Productivity is a crucial factor that affects most, if not all, significant business metrics such as revenue, operational expenses, employee turnover and retention, and even client approval and customer satisfaction. Additionally, it has an influence over more intangible, yet equally essential, elements which include work environment, brand identity, employee experience, and company culture.
With any flourishing business, every manager or business owner has to accept this reality – that to be able to continue on growing and making the business successful, the workplace requirements and demands have no place else to go but up. With that in mind, how to effectively boost employee productivity should always be the top priority in order to meet such demands without, of course, overworking your employees.
Fortunately, the constantly-evolving technology of today is incredibly helpful because it can also be utilized in the field of workplace and employee management. New tools and features are created to aid businesses in improving productivity, which in turn makes the work more enjoyable and meaningful not only for the managers, but for the employees as well. Whatever types of new-age tools and software you use, investing in employee productivity technology will definitely be one of the things you cannot overlook if you want your business to not only grow, but succeed.
Below are some surefire ways how to effectively boost employee productivity:
Provide your employees with the right tools
The skills of each and every member of your workforce are absolutely vital to business performance, but let’s face it, every tool an employee uses to carry out their specific tasks also play a big role. Therefore, it makes sense that one must choose the right software to help make their work easier, which then results to a smooth or even more improved workflow process.
Productivity and Time Tracking Software
Typically, the number of hours allotted in any given work day is limited, but there’s actually a huge list of tasks your employees need to complete. This is where a time tracking software comes in handy. Incorporating the use of time clocks and clever online scheduling software that is accessible using a computer or a mobile device can make it easy for a business owner or manager to track their employees’ work hours and productivity, so the business will have a more significantly improved workplace efficiency. With the use of time tracker and scheduling tools, one can assign specific tasks and roles to each team member, so they know exactly what is expected of them, report for work in a timely manner, and accurately see to it that the tasks they were assigned to do are properly taken care of. There are also other cool features such as a facial recognition feature that lets employees log in or out just by looking into a computer or smartphone camera, and there’s even integrations with several providers including QuickBooks, SurePayroll, Paychex and PayPlus for a more seamless experience when it comes to managing your employees’ productivity and work times.
Communication tools
Whether your employees work at a traditional office or at a remote setting, a tool or two intended solely for communication is an absolute must. Of course, emails obviously get the job done, however there are times people have trouble finding individual relevant information they need as it tends to get lost in a jungle full of message threads. This is where instant messaging apps, such as Skype and Slack, are incredibly handy as they do a great job of displaying conversations in an organized manner and allow one to keep track of messages easily. Most communication platforms provide file sharing and access too so that each team member’s workflow is as streamlined as much as possible.
Collaboration tools
Just like communication tools, collaboration tools are also crucial for both managers and employees as these simplify and improve teamwork. For everybody to be able to work in synergy in real-time allows ideas to flow more naturally and therefore beneficial to the overall chemistry of the team. Collaboration tools are accessed online and can take the form of file storage and access services such as Google Drive or project management apps such as Trello.
Boost Employee Satisfaction with Great Perks
Giant tech companies Google and Facebook are considered to be some of the best places to work at. Why? Because employees say they are very satisfied working there, and the great perks are a nice addition too. Both of these companies have made themselves famous for offerings like complementary haircuts, massage rooms and nap pods.
While not all businesses could afford these types of extra perks that these two big companies can, keep in mind that a small or medium-sized company can still dish out some pretty good perks for their employees. It can be something simple, like providing a cake for an employee’s birthday, awarding free movie tickets, providing allowances for training and work equipment, organizing team building retreats, or even just a paid vacation would suffice. Whatever it may be, note that most employees would agree that they prefer perks more compared to an elusive pay raise.
Boost Morale and Get Rewarded with High Quality Work
When it comes to the workplace, whether it may be at a traditional office or remote setup, it all boils down to this concept – happy, satisfied and engaged employees work smarter, harder and even better.
Individuals who feel underappreciated or disenfranchised will tend to hate their jobs and while they will brave through these negative emotions as long as they can endure, there will come a time that the piled up stress and burnout will significantly affect their work performance.
When factors like open and clear communication, a focus on self-care and worth, and the respect and trust are incorporated into a company’s culture, then the result will be increased employee productivity.
Act Now and Boost Employee Productivity Today
There are many things one can do to increase employee productivity, and while some may seem counterintuitive, keep in mind that it has been proven countless times that happy, engaged employees work more efficiently.
Using an online scheduling software aside from a time tracking app will not only make things easier for everyone, but it will also save you lots of time. You no longer have to spend precious hours just to figure out what your employees should be doing at a specific time. Instead, you will be able manage your time more efficiently, allowing you to concentrate also on other things crucial to your business.
A business owner or manager doesn’t have to spend a lot of money just to afford high-end perks in order to boost employee productivity and foster engagement. Just put yourself in your employees’ shoes and ask yourself what can be done to improve work culture so it will encourage productivity.
While it is not very easy to create a company culture that promotes constant positive morale, the most important thing here is to start acting on it.
Make sure that everyone can communicate with each other quickly, find the good in anything that each employee is doing for the company and let them know about it, and most importantly, show them that you truly care.
What are your strategies or tips on creating a productive environment in the workplace?
Share with us your ideas by commenting below!
I agree productivity can be boosted now more than ever with new technologies. Now that nearly everything is done online, it is extremely important that we can communicate and schedule time across companies and departments. Great article about an extremely relevant business topic!