Why are employees busy, but the company’s efficiency is low? (Classic great article)

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Many companies often experience this strange phenomenon: almost everyone within the company is busy, and nearly every department is overwhelmed, yet overall efficiency remains low. It’s also difficult to identify the cause, and I don’t know how to improve it. This article tells you the reasons from eight aspects I. The process needs improvement. The process is the very foundation of a company’s daily operations. To address the inefficiency of a company, one should first examine whether its processes are logical, concise, and efficient, identify areas where improvements can be made, and assess the potential for such improvements. The inspection process should first examine the process system itself. The process systems that make up a company are by no means simple business chains; rather, they are complex, closed circular systems, just like the blood circulation system in the human body. These systems include a main system, various branch systems, further sub-branch systems, and peripheral systems. Therefore, to check whether there are problems with a company’s processes, one should first examine its process circulation system: whether the main system, sub-systems, further sub-systems, and peripheral systems are functioning properly ； Do all the systems connected together form a closed loop? ； Are there any breaks, obstructions, or embolisms? Is there any redundancy or deficiencies? Is it necessary to add new systems? Secondly, check whether the process circulation system is formatted and templated, whether its flow is stable – that is, whether the direction is correct and consistent – whether there is backflow or turbulent flow, whether the flow rate is reasonable and stable, whether the designed flow rate for each pipeline is appropriate, and whether the actual flow meets, exceeds, or falls short of the specified standards. Process inspection should also include checking the content that flows within the process – what is it that flows through the process? In recent years, many companies have been designing processes, reengineering them, and working to optimize them. So, what exactly flows within these processes? In fact, the content of a process flow is quite simple; it can be summarized into four aspects. The first is logistics: all the physical elements involved in a company’s daily business operations and production, as well as all the physical aspects related to management tasks, must be part of this process flow ； The second is the information flow: All information generated within and outside the company as a result of its business operations must be transmitted through established processes. Similarly, the dissemination of information for management purposes also takes place through these processes; the information uploaded includes various aspects related to the company, while the commands issued are sent down to different levels ； Third is cash flow: the fundamental logical goal of a company is to make a profit; the most basic objective behind all of its activities is profit generation. Every activity involves the flow of funds, so the most essential element in any process is money. The simplest symbol representing the flow within a process at all times is money ； Fourth is the cultural flow: what flows within a company’s processes are its personality and distinct characteristics, as well as its culture. The reason why a company can be recognized by customers in a highly competitive market is that its processes carry the unique elements that set it apart, as well as the ways in which its employees behave – which serve as representatives of the company’s image. Additionally, these processes reflect the company’s fundamental value orientations and principles. Having understood the content of the upstream process, the items to be checked should also be included when reviewing the process. II. Insufficient institutional support: After examining the processes, check the systems as well. If there are no issues with the process, then check whether the management system facilitates its implementation, whether it truly supports the process and the content that flows within it, and whether it is comprehensive and well-developed. There may be excellent process systems, but the service management systems and business management systems do not support them; either these systems hinder each other or are contradictory to one another, or they are full of flaws. Are all processes covered by established rules, and are those rules formulated with regard for human considerations? When the rules are too strict, heavy penalties amount to no penalty at all, prompting people to find ways to exploit loopholes in them or even to resist them collectively; when the rules are too lenient, they lack sufficient binding force. Systems are meant to restrain people; both overly strict and overly lenient systems hinder the proper implementation of process systems. If the process is compared to water, then the system is the pipeline through which that water flows. If the pipes are not airtight, if their diameters are not properly matched, or if the pipes aren’t connected at all, it will have a direct impact on the flow of water within the system. In addition, attention should also be paid to whether the content in the upper part of the process is correct and whether there is any disorder in it III. Inadequate supervision: Although companies have excellent processes and comprehensive management systems, the lack of supervision, poor supervision, inadequate oversight, overreach in supervision, outdated monitoring methods, issues with the competence of supervisors, or a complex political structure within the organization can all **reduce the operational efficiency of the entire organizational system. Processes and systems are fixed, whereas supervision is flexible. Supervision must be carried out in accordance with principles; if supervisors fail to act according to these principles and act unfairly, it will greatly reduce people’s loyalty to the processes and systems. If supervisors lack the necessary competence, not knowing how to supervise or what to supervise, it will inevitably lead to ineffective supervision. Lack of oversight leads to an inability to know what everyone is doing, whether they are working properly, whether it is necessary to work that much, whether they are actually busy, or if they are working at the right intensity ； Or, if regulation is too strict and rigid, failing to combine principles with flexibility and adhering to outdated management systems, it will greatly restrict people’s enthusiasm and creativity; in order to comply with such regulations, they may end up doing unnecessary tasks that yield no results. If those in positions of power lack a sense of accountability and go beyond the boundaries set by regulations, then regulatory oversight will weaken. People will end up busy with matters other than regulation, without facing any consequences; even leaders may take the lead in acting outside of established procedures and rules, which only leads to greater chaos and disorder. IV. Incompatible technical methods: Everyone is busy and complains of being tired, but the fourth reason for the low overall efficiency lies in management methods. Normally, it is the backwardness of these management methods that greatly limits a company’s management efficiency; this is reflected in the low efficiency of production equipment, whereas advanced production equipment naturally leads to higher work efficiency. This is especially evident in the manufacturing industry, where advanced equipment not only offers high efficiency but also ensures quality in the work performed. Even when it comes to computers, there is a huge difference in performance and quality between 286 and 486 models ； More importantly, overly outdated equipment can affect people’s mood, and since moods are contagious, it can in turn impact people’s motivation at work. When it comes to transmitting information, humanity has gone through an evolutionary process that has seen the use of manual delivery, animal-based delivery, signal fires for communication, mechanical means, and electronic transmission; today, the speed of information transmission over the Internet is incredibly high. In corporate organizations, when it comes to information transmission, there is a huge difference in speed between broadband and dial-up Internet connections. Even within broadband, different bandwidth levels determine the speed at which information is transmitted. Moreover, proper use of local area networks within a company can greatly improve work efficiency. Furthermore, when technical solutions are too advanced, they can also hinder efficiency within a company. This is because the company’s environment does not support the proper operation of such equipment, which prevents it from functioning at its optimal level. As a result, even though there are excellent devices available, they cannot be utilized effectively, and their efficiency is not realized when used. Additionally, integrating them with other processes increases operational costs and reduces efficiency, as all production technology equipment needs to operate within a specific physical environment and relies on that environment to function properly. Of course, management techniques must not only suit the actual internal conditions of a company but also its external environment. Even if the efficiency of work within the company is high, if the efficiency in the external environment with which it interacts is low, everyone is forced to wait endlessly in frustration. For example, if your clients are state-owned enterprises with extremely low work efficiency, and although the employees within those companies work hard, you have no control over changing the external environment with which you have to deal; as a result, your own work efficiency also slows down. In the past, settlements were carried out manually, but nowadays they are mostly done through computerized systems, which has **improved work efficiency**. V. Low professional quality of employees: The professional quality of employees also plays a significant role in determining work efficiency; it refers to the overall professional characteristics of all employees. What is character? Character refers to the social attributes of employees related to their work, mainly referring to their professional ethics in relation to their job. In China, the standards for nurturing individuals focus on moral integrity, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetic sense, and work skills; the standard for selecting people is having both moral integrity and competence; and the standard for evaluating people is based on their moral character, ability, diligence, and performance. Whether it is cultivating, selecting, or evaluating people, all these aspects are related to moral character, with moral integrity being of primary importance. That’s why it is often said that moral character is extremely important. What does quality refer to? Quality refers to the natural attributes associated with a professional position, including the professional awareness, knowledge, skills, wisdom, and resources related to that position. The quality of employees is crucial, and among these qualities, professional awareness is the most important. What exactly is professional awareness? It means that those in professional positions should know what they need to do and how to do it. This is why college graduates, right after graduating, don’t know what to do or how to do it – because they have never worked before, so they can’t have much professional awareness. The inefficiency of some companies is related to the quality of their employees, especially their competence. An employee with high competence can be twice, three times, or even more than 10 times as productive as an average employee. More importantly, the quality of the work differs; an employee with average competence, no matter how hard they work, cannot catch up to or surpass those with high competence in the short term. Given the same task, an employee of high quality may complete it within a day, while an employee of lower quality, despite working very hard, might take a week to finish it; moreover, the quality of the work done by the latter cannot compare to that of the former. Just in terms of the amount of time spent, there is a seven-fold difference; therefore, employees with higher quality performing the same role certainly cannot be paid seven times more than ordinary employees, not to mention the difference in quality. Of course, under the influence of a long-term average mindset, employees’ salaries tend to be similar, and as a result, those with superior skills gradually leave. What remain are employees of average quality; although they possess good professional ethics and work very hard, the overall efficiency of the company remains low. Solution: Combine training with the recruitment of high-quality employees, while maintaining an appropriate salary gap. VI. The management capabilities of enterprise leaders are limited. As the saying goes, \"If the soldiers are weak, the entire army will be weak.\" ”Every employee works hard, and the sixth reason for the poor overall efficiency of the company is the problematic management skills of its senior executives. Although everyone is very busy, due to the limited capabilities of senior management – their inability to plan strategically, to direct and coordinate tactics, to identify and utilize people effectively, and to make full use of limited resources, as well as their lack of understanding of both themselves and their opponents as well as of the circumstances surrounding them – it inevitably leads to fighting the wrong battles at the wrong times and places with excellent soldiers, resulting in failure. This is evident in the battlefield: there are countless examples of why some generals are able to win battles consistently, while others waste valuable opportunities and the lives of their soldiers needlessly. Therefore, as a manager in a company, especially a senior one, it is crucial to avoid having employees work in vain. One must understand that a command given by you will reach the lower levels of the organization, and employees at all levels will busy themselves carrying out that command; if no results are achieved after all that effort, it constitutes wasted effort, or even wrong and negative action. Moreover, the leader himself does not dare to take responsibility – just imagine how terrible the consequences would be ! If this happens too often, the employees will become tired, and the wisdom of the supervisors will be of no use. However, no one can disobey the orders of their superiors; what should they do? The employees will simply counteract any attempts to give them orders; no matter how many orders you give, they won’t comply. They just focus on dealing with their own problems. Everyone is busy, but in reality they’re each busy with their own things, pretending to be busy in order to impress their superiors – one level deceiving the next. Another situation is when orders keep changing frequently. As a company manager, one may make decisions without careful consideration, lack the ability to make decisions properly, or be too easily influenced by others. After issuing a decision or order, they might realize that it was not a good choice and want to change it. As a result, orders are changed arbitrarily, at any time, leading to a culture of randomness within the company. At first, subordinates are uncomfortable with this, but over time they understand their supervisor’s habits and style of working. Even though orders are given, they are cautious about changes, so they pretend to take action without actually doing anything. The supervisor is satisfied seeing that the subordinates are taking action, but no results are achieved, resulting in inefficiency. VII. The guiding role of the “busyness” culture: The orientation of corporate culture also affects the overall efficiency of a company. If a company encourages individual heroism and fails to foster a sense of teamwork and the ability to work together, then although everyone wants to be a hero and is busy, they do not develop an awareness or skill for working together; there are boundaries in the work done by individuals, as well as boundaries between departments. Worse still, there is concern that others might become heroes and thus prevent one’s own chance of becoming a hero; as a result, people hold back others and even deliberately create obstacles in their work as well as in that of other departments, which all affects the overall efficiency of work. If a company promotes a culture of constant busyness, then it will inevitably be preoccupied with being busy – this is especially evident in growing companies. What managers dislike the most is when people are idle; once employees are not busy, it makes managers feel uncomfortable, and this shows up in their behavior, as they don’t ask whether the employees have completed their tasks or not. Although some bosses don’t directly criticize the idle employees; instead, they praise those who are busy, giving special attention to those who work overtime. Some employees work overtime because they are not competent enough and can’t get proper work done during regular working hours, thus ending up working aimlessly and in a disorganized manner ； And some people are used to this kind of work and like to keep working after hours ； What’s more, there are quality issues; people work overtime on purpose to show their bosses, who are not often in the company. When they spot those who work overtime, they give praise. Under such a culture that encourages busyness and overtime, the company starts to focus on being busy rather than on achieving results. The result is that the more busy people are, the more praise they receive from their bosses, and the more praise they get, the busier they become, leading to a situation where many people end up working hard yet achieving nothing. Pure individual heroism is not encouraged; a team spirit based on collaborative effort should be promoted ； Do not focus solely on superficial busyness and overtime; to change this culture of being busy, we should pay attention to efficiency. It is necessary to detail each person’s workload so that assigned tasks can be completed within the specified time. Shift the focus from form to a combination of results and processes. Be careful not to go to the other extreme – focusing solely on results. Focusing only on results leads to a situation where actions are taken merely for the sake of achieving those results, which in turn results in an even worse corporate culture. VIII. There are issues with the company’s strategic positioning and direction. Another reason why everyone is busy yet the overall efficiency of the company is low is that there are problems with the company’s strategic positioning and guiding principles. As the saying goes, “Men fear choosing the wrong career, while women fear marrying the wrong man.” For a business organization, the worst thing that can happen is to enter an inappropriate industry – when the organization’s existing resources are not sufficient to support it in expanding into a certain field, yet its strategy-makers believe it’s possible to do so, leading to incorrect industry choices. In such cases, no matter how busy the employees are, no tangible results can be achieved; no amount of effort will suffice. Of course, apart from an incorrect strategic positioning within the industry, companies may also face issues with regard to target customer identification, market segmentation, and business model selection. Any problem in any of these areas will affect the company’s overall efficiency and productivity. Everyone is busy, but no benefits are seen, and as a result, there is no efficiency either. Common problems for companies in terms of strategic direction are an incorrect strategic direction and a lack of clarity regarding it. If the strategic direction is wrong, it’s all going in the wrong direction; no matter how hard the employees work, it results in negative outcomes and inefficiency ； If the strategic direction is inconsistent, shifting back and forth, then despite the employees being busy, they end up doing repetitive and pointless tasks, leaving no room for efficiency or productivity. Source: Chinese & Foreign Management Magazine; Author: Jing Suqi