Nowhere is employee productivity more important than in the Federal Government.
In addition to being the largest employer in the world, a very good case can be made that, because of the wide range of services that affect the every day lives of each and every American, it is also the most important employer.
This fact is particularly true when one considers not only the direct employees of the Federal Government, but also the vast number of contractor employees who provide goods and services and support the efforts of the government.
In a competitive world productivity is king. When employees are productive in their jobs, everyone benefits from the individual employee, the firm, the consumer and the economy as a whole. Increased productivity is one of the main elements returning a depressed economy to health and growth.
As the largest employer, this is particularly true for the Federal Government.
Productivity for Federal Government Agencies
Since government business is largely employee driven services work, even small increases in productivity have a large impact on efficiency. When you multiply employee productivity increases over the entire spectrum of Federal Government Agencies, the result in output increase and tax dollar savings is enormous.
By increasing employee productivity in the Federal Government, the entire economy benefits as tax dollars are more effectively spent.
Productivity for Government Contractors
Since a significant portion of Federal Government projects involve contractors with specialized qualifications, employee productivity at the contractor level must also be taken into account. Productivity means efficiency and this efficiency enables contractors to capture more work with a relatively lower cost base and increased profit levels. Productivity is a win/win for the contractor and the Federal Government as efficiency benefits both parties.
What Are the Most Harmful Elements Affecting Productivity?
In the office environment the two factors with the most negative effects on productivity are sugar and dehydration. New studies show that these two factors, both individually and together have a significant and direct decrease in employee productivity.
The Problem with Sugar
Sugar, particularly processed sugar, is detrimental to productivity and recent studies of the workforce in the United Kingdom indicate that productivity can be significantly increased by eliminating sugar from the workplace. The greatest sources of sugar in the workplace are carbonated soft drinks that are loaded with sugar and other harmful ingredients.
Sugar, when initially ingested, causes a sharp burst of energy but the effects wear off rapidly resulting in the well known “Sugar Crash” or “Siesta Syndrome.” The “Sugar Crash” or “Siesta Syndrome” is evidenced by lethargy, loss of interest in work tasks and even sleepiness – all results that decrease productivity.
Each and every study, however, concludes that increased water consumption increases productivity. Unfortunately tap water is rarely appealing to employees because it contains contaminants and has an objectionable odor and taste.
Many companies, in an effort to increase productivity in the work place have made pure water available to employees at convenient places in the office or plant. The cost is small and the returns are large making pure water a good investment.
Dehydration is Also a Factor
Dehydration drains the energy of workers and significantly reduces productivity. Large amounts of caffeine
In addition, dehydration is hard to spot in its early stages and by the time a person is noticeably thirsty, they are thoroughly dehydrated. Dehydration leads to symptoms similar to low blood sugar and the impact on productivity can be considerable.
The cure for dehydration is simple and effective – pure drinking water that is easily accessible, tastes good and is available in abundant quantities.
Why Purified Water?
There are many forms of drinking water and they vary in quality:
• Tap water is accessible but contains contaminants and other minerals that are harmful to long term health and has an objectionable odor and taste because of the addition of chlorine. Most people tend to avoid drinking tap water.
It is interesting to note that the Dehydration Study noted above concluded that the main cause of dehydration was the fact that many employees did not like to drink tap water because of the harsh, unpleasant taste of chlorine.
• Bottled water is often bottled tap water or spring water that often contains chemicals and contaminants due to industrial or agricultural runoff. The taste of spring water is also unpleasant to some consumers.
• Purified water. By far the purest and best tasting water is purified water created through a distillation/oxygenation process that delivers pure water with a light refreshing taste. Purified water not only increases productivity but it tastes good and encourages employees to drink more water.
Productivity is a critical issue for any company or organization. A simple and cost effective way to increase productivity is by supplying employees with an ample and easily accessible supply of the purest, freshest tasting water.
Increase productivity with purified water for only a small investment.
Try it and see the results.
