A company’s success stands on the productivity of its employees. There are no second doubts about it. Suffice it to say, your firm will flourish more and more depending on employees’ productivity. Employees that are focused and productive manage work efficiently. It does not waste effort and produces the outcomes you desire.
According to statistics, 61% of workers feel burned out at their current jobs. Burnout affects staff productivity levels and is undoubtedly something people should address. But the question here arises, how to maximize employee productivity and prevent this from happening?
With a simple search on Google, you will have a list of run-of-the-mill ideas and tactics that will bring the productivity levels from zero to one hundred, but does this really happen?
As a person who is always looking for innovative ways to boost productivity, I came up with the idea of putting my knowledge to good use. This is why I have come up with my list of ways you can boost employee productivity.
Before that, let’s take a look at how important it is for organizations to have optimal productivity levels for their workforce.
How to Increase Employee Productivity?
High workplace productivity is an indication of a strong company culture. When your staff members are pleased, supported, and given the tools they need to do their jobs, productivity will rise. Without further ado, let’s take a look at modern methods of increasing employee productivity:
1. Providing Support to Employee
Let’s start with the basics; even your most experienced and professional team members need support at times.
The support that the company offers affects employee productivity in a significant way. Employees frequently run into problems at work. So, make sure to help your employee in fixing that problem. Establishing a current service desk within your company to boost employee performance can be a good way to do this.
The contemporary employee service desk offers a one-stop shop for issues that affect your employees. Driven by AI, it recognizes the background of the problems your employees are experiencing and offers them solutions that are specially for them.
2. Establish Collaborative Workplace
Higher levels of innovation correlate with productivity and corporate growth. Collaborating with staff, each organization must establish a digital, collaborative workplace.
The ability to execute changes or obtain insightful employee input is made possible by having a mobile app for your company’s website. It improves workforce efficiency.
3. Onboard Your Employees Effectively
The first few weeks always define a new employee and the company. This time sets the foundation for the employee and the company relationship. To boost your employees’ productivity, it is always essential to onboard them efficiently.
Plan the onboarding process well in advance and break it down into phases. Check if the new hires feel comfortable at their new workplace. Only if they feel at ease around their new teammates will employees be able to give their all.
Giving your staff the best welcome possible is a big part of the employee onboarding system. Make sure to send sincere greetings to them (either in person or via email). Send them a customized email containing information on the company’s policies, what the company expects from them, information on their leaders and coworkers, and login information for the platforms they will use.
Also, make sure new hires have access to the tools and materials they need to start their work. Create a user-friendly setup for their desktops and laptops.
4. Avoid Frequent Meetings
This may come across as a surprise to you as you may believe that companies arrange meetings for input or to track employees’ performance. However, there are other ways to do it instead of wasting hours on it every day.
I firmly believe that if it can be explained via email or a message, there’s no reason to spend time conducting on-site or remote meetings.
You can monitor employee performance and provide staff with the most recent information. However, taking too much of anything can be dangerous.
Daily meetings that are unnecessary for communicating only a few brief messages can significantly reduce staff productivity. Not every employee has the self-confidence necessary to speak in front of others. Daily, ineffective meetings would lower their confidence.
The planning would take up more time than the actual work. Furthermore, daily meetings will become a cause of embarrassment for your employee. They won’t get enough time to correct their mistakes. These inconveniences only eat up time and reduce productivity. If necessary, provide shorter updates through email. Ensure their focus so they can produce their best work.
5. Improve Communication
If you are employees are afraid of asking questions and voicing their concerns, not only their productivity but your overall business will suffer.
I’d say lack of communication is the root of the majority of evils. So, if you want to boost productivity among your employees, improve the communication channel and let your employees have a voice. Not only this but make sure it’s heard as well. This will make them feel valued and give them encouragement to do better. A win-win situation in every way possible!
6. Appreciate their Efforts
Recognition motivates employees, gives them a sense of success, and makes them feel valued for their efforts and hard work. Appreciation increases employee efficiency. Employees have a better realization of self-worth when you praise an employee for their effort.
It reinforces their behavior and increases their chances of continuing it. The data on employee appreciation is self-evident; 72% of workers indicated that respect results in productivity.
7. Provide Incentives
I’ve always believed that one of the best strategies to increase employee efficiency is to provide incentives and other benefits to motivate employees to work more productively. If your crew consistently does excellent work and performs well, you should give them additional incentives.
You can use different incentive programs, from company-wide recognition to financial bonuses, to encourage staff to take more interest in their work.
8. Regular Feedback
Employees can learn about their strengths and weaknesses through feedback. What matters is how often you give this feedback.
Annual evaluations have a drawback. They may be unjust if an employee performs well for the whole year but struggles just before the review. Yearly reviews may demotivate certain people and reduce staff productivity. Make sure you give feedback regularly.
According to a poll, 43% of highly engaged workers receive weekly feedback. 65% of workers want feedback more frequently. So, put more emphasis on an employee’s performance than on their weaknesses.
Also, figure out how to overcome shortcomings. It will boost employee productivity and help them in managing work more effectively
9. Conduct Training Sessions
Let me put it simply, employee productivity increases if they are well prepared. And how are they prepared you ask? With proper and effective training.
10. Never Overburden an Employee.
Regardless of the time they give at work, your employees’ productivity suffers when they are overworked and worn out. Never assign tasks that an employee can not do. Always advise them to work just during their scheduled working hours and never burden them.
Also, always assign tasks to your staff members according to their abilities. If employees are engaged in work that they enjoy and are skilled at, they will naturally perform well. On the other hand, their productivity will suffer if you force them to work outside their comfort zone or skill set. It is not a good idea to give one employee a variety of work that is out of his capability.
11. Be a Good Leader
To develop understanding, leaders must lower themselves to the level of their workforce. Sadly, not all managers have leadership skills.
60% of respondents to a survey by Udemy believe managers need additional management training. Employers must collaborate and work as a team. By doing so, you can handle unforeseen challenges immediately and prevent more significant harm. Knowing they have your support, employees will feel secure.
Working as a team benefits productivity. These qualities, among many others, will encourage employee productivity.
12. Improve Hiring standards
It is easy to become caught up in an old and conventional hiring process when the only criteria are higher education, relevant work experience, and appropriate skill sets. Not denying that these are important matrices, there’s, however, another factor that is equally important.
Cultural fit It is important to hire people whose beliefs, actions, and values are compatible with your company’s culture.
An applicant can better decide whether to accept a job offer by understanding what to expect as an employee from the start by hearing about your company’s culture. Employees are more likely to leave the organization or be unproductive if culture fit isn’t a part of your hiring approach.
13. Show Equality
Nothing is more upsetting than witnessing the unequal treatment of workers in the workplace. Each of us has known what it’s like to have a classmate who was our “favorite.” We also recall how disheartened and furious we felt as a result.
You run the risk of having a divided workforce if you are the boss and you have preferences. Bosses, managers, and supervisors are all included in this. Give each employee the same amount of input and consideration, be careful, and avoid picking favorites to deter a competitive climate.
14. Using Time Tracking Software
Tracking software help in measuring employee productivity. Employees may easily organize work and know how long it takes to finish each work by time-tracking software. They will consequently have greater control over their schedule, which might increase productivity.
These time-tracking statistics can help you to determine how well your company is currently running and whether any changes are necessary to make it more effective.
Wrapping Up
Once you realize how crucial employee productivity is to your business’s success, you must take the necessary actions to analyze, calculate, and, most importantly, boost it. To achieve this, you must pay equal attention to what is best for your business and your employees.
Enhance workplace conditions, maximize emailing and meetings, permit flexible work schedules for employees, provide the best possible training, avoid micromanaging anything, enhance office communication, and promote employee self-care.