When looking for ways to grow your business, it’s always essential to keep your employees in mind. Employees are perhaps the most important part of any successful business, and productive employee only help ensure its success.
One way to boost your company’s performance without significantly overhauling operations is to look for ways to increase employee productivity. This is more important than ever, given that recent reports indicate that employee productivity has been declining over the past few decades.
When looking for ways to improve employee productivity, it’s essential to look for techniques that fit naturally into your existing management style. This will make the transition easier for the people you’re managing, while an overhaul of the way you handle your team will also require additional time for time members to adjust to the change.
If you’re wondering about how you can increase your employee’s productivity, you’re in the right place – here are some methods to consider.
1. Optimize Meetings
One of the easiest ways to increase employee productivity is to reduce time spent doing non-work-related tasks – and meetings are often the biggest culprit in this department. Research indicates that employees spend between 35-50% of their time in meetings, and up to 15% of a business’s collective time is spent in meetings. In total, it is estimated that over $37 billion per year is spent in the United States on unproductive meetings.
While some meetings are undoubtedly necessary for employees and your business, this isn’t the case with all of them. Look for unnecessary meetings that can be handled via email instead, and remove them from the schedule. Additionally, for unavoidable meetings, look for ways to reduce the time spent in the meeting. Finally, reduce the number of employees called for meetings – if they do not need to attend, they can spend time on other work tasks instead.
By reducing the number of meetings, you allow your employees more time to focus on actual work-related tasks. This is especially important when it comes to ensuring your staff spends more time on what their job description requires of them – fewer meetings mean more time in their workdays, which means it’s unlikely that they’ll have to work overtime.
2. Embrace Flexibility
The traditional workday is from 9 to 5; however, people have different productivity prime times, and there’s a good chance that sticking to a strict schedule means that you’re losing out on employee productivity. Depending on the type of business you’re in, look for ways to make each employee’s work schedule more flexible by referring to a reliable guide. One option is to allow them to break their day into two 4-hour blocks, with a break for a couple of hours in between. Another option is to ask employees to clock in 8 hours a day, with few other limitations on how they clock in those hours.
Of course, your ability to allow flexible work hours will differ depending on the type of business you run – a shop owner may not be able to offer flexible hours. But for companies that can offer them, flexible schedules have been shown to reduce employee turnover and absenteeism and increase employee satisfaction.
3. Go Remote
Another option if your business is suited for it is to allow employees to make the transition to remote working if they want.
Many business owners worry that working from home will allow workers to be exposed to a range of distractions, reducing their productivity. However, recent studies have shown that 51% of people self-report as being more productive when working from home. In fact, people have found that working from home offers them fewer interruptions, rather than more!
That said, it should be noted that remote work does not work for every employee, which is why it’s best to offer them an option if possible. You can also consider offering the option of hybrid schedules if you would like to have some oversight over employees or if someone would like to come into the office occasionally. Like with a flexible work schedule, remote work is not possible for every worker – however, for those who it is possible, it can help boost productivity significantly.
Aside from making employees more productive, the option for remote work also improves job satisfaction. This, in turn, helps reduce turnover, significantly reducing business expenses.
4. Promote Self-Care
If you want employees to be productive, they must first be happy and healthy. Ensure employees know that they are able to use medical insurance benefits without negative repercussions and offer mental health days if possible.
Additionally, make sure that workers are recognized and acknowledged for their accomplishments. Another way to further boost employee morale and improve their overall well-being, consider incorporating a corporate mobile massage service into the company’s wellness program. It provides much-needed stress relief for hardworking employees and demonstrates the company’s commitment to their health and happiness. This helps employees know that they are valued as individuals and can help lift their confidence. When giving an employee review, don’t forget to point out positives aside from offering them ways to improve at their job.
5. Offer Better Benefits
This may seem like relatively obvious advice, but many employers overlook the advantages of offering better benefits. This includes financial incentives like raises and promotions, as well as other benefits like more paid time off, better medical insurance, and other improvements to your company’s benefits package.
Remember, employees are always looking for ways to improve their salary, and one of the most common tactics is changing companies. Training someone new can take time and money, and replacing an experienced worker with a newcomer can significantly affect performance. Offering better benefits packages preemptively reduces this risk and also makes employees more likely to feel loyalty to your business – and work harder as a result.
6. Improve the Workplace
Aside from improving benefits, you should also look for ways to improve the workplace. A better workplace makes people more productive because it allows them to work in optimal conditions. For example, Stressless office chairs can be a good inclusion in the workplace setup.
Some changes to make include:
- Add plant life to the workspace if there is none.
- Painting walls – white walls feel bare and impersonal, and employees have been shown to make more mistakes in workspaces with white walls.
- Boost natural light – more natural light in the office allows employees to sleep better at night, and well-rested employees are more productive.
One of the best ways to look for ways to improve employee productivity is to look for ways to place employees first. Employees who feel encouraged and supported at work are more likely to work hard, and this includes everything from reducing the time they spend on unproductive tasks like unnecessary meetings to improving both their physical workspace and their financial benefits.