Creating a robust and uplifting environment that inspires productivity and amplifies engagement is easier said than done. There are countless approaches when it comes to enhancing employee productivity, so which one is right for your organisation?
Ask any head of the department, employee productivity is at the top of their priority list as a focal point of their Human Capital Management (HCM) agenda. It is a metric used to measure the output of employees on the whole and places significant emphasis on employee productivity. Given that employee efficiency is not a one-size-fits-all, there are several different ways to measure and make it surge. Let’s explore some of our favourite ways to stimulate without remarkably increasing your budget and spending.
1. Knowing the difference between efficiency and productivity
Understanding the difference between efficiency and productivity is vital for the hassle-free and smooth regulation of human capital. In modern times, productivity and efficiency have become the areas of primary concern for any given organisation. Most managers acquire their feedback based on these two factors. Unfortunately, their significant values and purposes are often overlapped as employers misinterpret their differences.
In one of the Harvard Business Review articles, Michael Mankins puts forward that “Efficiency is all about doing the same but with less.” Precisely, efficiency deals with streamlining work. When it comes to business strategy, efficiency and productivity, they all are different. For instance, business productivity is connected to the product of performance. Mankin writes, “Productivity is about doing more but with the same.”
While both efficiency and productivity are of vital importance to any business, understanding their difference lays down the preliminary foundation to improving either. As it goes with the success of all business ventures, the focus should always be on the people.
2. Delegate efficiently and create the right opportunities
According to a ground-breaking research conducted by London Business School, 47% of 1000 individuals surveyed had a desire to change their jobs and career. That is a staggering statistic and affects employee productivity adversely. It is crucial to create the right opportunities for your employees to enhance their level of satisfaction, and in hindsight, improve productivity at your workplace.
You can start with the employees that have a proven track record of supporting business operations to optimise and enhance revenue creation. Give them additional responsibilities and entrust them with roles beyond their traditional capacity. Delegating comes with risks, but the added benefits cannot be ignored.
Give your employees the opportunity to discover their highest potential and offer support as deemed necessary. It takes a dynamic leader to delegate effectively and identify opportunities that stimulate engagement. You should be able to spark interest and inspire them to work beyond the productive limits set by their minds.
In layman terms, employees need personalised goals and opportunities that bring about meaningful experiences. Encourage them to contribute in ways that are aligned with their individual goals and have personal significance attached to them.
3. Equip your employees with the right tools
It goes without saying that providing employees with the right tools to perform their daily tasks is crucial to the business development of any venture. There is nothing more ineffective and counterproductive then squandering hours waiting for the paperwork to print because of a malfunctioning printing device and old machinery that is out of order. Not just that, using top-quality and modern equipment impacts how your company is perceived.
Besides using state-of-the-art equipment, you must urge your employees to use various productivity apps to stay ahead of the curve. You can access the dashboard and assign different tasks, and keep a track record of the performance and progress of each team member. Another remarkable tech-innovation is the advent of collaboration tools. If building team-chemistry is an area of concern, then you can make use of various team-building exercises with the help of project management apps and gadgets. You can effectively streamline the workflow using a variety of online platforms that have made remote working easier than ever.
4. Identify benchmarks and targets
Identify the benchmarks and targets that are relevant to your industry and present-day market trajectory. You must inform and educate your employees on a recurrent basis of all that is expected of them. Once you have defined the targets, you must work with them closely to ensure if the highest levels of productivity are attained.
It doesn’t matter if you run a scrappy startup or an affluent enterprise, exceeding daily sales-quotas and meeting targets is essential for the success of your organisation. It’s not rocket science – you can quickly fall behind your competitors if your employees fail to follow through important benchmarks. You must give them clarity on their goals and encourage a strong sense of inter-personal reliability within the organisation.
5. Offer individual self-care packages
Regardless of whether your company is part of the booming tech industry, or you own a non-profit organisation, the workplace is often filled with stress and anxiety – it is quite inevitable. You can help your employees manage their stress and amplify their productivity by offering customised self-care packages to your employees. Excessive stress and pressure is a slippery slope when it comes to employee engagement and productivity.
To be able to combat burn-out and maintain optimum levels of work productivity, you must facilitate an environment of self-care. For instance, you can make your workers more productive by offering weekly yoga classes, building entertainment break rooms and even offer company-sponsored complimentary massages to help them manage their work-related stress.
Final Thoughts
Working on your ideas to improve employee productivity builds the roadmap to keep workers focused and productive by providing them with meaningful experiences. Without a doubt, good leaders always keep the needs of their employees first.
Author Bio: Garret Jacobs is a management professional working for Coursework Empire. He shares a strong fascination with team-building and supporting business operations to enhance revenue creation.
Photo Credit: Isaac Smith on Unsplash
Comments are closed.