icedbreez:
Effective person gets the job done, set goals and targets re achieved.
Efficient person is a person who is very good at what he does but doesn't necessarily achieve set goals.
I would rather be effective than efficient.

I disagree sir.

efficiency will naturally give birth to effectiveness

so,one cant be efficient without being effective.

2Cents:


And you will score a resounding Zero!
Effectiveness has to do with achieving set goals while efficiency is about utilizing the least cost in achieving the set goals.
An ideal staff should be able to create a balance between the two. That is the 'optimal' staff.

no mind the guy jare, he went off point. It's good we are all learning sha!

EFFECTIVE - Real Madrid winning the champions league with Christiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Angel Di Maria.
Maximal effort and resources

EFFICIENT - Arsenal winning the champions league with Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Jack wilshere mininal effort and resources.

Simple question with simple fresh air answer. Jona is very effective in setting up committee to look into various urgent National challenges. He is very efficient in not implementing outcome or reports of committees.

dafuturis:
EFFECTIVE - Real Madrid winning the champions league with Christiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Angel Di Maria.
Maximal effort and resources

EFFICIENT - Arsenal winning the champions league with Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Jack wilshere mininal effort and resources.

good, 69% for u.

That is exactly what employers want to hear becausethe man who is able to think differently than the lot and give all his best is the man or woman they are searching for not a use and dump.

CHM11:

You have to be both effective and efficient to get the job(s) done. In terms- Effectiveness is the ability to get the job done in the right way while efficiency is about being a reliable asset.
The job in hand (task) will require effectiveness to achieve the set goal, but in a rapidly changing business environment where market value, labour and capital demands are very dynamic, Efficient staffs will be assets in EFFECTING continuity and sustainable development of the firm.


If I was to answer that question I would say "I would be both effective and efficient in your company because I believe these competencies go together to assure excellence in the job. Effective staffs will help achieve short term goals, but efficient staffs will ensure long term goals are not compromised due to changes in the business.
Being both effective and efficient would help me work, learn and grow professionally by being an excellently reliable staff"

Depends on the interviewers body language, you should know when to stop talking and let him assimilate and understand what you've said.


This question test three or four things:
1. Listening skill: Does he understand and think before he responds?
2. Excellence: How will he stay excellent in the job?
3. Ambition: Is he after the short term or long term or both?
4. Orientation: does he know the difference between effectiveness and efficiency?


My view tho..other peeps might have superior arguments....

drtwist:
Mod hope this tread can b on front page 4 a very long time like 2 months so that others. Can learn. Cos I benefited from it. Unlike those political topic that is making me to hate ur site

Man is by nature a political animal, so your hatred or apolitical stance shows you are indifferent towards the government and therefore, political. A bit confusing right?

drtwist:
Mod hope this tread can b on front page 4 a very long time like 2 months so that others. Can learn. Cos I benefited from it. Unlike those political topic that is making me to hate ur site

Man is by nature a political animal, so your hatred or apolitical stance shows you are indifferent towards the government and therefore, political. A bit confusing right? Life without politics is a charade.

A lot of people here are choosing efficiency over effectiveness. I tend to disagree, and as a young manager myself, and as some1 who understand the "goal" theory, I will have to go with effectiveness.

let me explain

From a managerial top line perspective... what exactly is the GOAL of my establishment?

it is very possible to have a department filled with very extremely efficient people
.
.
.
efficiently doing the wrong thing @ the wrong time.

Does this then reflect to organizational effectiveness and achieving that "company goal" which is the reason for the company's existence in the 1st place.

As a manager who keys into my line managers priority ( we call this exercise "line of sight", where by my manager also keys into his managers ( area director) priory ( these trend goes up to the regional and global level)

What we see is global alignment from the top to the bottom, and this representation is reflected in how effective we are as A UNIT.

Sumary: effectiveness is the bedrock upon which efficiency is built. without effectiveness, your efficiency is misdirected , and at best counter productive to your organizational goals

digitalsimboja:
Dearest colleagues, please herewith is a question I was asked in an interview that had me blabbing without arriving at any answer. Maybe u can help rectify d answer to it by injecting ur own view here. Thanks in advance as the question goes 'Differentiate between an effective and efficient staff; which one do u prefer to be in our firm'..i blanked really at dx..

Effectiveness. End of Discussion.
You may be efficient at what you do but that may not bring in MONEY for the company.
If you are Effective, it means you do things that help the company progress.
An efficient person is good for the company but an effective person is better.
Kola is efficient - he comes to work at 7 and leaves at 5. He doesn't waste company time browsing, he doesn't waste company utilities. He knows how to compile his reports blah blah blah

On the other hand, Atutupuyo comes in at 720 or even 730 and leaves at 4 or 430. Sometimes he is even out before 3. Despite these waywardness, he still managed to bring in revenue for the company and increase profits by 30%. He may not be efficient but HE GETS THE JOB DONE. The ideal candidate will be EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE but if you ultimately have to chose, EFFECTIVE is the way to go because a company only cares about one thing.....[size=32pt]PROFIT[/size]....

EbolaParasite:


Effectiveness. End of Discussion.
You may be efficient at what you do but that may not bring in MONEY for the company.
If you are Effective, it means you do things that help the company progress.
An efficient person is good for the company but an effective person is better.
Kola is efficient - he comes to work at 7 and leaves at 5. He doesn't waste company time browsing, he doesn't waste company utilities. He knows how to compile his reports blah blah blah

On the other hand, Atutupuyo comes in at 720 or even 730 and leaves at 4 or 430. Sometimes he is even out before 3. Despite these waywardness, he still managed to bring in revenue for the company and increase profits by 30%. He may not be efficient but HE GETS THE JOB DONE. The ideal candidate will be EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE but if you ultimately have to chose, EFFECTIVE is the way to go because a company only cares about one thing.....[size=32pt]PROFIT[/size]....

on point

franciskaine:
I disagree sir.

why.
Are you a manager by any chance? and do you understand the goal theory?
efficiency like most people rightly said is doing more with less which is fantastic. But doing more with less does not always translate to being productive as a department or unit (especially if the directive, or leadership is faulty in the 1st place)

effectiveness on the other hand is understanding how exactly your role as a mere cleaner is feeding into the company's area, regional, and global plan.... and making it happen!

FYI : Organizational Effectiveness is a G40 role in my coy.
we don't play with effectiveness

Nairalanders know book o

chukux2:
Someone is effective when he can get results. While efficient is making good use of resources to get those results.

Example GEJ empties our treasury paying middle men and contractors to fight Boko Haram in the end he defeats them, that's being effective. Results gotten.

But GMB avoids unnecessary expenses and instead uses our existing equipment and soldiers (after sacking the corrupt and cowardly ones) plus better intelligence analysis to defeat Boko Haram that's efficient. Results also gotten.

An efficient staff is better.

.. But at times though you have to settle for being only effective

/
You are hired!

A very good comprehension of the subject matter.

You nailed it.
\

yinkusminkus:
The difference is in their TIME MANAGEMENT skill. An efficient staff manages time more than an effective Staff.

This is the most appropriate answer. Only the time factor, nothing else. I'm embarrassed about the calibre of our graduates. Most of u were ranting. Even the expected answer required efficiency. So the interviewer already know U by ur answer, if U like choose what U are not.

Jokay07:
i will go for 'efficient' . Why? Because being an effective staff makes someone's capacity and capability concentrated in a section or department. A staff might be effective in adminstrative work while he won't be effective in finance. An effective staff is not flexible in terms of transfer of work. But an efficient staff is capable of doing different works, he is not effective in the adminstrative work alone but efficient enough to handle both adminstrative and financial work. He is efficient enough to perform very well under any given work condition. This would be my reply if I am being asked in an interview. Just my opinion

/
I bet even you do not understand what you typed.
\

From the first page I read; chukux, frinx and soe really hit the nail on the head; other people were just giving the dictionary definition of effectiveness and Efficiency!

In business term, an effective employee get the job done however. An efficient employee uses the resources at his/her disposal to achieve organisations goal.

A person can't literally be Effective and Efficient on separate terms, because an Efficient fellow is already effective!

To differentiate the two terms, I will give an example. An IT support officer who manages the network of 12 bank branches got calls from 3 of the branches that their links were down and therefore could not pay their customers. The calls came in around 9am in the morning. An effective IT officer would get agitated. He would simply start running to the branches. Let us assume he gets to branch A at 10am and fixes the problem. Branch A customers would have been on queue for about an hour. Branches B and C customers would have stayed on queue much longer. He gets the job done at a huge cost cos he didnt make use of all resources available to him. He is effective but not efficient. An efficient officer would attempt to solve the link issues remotedly by telling his users what to do on phone thereby saving man-hours, energy, and cost. Hope this helps.

plss dear nairaland I ur sincere advice I got an invitation for interview from two different Assurance/Insurance company for marketing ....plss shld I go and how is it like to market Insurance policy. thanks

victorVIC1:

Effectiveness in the world of management simply means doing the right thing while efficiency means doing things right.An employee is said to be effective when he or she often carry out tasks that are in alignment with the organizational or departmental goals while an efficient staff is a staff that seeks to perform assigned duties with the lowest possible cost.Hence, while effectiveness involves the understanding and achievement of set goals and objectives, efficiency on the other hand is concerned with how well resources are utilized to carry out assigned roles and responsibilities. A good employee must be both efficient and effective as the both terms are not mutually exclusive.

This is d answer the interviewer wants!!!

Drsheddy:
SMH

LMAO. And on this note I'll say good night

femi4:
No difference, You cant be efficient without being effective.

Accumulated Effectiveness = Efficiency

i beg to diagree with you. One can be efficient without being effective.

Effectiveness means utilizing the available resources at the barest minimum cost. In so doing a company may end up producing at a very cheaper rate but when their product gets to the product market, they discovered that people do not desire their product due to lack of quality. (Non-effectiveness).

Effectiveness precedes efficiency. It is better to be effective without being efficient that being efficient without being effective as effectiveness is more important that efficiency.

Infact all efficiency deals with is reduction in both time and cost which if not done effectively will result to deficiency and dis-effectiveness.

In summary effectiveness should be first pursued before efficiency

Effectiveness is getting the job done. Efficiency is getting the job done at the least cost. Cost could be in terms of timing or other resources. You are expected to be an efficient staffer.

digitalsimboja:
Dearest colleagues, please herewith is a question I was asked in an interview that had me blabbing without arriving at any answer. Maybe u can help rectify d answer to it by injecting ur own view here. Thanks in advance as the question goes 'Differentiate between an effective and efficient staff; which one do u prefer to be in our firm'..i blanked really at dx..

i would go for efficient cuz an efficient staff is always effective but an effective staff might not be efficient

Effectiveness in the workplace - The ability to get things/tasks done by any means (The end justifies the means kind of people)
Efficiency in the workplace - The ability to perform tasks using the RIGHT amount of effort or least amount of energy (It involves being smart at looking for ways/solutions to getting things done)

I prefer EFFICIENCY compared to EFFECTIVENESS in the workplace

Hope this answers your query

DEGREE2466:


i beg to diagree with you. One can be efficient without being effective.

Effectiveness means utilizing the available resources at the barest minimum cost. In so doing a company may end up producing at a very cheaper rate but when their product gets to the product market, they discovered that people do not desire their product due to lack of quality. (Non-effectiveness).

Effectiveness precedes efficiency. It is better to be effective without being efficient that being efficient without being effective as effectiveness is more important that efficiency.

Infact all efficiency deals with is reduction in both time and cost which if not done effectively will result to deficiency and dis-effectiveness.

In summary effectiveness should be first pursued before efficiency

You can't rate a production until it gets to the final consumer.
Your product effectiveness is determine by the consumer and not production materials.

Both can't be separated, a product that is doing well in the market over the time is termed EFFECTIVE and when people keep recommending such product ahead of its competitors, that is called EFFICIENCY

digitalsimboj a:
Dearest colleagues, please herewith is a question I was asked in an interview that had me blabbing without arriving at any answer. Maybe u can help rectify d answer to it by injecting ur own view here. Thanks in advance as the question goes 'Differentiate between an effective and efficient staff; which one do u prefer to be in our firm'..i blanked really at dx..

Lolz. One of the strong points of language is that each profession has its unique terminologies. In this regards, words lose its every day meaning and assume a special meaning as the requirements of the profession demands. 'Effectiveness' and 'efficiency' are both words we use in our every day speech. But they have a special or technical meaning in the language of administration- both public and private. The words, therefore, becomes misleading when subjected to their every day use. Effectiveness means the ability to achieve the organisation's stated objectives; while efficiency means achieving the stated goals using lesser resources. I will clarify the above with an practical example. When asked to diffrentiate between effectiveness and efficiency, your model answer should be like this: ' every organisation has goals that guide its operations. The goals answer the reason why the organisation was set up in the first place. Effectiveness means having the desired skills and resources to achive the organisation's goals. Efficiency, on the other hand, aims to achieve the same level of performance but with with a more reduced resources. So simply put, effectiveness is the ability to achieve an organisation's goals while efficiency is getting the job but with a much reduced resources.'

Effective simply means dedication whereas efficiency is higher level of accuracy, you need both to be successful in an organization.
I will rather be an efficient staff because one can be dedicated at his job without attaining the accuracy required to be successful.

@ Chukux2: Spot on man

Jokay07:
i will go for 'efficient' . Why? Because being an effective staff makes someone's capacity and capability concentrated in a section or department. A staff might be effective in adminstrative work while he won't be effective in finance. An effective staff is not flexible in terms of transfer of work. But an efficient staff is capable of doing different works, he is not effective in the adminstrative work alone but efficient enough to handle both adminstrative and financial work. He is efficient enough to perform very well under any given work condition. This would be my reply if I am being asked in an interview. Just my opinion

I think you kinda babbled too son.

An effective staff achieves goals period. You could be in any department.

An efficient staff does what an effective staff does USING minimal resources.

Which is better for a capitalist organization?
Effiency of course.

You would want to be an efficient staff because an efficient staff is effective as well. Effective staff are not always efficient.

allisonluvsu:
Now lets roll this way.Here is the difference.

You are asked to come to work by 7am everyday to complete a daily task of collating data. The job rule states that you must collate atleast fifty data everyday before you leave for home. If you go to work by 9am which is like 2 hours later than the original time, and still complete the collation of the fifty data task given to you, you are not efficient but effective because you lack the discipline of coming to work earlier.

Efficiency involves an individual meeting up with the demands and completing the task given to him/her at the right time, right date and right manner while effectively involves completing the task even if it was not done at the right time and right date or manner.

Furthermore, if you are asked to wear your safety gears before performing your daily task in a company and you ignore such command and still went ahead to complete the task without your safety gear, you have worked effectively but not efficiently. Efficiency deals with doing things in an organized manner as directed by your organization while the other measures your ability to complete the said task assigned to you.

I hope i tried in the explanation.

This actually explains ineffectiveness and effectiveness