Productivity, or lack thereof, has long been a plague on HR's remit
What motivates employees? Are they working to the best of their ability? Are working at all?
Well, a recent study from Priceonomics and Redbooth, shed light on the secret lives of office employees – from when they are at their super-productive to when their most likely to shirk responsibilities.
According to the data, which was collected by Redbooth, a project management company, workers were most pro-active at 11am; the time when we complete 9.7% of all our tasks.
However, between 11am and 1pm, there is a dip in how active we feel. Furthermore, we’re laziest after lunch, with productivity taking a nose-dive sometime around 4pm.
On a weekly basis, Monday was seen as the most motivated day, Tuesday came second – and Friday was dead last, being seen as 20% less productive than Monday. The notion of ‘Sunday Blues’ has been around for a while – and even employees who profess to love their job can have the propensity to feel down or anxious about the week ahead of them.
Most of our tasks were completed in October (9.5%), with the least productive month, perhaps unsurprisingly so, being January. Fall was seen as the most pro-active season, and winter the least.
So, what can HR do about the productivity puzzle? Well, overworking employees with impossible demands has been proven to decrease productivity by 68% - with a further 57% of staff admitting that stress has a negative effect on their motivation, according to Towers Watson.
Related stories:
What you can do about the ‘sophomore slump’
How company culture affects employee engagement
Well, a recent study from Priceonomics and Redbooth, shed light on the secret lives of office employees – from when they are at their super-productive to when their most likely to shirk responsibilities.
According to the data, which was collected by Redbooth, a project management company, workers were most pro-active at 11am; the time when we complete 9.7% of all our tasks.
However, between 11am and 1pm, there is a dip in how active we feel. Furthermore, we’re laziest after lunch, with productivity taking a nose-dive sometime around 4pm.
On a weekly basis, Monday was seen as the most motivated day, Tuesday came second – and Friday was dead last, being seen as 20% less productive than Monday. The notion of ‘Sunday Blues’ has been around for a while – and even employees who profess to love their job can have the propensity to feel down or anxious about the week ahead of them.
Most of our tasks were completed in October (9.5%), with the least productive month, perhaps unsurprisingly so, being January. Fall was seen as the most pro-active season, and winter the least.
So, what can HR do about the productivity puzzle? Well, overworking employees with impossible demands has been proven to decrease productivity by 68% - with a further 57% of staff admitting that stress has a negative effect on their motivation, according to Towers Watson.
Related stories:
What you can do about the ‘sophomore slump’
How company culture affects employee engagement