are fostered by providing support and guidance that is required by their human resources which in turn has created a positive impact on their social and relationship capital. (JKH 2020/21) The group has established policies in relation to human resources which encompasses all facets of employment. All Group ventures will conform to all pertinent local labor laws and regulations. The Group has vociferously manifested their stand on discrimination and on the imperativeness of not discriminating any of their employees on the grounds of nationality, race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation or any of their dis abilities. The Group has always acknowledged the rights of employees and relatively and has provided forums and policies to rectify matters and conflicts with transparency furthermore the group has pledged to being more than just another workplace and appraises themselves for being an employer that practices equal opportunity. The Group has been for quite some time adamant of as aforementioned motivating staff by communicating productivity targets appropriately and how they are being measured. also, employee diversity and retention across the board in all of its business sectors. A gender policy which observes the diversity also monitors recruitment and attrition, heeding to those industries with high staff turnover. Staff retention decisions are carried out by HR and Business heads while heeding to the career development of productive staff, simultaneously engage with constant discourse with the not so productive employees to better understand and manage aspirations and ensure retention. In order to achieve favorable profits measuring productivity ought to be a practice carried out perpetually, monitoring productivity and measuring the efficiency of your operations and staff are imperative, The Groups key performance indicators (KPI’s) that are most appropriate for your business. Your KPIs should: reflect your goals, be measurable and comparable, allow for corrective action if things go wrong. The JKH group addresses this through employee appraisals where each employee receives feedback on their performance, also the performance management policy provides formal feedback to be provided biannually. Measuring employee productivity of HR efforts will enable the managers to determine the productive and less productive employees among the cadre and introduce rewards scheme to keep the productive employees focused and motivated contrarily have a robust support system for the less productive. Leadership is an important part of managing productivity successfully, providing incentives can also help motivate staff to meet productivity targets but ought to be carried out in a tactful way in which the employee does not feel being over worked or bribed. Making sure you define the targets carefully so that production speeds don't increase at the expense of quality. Conclusion The HR department of JKH group is the driving force behind the performance excellence, productivity and profitability and has contemplated the fact that being in possession of state-of-the-art technology, machinery or the monetary competency to manage sustained production will be nullified without effective human resources at the core of the process. Productivity stipulates positive mind sets at work and efficacious work procedures and ethics, JKH/HR has made provisions for employee performance by inculcating core values such as leadership, loyalty and integrity furthermore it has been the HR’s obligation to motivate and engage with employees to build a comfortable working environment, encourage a constant and ongoing learning culture. Solid employee associations have been the secret of success and enabled the group to minimize truancy and turnover which in turn is manifested in high levels of employee allegiance, effectiveness, performance as well as productivity for the growth and competitive advantage.