Follow These Suggestions to Increase Your Employees’ Productivity Levels in the Workplace
During America’s Great Recession from 2007 to 2009, business output declined by $753 billion. Throughout that time, and all the way to 2016, the United States saw a productivity growth of only 1.1 percent. After years of recovery, we’re finally seeing substantial U.S labor productivity growth and rising from out of the slowest-growth period since WWII. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that productivity rose 3.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019, and companies are looking to keep that growth steady. At Employer Support Services, we’re aiming to help businesses increase the productivity levels of their employees by providing a guide to optimizing productivity. Follow the suggestions below to see an improvement in your employee productivity levels.
Focus on Workplace Communication for the Future
Clear, effective communication is key to keeping workplace productivity high. Employees who receive correct information and direction are able to produce correct work. However, relaying information accurately is not enough to increase productivity. As a company, you need to focus on communicating for the future. CRM Learning reports that 80 percent of workplace communication is spent on past problems and assigning blame, while only 15 percent is focused on current activities. That leaves a meager five percent of workplace communication focused on the future. Focusing communication on future goals instead of past problems helps employees work toward solutions. When they spend more time-solving problems and less time on events that can’t be changed, they increase productivity levels.
Correlate Compensation with Production to Increase Productivity
Incentive programs are a tried and true way to motivate employees. Providing workers with recognition, bonuses, or gifts will improve or maintain employee behavior. To produce the desired result, however, you need to create a challenging, yet achievable incentive plan. We recommend that your incentives are goal-oriented, so that employees only receive their bonuses when they produce the work expected. Short, specific employee goals have a greater chance to sustain productivity. Long-term goals can discourage employees because they do not see an immediate return, and are therefore less effective.
For even better results, set team incentives. Researchers from the International Society for Performance Improvement and The Incentive Research Foundation found that team incentives increased performance by 44 percent, while individual incentives increased performance by 27 percent.
Incorporate Collaboration Tools for Efficiency
In today’s digital world, there is a multitude of real-time collaboration tools that cut down on wasted time. Programs for file sharing, communication, conferencing, and more allow employees to work together efficiently while also driving team chemistry. The instantaneousness of these collaboration programs allows employees to stay focused on the task at hand and prevent workflow interruption by preventing necessary relocation to communicate, share files, or manage projects. Boost your employees’ productivity by taking advantage of time-saving collaboration tools.
Limit Employee Access Online for a Productivity Boost
Entertainment, social, and shopping websites are where many employees spend their working hours. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation reports that people typically spend one hour of their eight-hour workday on social media sites. These time-consuming sites damage productivity levels dramatically. Employees spend hours on sites such as Facebook, YouTube, or Amazon instead of working, which decreases their output and harms your overall production. To prevent employees from using these sites on company time, implement a company-wide ban or have your IT department officially block them.
Provide Access to an Employee Portal
Employees also waste time at work managing their information. From their payroll, benefits, and PTO to their tax forms and other HR information, they can spend excess time on these tasks when they should be focusing on their output work. As an employer, you can cut down on this wasted time by providing your employees with a secure employee portal. A web-based, easy-to-access employee portal will allow your employees to manage their HR information from home instead of at work. Keep your employees focused on production output at work instead of their personal information to increase production levels.
For more tips on optimizing employee productivity in the workplace and for better HR management, contact Employer Support Services today. We have the tools and resources to help you increase productivity in your company.
