Productivity has been declining in our supplier steadily for some time now.
People aren’t as motivated as before to give their all.
My boss called me into her office the other day to discuss the issue. After our talk, she put me in charge of getting to the bottom of the matter! She wanted to guess why each employee’s performance was dropping. The task was challenging, even though I knew I had to do it. Rather than perform one on one interviews, I came up with a new solution. I needed a unique way of getting fair answers from my colleagues. The best program was to create a questionnaire and not ask for names. This way, everyone could express themselves and remain anonymous. It worked, and I came to learn that our company’s ventilation was the issue. The awful A/C in the office made it unbearable to work. For some time now, the office Heating and A/C system has been making noises. Though it still worked, it was loud and at times stopped working altogether. Many employees found it hard to come to a stuffy office that was either too hot or cold. The surprising thing was our office had an expert HVAC repairman on the premises. He consistently said it was good and there weren’t any problems. Management never saw the need to replace the aging cooling unit. After studying the report I had compiled, my boss swung into action. She fired the worker and hired an Heating and A/C supplier to do an analysis. When the team of cooling and oil furnace experts saw the unit, they were in shock. It had been years since any replacement or servicing occured. The compressor was coming to its end, and the air filters were worse. The dust, debris, and mold meant the air quality was exhausting in our office. That’s why many employees suffered from poor air quality related illnesses. My boss got a quote from the HVAC supplier and bought a new ductless AC. Once the component was installed, the difference was like night and day. The air quality dramatically improved, and everyone was smiling once more and became more productive. Also, our boss hired the team to do regular maintenance to ensure the system was consistently functioning at its best.