With working norms changing worldwide, entrepreneurs are finding the best ways to build their workforce. Some recruit in-house employees, while others bring freelancers on board. Despite having different teams, the fundamental objective is the same. Every business owner wants to maximize productivity in the workplace. They want to ensure employees can meet strict deadlines, report timely, and attract new clients.
So, how can you boost employees’ productivity levels? Many business owners offer monetary rewards and bonuses to their workers. Although it is a great way to keep workers happy, it only works when they feel demotivated. For cultivating productivity, you have to focus on improving working conditions and practice effective communication. After all, working in uncluttered offices with unclear instructions can significantly impact productivity.
Similarly, you have to provide the right tools and resources for employees to work efficiently. If you wish to learn more about it, have a look below. Here we are highlighting six ways to improve employees’ productivity in the workplace.
1. Improve Working Conditions
Undeniably, the work environment and infrastructure greatly affect workplace productivity. According to a recent study, the physical environment impacts worker’s performance. Hence, gathering multiple employees in small cabins with high temperatures and poor hygiene will rapidly decline productivity. To overcome this problem, you can rent bigger offices or redesign the existing ones.
However, if increasing the office space isn’t affordable, switch to coworking spaces to improve working conditions. They have a comfortable furniture layout with a touch of nature to improve employees’ cognitive functioning. Likewise, coworking spaces incorporate bright lights to ensure workers don’t face any trouble while working. Best of all, you can find these spaces at super reasonable rates. In addition to improving productivity levels, healthy working conditions can significantly boost morale and efficiency.
2. Communicate Effectively
The absence of communication and miscommunication breeds a lot of failures. Employees have no direction, and the inaccurate instructions lead to further mismanagement. Therefore, every business must practice effective communication. Firstly, bridge the communication gaps between upper-level management. Often, having an extensive chain of command creates miscommunication issues. Second, help team members understand their job roles and responsibilities.
Apart from this, employers can integrate communication tools at the workplace. Applications like Slack and Trello allow team members to share documents and communicate with each other. Managers can post messages on notice boards, assign tasks, and keep track of employees’ progress. Similarly, they can stay in touch with employees on leave or working from home through communication tools. It will speed up business processes while ensuring optimal business efficiency levels.
3. Provide Learning Opportunities
Believe it or not, every employee aspires to learn and grow, but hardly any company offers this opportunity. To stand out from the crowd, you can provide internal cross-training opportunities to employees. For instance, you can conduct training programs where the marketing manager can educate other employees about digitalization. In addition to expanding their skillset, employees will feel a valuable part of the organization, improving performance.
Moreover, employers can also provide educational opportunities to employees. If workers having a bachelor’s degree desire to pursue a master’s, provide student loans on low-interest rates. Likewise, you can create flexible working hours for people completing education to ensure they can concentrate on work.
4. Match Tasks to Skills
Usually, managers assign work to the team members randomly. Hence, someone who has excellent analytical abilities starts crunching numbers, and the person with actuarial skills is making reports. Such practices are not only inefficient but also time-consuming. Therefore, every employer should learn about his/her workers’ skills and behavioral styles.
Before giving a task to any employee, you should ask whether that person is best suited for the job or not. It will help you match tasks with expert skills, leading to better work outcomes. Moreover, understand your employees’ strengths and weaknesses. Some people can perform well under pressure, while others need a calm environment to function properly. Knowing your employees can significantly help in building a productive team.
5. Incentivize Employees
Recognizing workers’ efforts and hard work makes them feel appreciated, encouraging them to continue performing better. When deciding how to recognize efficient employees, think beyond monetary rewards and consider their individual needs. One employee who has achieved the self-actualization stage will prefer public recognition more than a 10% bonus.
Similarly, an entry-level employee would want a promotion or pay raise. Here we are listing five ways how you can incentivize workers and improve productivity levels.
- Free Lunch Meals: Honestly, there couldn’t be anything better than a middle-day lunch treat for the exhausted employees. It will boost morale and make employees feel motivated.
- Holiday Trip: In bustling work life, every person craves a weekend getaway. So, why not give your employees time to unwind and come back to work with a fresh mind?
- Bonuses: If you believe monetary rewards can improve productivity levels, offer bonuses to employees.
- Award Ceremonies: Many companies host annual award nights to applaud and appreciate the best-performing workers, a perfect way to boost morale.
6. Provide Right Tools & Equipment
There is nothing more counterproductive than spending time waiting for paperwork to print. Likewise, many employees have to wait for hours to get approvals on their reports. Providing employees with the right tools and equipment is crucial to ensure they can perform tasks efficiently. You can leverage high-quality and modern programs to improve workers’ performance. To save employees from the paperwork hassle, you can switch to cloud data storage solutions.
In addition to creating a paperless environment, it enables information-sharing. Hence, employees can exchange documents digitally without having to travel to each other’s desks. Otherwise, you can invest in modern equipment such as a multi-function printer. It can work as a printer, copier, fax machine, and scanner. Apart from this, leverage project management tools to bring all team members on one forum. With videoconferencing and group chat options, you can take productivity games to a whole new level. You don’t have to spend much on getting upgraded equipment for your employees. You can always acquire e-cycled yet fully refurbished computers that perform the same job and even better. The best thing is that you get the most bang for your buck as they come at lower prices compared to brand-new ones.
Final Words
There isn’t any sure-shot way for empowering employees and boosting productivity. Instead, it is more about adopting small and crucial strategies that lay the foundation of a productive workplace. You can improve the working conditions and communication since these two factors directly impact performance. Similarly, provide constant support, encouragement, and incentives to employees to boost their morale and encourage them to perform better.
