Way Forward?
Where should leaders begin in addressing this challenge? Senior management must first acknowledge that production and employee satisfaction reinforce each other. When employees thrive, productivity rises. Likewise, when people see their work as meaningful, satisfaction grows with production success.
The next step is to ensure the organisation’s purpose statement is inclusive. It should clearly recognise all legitimate stakeholders – especially employees. They are not just resources but central contributors. Additionally, a purpose statement that incorporates their personal values fosters alignment and motivation. Research supports this link. Gallup’s studies show that engaged employees outperform disengaged ones by up to 23%. Ignoring this connection while chasing output at the cost of well-being could produce short-term wins, such as meeting tight deadlines through overtime. Yet such gains rarely last. Burnout, turnover, and declining morale soon follow, eroding long-term performance and increasing costs through lost knowledge and recruitment.
Modern neuroscience offers further evidence. Harvard Business Review reports that chronic stress from overwork reduces the size of the prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain responsible for decision-making and creativity. Both are essential for innovation and productivity. In contrast, workplaces that trigger dopamine through achievement and oxytocin through trust enhance focus and collaboration.
Long-term studies on team effectiveness also highlight this connection. They show that psychological safety – the sense that people can take risks and speak freely without fear – is the top predictor of team success. It outperforms both individual talent and strict output targets. Teams perceived to have a high psychological safety develop new ideas at a faster rate with fewer errors.
Understanding your employees.
Employees’ needs and what drives their behaviour differ from those of owners or shareholders. Unfortunately, fair pay forms the foundation, but motivation also depends on three factors: safety, autonomy, and growth. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, introduced in 1943, still applies today. Basic needs for security and stability should be met well before higher motivators such as belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation can emerge. Incentive systems based only on output often fail because they ignore these deeper layers.
The goal, then, is not to maximise satisfaction at any cost or to chase production relentlessly. Ideally, finding a balance will enable sustainable productivity improvement, and this occurs when employees feel valued through open communication, empowered through flexible work design, and rewarded with fair pay and recognition. Accountability remains essential, tied to ethics and shared purpose, to prevent complacency.
Ultimately, embracing an authentic, purpose-driven identity emerges as the singular most powerful, non-monetary motivator. As Gary Yukl (2013) wrote, leadership means guiding individual and collective efforts toward a shared purpose. Organisations that make purpose real in daily practice do more than survive – they lead.
By viewing production success and employee satisfaction as partners rather than opponents, leaders build resilient, high performing cultures that last. Sustainable success is not about choosing between people and performance – it’s about ensuring they grow together.
