Loud Thinking

Encourage Employees to Help Each Other

Company incentives are often tied to individual productivity. Workers feel pressured to focus on themselves and achieve their own goals because that’s how they’re judged and ultimately rewarded. But that makes them lose sight of the larger picture and hurts group productivity. For example, employees might be reluctant to help one another, because they don’t want their individual productivity to suffer. So it’s important to remind people that they’re working toward common goals. Restructure financial incentives to reward that behavior and create bonuses based on group targets. Promote people who are great enablers along with the high performers. Encourage people to share information and work together to help the entire company succeed — this can include things like having lunch together and taking coffee breaks. Companies should work to build sharing, relationships, and communication into their DNA.

Adapted from “Give Your Unsung Office Heroes a Raise” by Ben Waber.