All businesses need to look at ways to increase the productivity of their staff. When your employees get more work done, it will ultimately lead to the business making a bigger profit. As well as increasing productivity, employers should also aim to improve the happiness and wellbeing of their workers. Here are some ways to boost employee productivity without losing staff engagement.
Use feedback:
Collect as much data as you can from your employees. This can inform how you create the workplace to best suit their needs. Data you might collect could include information on their performance levels by installing productivity tracking software on their devices. You could also regularly survey your staff to gain more qualitative data on their personal insights and happiness levels at work. When your employees can communicate openly and honestly, they will feel more comfortable and supported in the workplace.
Provide good tools:
A business can only foster a productive environment when employees have access to the best tools. Provide your staff with excellent hardware, software and office supplies. This includes laptops, office furniture, and amenities. The more comfortable that your employees feel at work, the more work they will get done. High-quality software will also help your business to achieve work more efficiently.
Allow flexibility:
Having an employee schedule in place may be one way for you to ensure your workers stay on task and produce a consistently high standard of work. However, rigid schedules do not always suit all employees. Allowing your employees to make minor changes, such as swapping shifts, flexible start or finish times and remote working arrangements can actually improve productivity and loyalty to the business. It can also benefit employee communication, dependance and engagement. As a manager or employer, you should still have to approve all requests to ensure that the flexible work environment does not get taken advantage of.
Encourage healthy competition:
Productivity can be further increased through the encouragement of healthy competition between employees. You may consider using incentives, such as short term coupons or long-term awards like an ‘Employee of the Year' initiative. However, making a workplace too competitive can potentially have a harmful effect, so take caution to ensure you are striking a fine balance.
