The Employee Energy Framework Definition

by Laura Belyea, COO at Talivest

If you ever stumbled across the hashtag #mondaymotivation you will be familiar with the trend. It’s a good place to start for understanding the employee energy framework.

Employee energy is a complex mix of motivation, flourishing and growth in the workplace. It has an impact on personal wellbeing, and plays its role in productivity and growth. So, it’s vital that employee energy management best practices are understood and implemented – for individuals and business as a whole.

What is the Employee Energy Framework?

An organisation can be considered the sum of its parts – the most important parts, of course, being people. Studies and insight over the years overwhelmingly suggest that employees are the greatest source of energy for a business, helping to reach its potential. In other words employee energy is the key to productivity, growth and success.

But in order to harness it, you first need to understand employee energy management best practices, and how to identify and improve employee development and all it encompasses.

How to Improve Productivity and Motivation – Learn the Benefits of Employee Energy

It may come as a surprise that the biggest motivation for an employee is not the pay check. In line with Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation, factors such as; personal growth, recognition, responsibility and achievement, are some of the major reasons that get employees out of bed in the morning.

Are you offering enough of these employee energy benefits within your business? If not, there are plenty of ways to boost employee productivity by looking at the employee experience, as we outline below.

Top Ways to Improve Employee Energy Management.

 You might be wondering how to increase your team’s productivity or even your own. The key word here is ‘flourish’.  A study published in a trade journal discovered that “flourishing” in the workplace plays a vital role in employee energy. So then, what makes an employee flourish and how can we use this employee energy benefit?

Let’s take a look at some ways this can be achieved:

Career trajectory

A major reason for high labour turnover is lack of opportunity. Therefore, take the time to understand your team members, find out their career aspirations, and help them achieve those goals through training, development and promotional opportunities from within.

Personal growth

Gone are the days of regimented corporate training. Welcome to the new age where employees have a say in their personal growth and development – in areas of personal interest, as well as work-related training. Upskilling is definitely an employee energy benefit, and one you can reap the rewards of immediately too.

Recognition

Call it ‘employee of the week’, call it ‘member of the month’ – whatever you do, find ways to recognise and award colleagues. Why? Because a staggering 70 per cent of employees say that motivation and morale would massively improve if they just had recognition from their line managers.

Understanding objectives

When colleagues understand a shared goal, they are more likely to work towards it. Yet, this is an area that so many senior managers overlook. Be sure that all team members understand what is required of them, how that success will be measured – and, crucially, ensure they have the right tools in order to achieve it.

Offer support where needed

To really harness employee energy, management needs to strike the right balance of being supportive and available, along with trusting of team members. At times this might require a ‘hands-off’ approach, and managers should be supported with leadership training to understand the importance of this better.

Company policies

It would be remiss to overlook the role of company culture in the employee energy framework. Has your business considered how its policies reflect employee needs and support their wellbeing? For instance, flexible hours and remote working are increasingly important in the modern workplace. What about time off for volunteering, and ‘hangover days’ as part of an inclusive and enjoyable company culture? All of these efforts go a long way in supporting team morale and motivation, whilst also preventing burn out.

 Summary

Ask not ‘how can productivity be improved in the workplace’, but instead ‘what more can I do to improve employee energy’. Because as we’ve seen – one feeds into the other. Focusing on the employee experience will always yield positive results for a company, with a knock-on effect in oh so many other areas, from business growth and client satisfaction, to productivity.