5 Factors That Lead to More Employee Productivity

Why employee productivity depends more on respect than on free snacks

By Louis Carter

We’ve heard every theory about employee productivity. Change the layout. Add wellness perks. Mandate in-office days. But after decades advising executives and certifying hundreds of Most Loved Workplaces®, I can tell you: productivity doesn’t come from perks—it comes from how people feel.

What drives output isn’t just incentives. It’s whether people feel they belong. Whether they’re trusted. Whether their work matters.

In our Love of Workplace Index®, we surveyed employees from every industry and geography—and again and again, the data said the same thing: when people love where they work, they give more. In fact, 94% said they were between two and four times more productive when they felt valued and respected.

Here’s what drives that kind of love—and that kind of output.

1. People: Relationships that Actually Work

Teams don’t thrive because everyone gets along. They thrive when people trust each other enough to have real conversations, solve problems together, and follow through.

It sounds basic, but when employees say, “I can depend on the people around me,” performance increases. Not because of pressure—because of reliability. Communication becomes sharper. Conflict becomes productive.

When your culture encourages collaboration and people feel safe enough to speak honestly, productivity becomes a byproduct—not something you have to force.

2. Ethics: No One’s Buying It If You Don’t Live It

You can plaster your values all over the wall—but if people don’t see those values reflected in leadership decisions, they disengage fast.

Employees today are hypersensitive to authenticity. They know when ethics are window dressing. If your company says integrity matters but tolerates internal politics or vague accountability, your top performers will quietly pull back—or leave.

The companies we’ve certified as Most Loved Workplaces are the ones where leaders walk the walk. And guess what? Those companies tend to outperform on nearly every productivity metric we track.

3. Respect and Recognition: Still the Most Underrated Levers

This one’s not soft. It’s structural.

Employees don’t want applause—they want acknowledgment. They want to know their effort matters. That someone sees them staying late to clean up a project. That their opinion carries weight.

When people feel dismissed or invisible, their effort drops fast. When they feel respected and credited fairly? You get discretionary effort—people doing more because they want to, not because they have to.

4. A Future That Feels Real

People don’t just want to know what they’re doing now. They want to know where they’re going.

When employees believe the company has a future—and that they have a future within it—they invest more. They innovate more. They take more risks.

If your culture doesn’t show employees what’s ahead, you’ll lose momentum. Show them the road, not just the day-to-day.

5. Achievement: Let People Do the Work That Matters

People want to work hard. They just want that work to count.

When you create the conditions for achievement—clear goals, solid processes, a real sense of mission—people rise to it. But if the culture is clogged with politics, bottlenecks, or “busywork theater,” they’ll check out fast.

The highest-performing teams I’ve worked with weren’t the ones with the most talented people. They were the ones with the clearest purpose—and the fewest internal blockers.

What’s the Takeaway?

If you want higher productivity, don’t ask people to “do more.” Ask what’s in the way of their best work—and fix it.

Respect isn’t a soft skill. It’s infrastructure. And when employees feel that, they don’t just meet expectations. They exceed them.

That’s what makes a workplace most loved—and most productive.

Read more in my original article for ATD:
🔗 Five Factors That Lead to a Most Loved Workplace – ATD.org