Methods of enhancing employee productivity are broadly discussed. This, because employees are a company’s most crucial component, and they are ultimately responsible for the success of the business. However, a recent US Bureau of Labor data indicates that worker productivity has been declining recently.

What employee productivity actually is, why it matters, and most importantly how to improve it – are all further explained.

What do we mean by employee productivity?

Employee productivity, commonly referred to as workplace productivity or productivity at work, is a measure of a single employee’s production.

A company that makes creative bottles, for instance, could be interested in knowing how many of those bottles each employee can produce over the course of a certain amount of time.

Employee productivity is so distinct from labor productivity, also known as workforce productivity, which measures the total economic output of a nation or business per working hour.

The significance of employee productivity

Any business’s goal is to be successful, and we’ve already shown that staff productivity has a significant impact on how successful a business is. An individual is successful at their tasks based on:

• Productivity measures how much work is performed;

• Effectiveness is determined by the effort put forth in the work;

• Some people may take longer to complete a modest amount of work, but they are more productive then effective;

• Some individuals may complete a large quantity of work in a brief period of time. These individuals are more productive than effective.

Always strive to maximize both your productivity and your effectiveness by putting up your greatest effort in your task and completing as much as you can in the least period of time.

High employee productivity has a number of advantages that demonstrate its significance to your organization. If employees are productive, the company:

• Increases in profitability;
• Expands, satisfies consumer needs, and maintains competition.

In general, strong employee productivity guarantees a company’s market relevance.

How to enhance workplace productivity among employees

You should put these strategies into practice to boost employee productivity at work:

Enhance working conditions

You must ensure that your staff are working in the best conditions if you want them to be productive.

• Make sure the office has lots of natural light. When working in an office with windows and adequate natural light, employees sleep 46 minutes longer at night. This helps them wake up refreshed and more focused.

• Incorporate plants into the workplace. Employees who work in green environments are more relaxed and hence more productive.

• Keep your wall colors from being all white. Offices with white walls encourage mistakes from workers. Instead, use colors like red (helpful for tasks requiring attention to detail), green (encouraging), and blue (it boosts creativity).

Permit flexible hours

Different people have different times when their productivity is at their highest, or lowest. Thus, it may not be effective for everyone to follow a rigid schedule or to work as early as possible.

• Make the work hours flexible by allowing your staff to work in two smaller time blocks that add up to 8 hours each day rather than 8 continuous hours. For instance, permit them to report to work from 7 AM to 1 PM, take a gym break or a long lunch, and then complete their workweek from 3 PM to 5 PM. They’ll feel more efficient and productive since they’ll have more energy after the break.

• Allow remote work – Despite certain drawbacks, 65% of employees believe that working remotely increases productivity, and 47% wish their employer would offer this perk. Choose positions that permit remote work, specify the hours that remote employees may be available, specify the turnaround time for responses, and tell staff to keep time logs for productivity reports.

Optimize the emailing process

According to studies, we waste 13 hours each week on emails. Multiply that by the number of people in your firm to determine the precise amount of hours you might be using more productively.

• Set aside time solely for email. Set aside a specific period each day to deal with emails and tell your staff to stick to it. For example, send all email correspondence one hour after lunch or one hour before you leave the office.

• Send brief, focused emails. Tell your staff to write emails politely, with clarity in their inquiries and responses, and with no unnecessary jargon.

• Avoid sending your staff emails in the middle of the night. Such late-night emails could make your staff more stressed out. This email can make them more anxious and lessen their chances of working well the following morning.

Better employee training

Employee knowledge is improved through training and development which both tend to improve the employee performance.

• Use software that is specific. A variety of helpful courses are offered by learning management systems, like Lynda or TalentLMS, to assist employees improve their existing skills and pick up some new ones. They also provide analytics and statistics so you can monitor the development of your employees.

• Provide practical instruction. By offering the employees the chance to practice as they learn, this kind of training enables them to evaluate the effectiveness of particular training assignments.

• Permit workers to study at their own speed. Rushing through complex subjects won’t give employees the chance to practice their newly acquired abilities or help new information stick. Giving employees time to process their training or learn at their own pace is preferable.

Promote self-care

Employees are much more likely to care about their duties and projects when they are encouraged to take care of themselves.

• The utilization of health insurance benefits should be encouraged. Make sure staff members are aware of all health advantages the business provides. Also, make sure to motivate them to utilize the full physicals, immunizations, and other benefits that the company offers.

• Provide helpful self-care training. You can enroll your staff in time management or stress management classes to teach them how to better manage their time, reduce daily stress, or learn any other helpful self-care practices.

• Recognize the achievements of your staff. Only speaking to your staff when you need to point out errors in their work may seem reasonable, but this is a counterproductive strategy. Employees want to know that their efforts are valued; 79% of working professionals leave their positions because they feel underappreciated. When you can, take the time to recognize people’s accomplishments and strong suits because it will boost their confidence.

Put effort on workplace communication

When working in a team, effective and efficient collaboration are the results of effective communication and feedback.

• Focus on teamwork. You and your team will need to put out effort to create a successful team since productivity-rich teamwork does not happen by accident. You can start by sometimes organizing casual get-togethers, such as an office party, an employee outing, or a paintball competition to foster teamwork. Make sure new hires feel included and on par with their colleagues when they first join.

• Find the best communication channel. Your business may utilize a messaging app, email, and phones for communication, but you must figure out how each person responds most effectively. While some people reply fastest to emails, or messages, others reply at Slack.

Put an end to task delegation micromanagement

Delegating work to others is productive in and of itself, but managers frequently find it difficult to let go of the tasks they’ve entrusted to others and wind up micromanaging every aspect, making task delegation useless. Furthermore, up to 85% of workers feel disheartened by micromanagement; as a result, they work poorly and lose confidence in their skills.

• After assigning a task, leave the room. If there isn’t a supervisor hovering over them all the time, the staff will feel more independent, calm, and secure in their abilities.

• Control requirements and expectations instead. You should provide clear instructions if you want to achieve a certain result. The same instructions should be accompanied by your expectations. Since not every well-intended task requirement will result in the proper work expectations, it will be easier for you to supervise your staff if they are more concerned with the results and not so much with the means to achieve it.

Improve your meetings systems

Employees spend about 87 hours every month in meetings, which equates to $37 billion in lost productivity annually as many meetings devolve into pointless debates.

• Instead use email. Instead of holding endless meetings because email is a quicker and more accurate form of communication, send out a group email during the allotted hour for emails.
• Reduce the daily, weekly, and monthly number of meetings. Only have the necessary meetings.
• Limit the number of meeting participants. While some staff might be essential to your meetings, you shouldn’t require from others to show up every time. The most effective course of action is to let them carry on with their regular work.
• Shorten the duration of each meeting. You have about 15 to 20 minutes per meeting to cover the essential topics.

Conclusion

You must put the proper measures in place to monitor, quantify, and most importantly, boost employee productivity.

To achieve this, you must give equal consideration to what is best for your business and your employees. To do this, you must make workplace improvements, optimize emailing and meetings, permit flexible work schedules, provide the best possible employee training, avoid micromanaging everything, enhance office communication, and promote employee self-care.

Further Readings

How Labor Unions Facilitate Employee Engagement: Advantages & Disadvantages
When, How and Why Employees Become Advocates – Part One
Hard and Soft HRM Approaches: A Comparison