Effective workforce organization begins with identifying the underlying issues that hinder productivity. Recognizing and defining these position problems enables more accurate decision-making and targeted solutions.
Key Insights
- Identify productivity issues by observing symptoms such as high turnover, recruitment challenges, frequent disciplinary actions, and growing backlogs.
- Use tools like a symptoms and solution chart to define problems systematically and guide troubleshooting efforts.
- Understanding the root causes of these conditions is essential to improving unit productivity and overall organizational performance.
This lesson is a preview from our Federal Position Management Course and Certified Federal HR Business Partner (cFHRBP) Level III Certificate Program. Enroll in a course for detailed lessons, live instructor support, and project-based training.
How do we define position problems? And so to be able to make informed decisions about organizing the work, you must first recognize the problems that affect productivity. If you can't determine what the problems are, you can't correct them.
And so you must first determine what the problems are. Some of the problems could be high employee turnover, recruitment problems, frequent discipline problems, high error rates, high percentages of standard products or services, or unmanageable backlogs. And so you want to assess why those situations affect productivity.
All right. After you recognize that there's a problem, the next step is to define that problem. One way to do this is by using the symptoms and solution chart. You want to use that chart as a troubleshooting guide. What are some of the other conditions that might signal that there are problems with the unit productivity? Let's take a few minutes and answer that question.
