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Every company needs to do what it can to succeed and stand out in the market. While many of these strategies focus on customers and similar areas, it’s always worth looking inward, too. Improving employee productivity is a part of this.
It makes sure everything gets done, while also being done to a high quality. That means more products created, more sales made, and much more. It affects everything.
As much as entrepreneurs know that, figuring out how to do it can be complicated. You could’ve implemented a few measures already, but they mightn’t have had the impact you wanted. They might’ve barely moved the productivity needle. You could need to do more.
This doesn’t have to be a struggle, though. Some strategies to improve employee productivity can help a lot more than others, and they should be focused on.
It’s worth diving into everything you need to know about employee productivity and what you can do about it. The more you know, the better of a position you’ll be in to actually improve employee productivity.
What is Employee Productivity & Why Focus On It?
Employee productivity is the engine behind your company’s success. It’s what drives your business forward, making sure everything gets done to a high standard.
When productivity is high, your employees don’t waste time or resources. They make sure tasks get done when they need to be done. There are multiple reasons why employers and managers should focus on this moving forward, notably:
- Increasing the company’s output
- Improving the quality of work
- Generating more sales and revenue
- Reducing overall labor costs
- Improving profit levels long-term
These make employee productivity integral to a company’s success. If employee productivity is low, then anything that needs to be done mightn’t get done. This then dominoes on sales, revenues, and profits. It could get to the point where the business is no longer viable. You’ll want to improve employee productivity to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Focusing on the right strategies plays an integral role in this. One of the best ways of doing this is eliminating any causes of low employee productivity.
What Causes Low Employee Productivity?
Once you properly understand why your employee productivity is low, you can start tackling it. It’ll help give you an almost immediate boost in overall productivity. After that, you can implement a few other strategies to help keep that going.
Some of the more common reasons why employees are low include:
- Workload – An employee’s workload plays an integral role in their productivity. If they’re not given enough to do, then they naturally wouldn’t be able to do much. That doesn’t mean giving them an extremely high workload. That could overwhelm them and impact their mental health. It causes a lot of stress and negatively impacts their productivity. Employers and managers need to balance this properly.
- Conflicting Dynamics – Sometimes, there will be disagreements in an office. These are relatively natural and can be sorted out quite easily. There’ll be rare instances where that doesn’t happen, though, and certain employees wouldn’t work well together. That can have a direct impact on their productivity, and even the productivity of those around them. By nipping the issue in the bud, you can prevent this.
- Morale – Employee morale plays a vital role in how productive they are. If morale is low, then employees won’t be productive, and they could even feel like working elsewhere. The longer this goes on, the worse it gets. Taking the initiative to actually improve employee morale has a direct and ongoing impact on their productivity long-term.
Tackling these issues can be a great way to improve employee productivity. Sometimes, it’s not as simple as that, however. You could have to put a decent amount of work into it.
That doesn’t have to mean it’ll be overwhelming, though. Taking the right steps could be more than enough to help with this. Seven of these stand out, as they could help you more than others, making them more than worth focusing on.
Improve Employee Productivity: 7 Steps to Take
1. Avoid Micromanaging
Countless managers and employers believe the best way to improve productivity is to take an extremely hands-on approach with employees. This isn’t the case.
Micromanaging is damaging to productivity, and it’s a surefire way to negatively impact your employees. It leads to resentment and other problems, and employees might end up just getting the bare minimum done. By taking a more hands-off approach and letting employees do their jobs, you’ll see them being more and more productive.
You hired your employees for a reason, so let them do what they’re best at. You’ll have fewer issues because of it.
2. Champion Communication
Communication is vital in all areas of a business. It directly affects productivity, and that doesn’t just refer to your employees talking to each other when they need to.
It also means you communicate clearly and regularly with your employees. This helps them understand the company’s goals, strategies, and much more. With this information in hand, they can do a better job with their work, and even be more productive. Communicate often, and share all of the information an employee needs.
Make sure this communication goes both ways, and you shouldn’t have a problem with productivity.
3. Invest in Training
The better trained an employee is, the better they can do their job. This doesn’t just affect the quality of their work, but also their productivity.
While you would’ve hired your employees based on how capable they are, it doesn’t mean they can’t be better. Quite the opposite. You could invest in employee training to help them get better and better. There are plenty of ways you can go about this, like training them to use new equipment and software.
You could even invest in professional training to help your employees do even better. You’ll see the results more and more in time.
4. Value Transparency
Employees need quite a few things so they can be productive, and many of these are obvious. One of the not-so-obvious, however, is transparency.
If employees consistently feel like they’re being kept out of the loop, then they mightn’t feel great about it. They could end up being less productive because of that. By being transparent with them about everything, you avoid that happening. From decision-making to any other area, aim to be as transparent as possible with your employees.
It could even be worth getting their input on anything directly affecting them. Feedback is a part of getting their input.
5. Ask For Feedback
Not all ways to improve employee productivity have to be employee-centric. Sometimes, it’s worth focusing on management, too.
See how management can do a better job of helping their employees work better. The best way to do this is to get employee feedback on what needs to be changed. A lot of this can revolve around how they can get more support from management to do their jobs, but there could be other feedback, too.
Employees can give you feedback on anything they need to work better, from software to a better work culture.
6. Hire People, Not CVs
The traditional way of hiring people usually means focusing on their CVs to help make your decision. Even the interview process can revolve around the CV.
It’s easy to see why many employers take that approach. It helps them make sure the applicant they’re considering has the skills the role requires. By taking a more person-centric approach, however, you could boost productivity even more. You can make sure the person you hire fits into your culture better and works well with your team.
Skills can always be taught, but it’s much harder to teach someone to align with company values and workflows.
7. Improve the Onboarding Process
When an employee first starts with your company, they’re not going to be the most productive. They’ll need to get settled in and get the lay of the land first.
That doesn’t mean you should just leave them at it. By taking the time to improve the onboarding process, you can speed this up quite a bit. You’ll get your new employees settled in and working productively before you know it. You could even make it much more likely that new hires will stick around.
Take the time to optimize your employee onboarding process, and there’ll be less to worry about.
Improve Employee Productivity: Wrapping Up
Keeping employee productivity high is always recommended. It helps you drive your business’ success, letting you generate more and more revenue in time.
When you improve employee productivity, you even make your company more cost-effective and profitable. There are countless reasons to invest in this, and you’ve no reason not to. Despite how much you’ll want to, you mightn’t know how to actually get there. Thankfully, it doesn’t need to be as overwhelming as you’d think.
The right strategies make it more straightforward, and they’ll have quite an impact. You’ll see the results before you know it.
