There is an obvious link between employees and productivity. All you need to see is the overall health of a business to know whether or not productivity is part of the company culture. A well run company is that way simply because the management and staff all work well together and make good use of their time on the job. There are five unique ways in which to increase the productivity of your staff. This is a look at them and how they can help your business.
1 – Motivate Employees with Gamification
Motivation has a lot to do with the amount of productivity that can result from an office. By adding some fun to the regular routine through gamification, your staff will be working harder to get tasks done. There are several ways in which gamification can be applied to the workplace. You can use game elements such as rewards, rankings, leaderboards and challenges to make the otherwise dull routine appear fun and exciting. Yes, there are times when this approach will foster a sense of competition, but that also serves a company well as teams form as a result that develop strengths that can push the workload forward. It also opens doors for shared input, better communication and an overall increase in productivity.
2 – Provide Opportunities To Re-Charge
A happy office is one that has staff that are not worn out or worked to the bone. Employees who are permitted frequent breaks throughout the day are also the most refreshed members of any office. That’s because they can make use of their break time to de-stress and recharge their bodies and minds for the rest of the tasks coming their way during the balance of the work day. Encouraging staff to walk away from their workstation just for a breather will increase the quality of the work they will produce over the balance of the day. It doesn’t have to be several coffee breaks but being flexible enough to have staff wandering away from their cubicles on occasion is good for everyone in the office.
3 – Delegate Tasks And Responsibilities
Nothing gets an employee more engaged and interested in what they are doing on the job than having work to do. Management can keep staff involved by regularly passing out tasks and responsibilities. The key to success with this is to recognize the skills and talents of those in the employee ranks and matching the tasks and responsibilities accordingly. When an employee can exercise his or her talent with a specific task, it gets done and keeps that worker interested in the process. By taking time to work on creating the proper mix of staff to the work that has to be completed, you will build strong teams as well as develop an attitude and atmosphere that promotes teamwork. This gives productivity a big boost right across the board.
4 – Coach With Time and Attendance Tools
Employees can learn how to make better use of their time on the job when they know how much of that time is being used and what it is being used on. There are many ways to track this thanks to new time & attendance systems that are being developed by companies, such as Ximble, which take care of this. By giving both management and staff access to time tracking tools, they will see how their time is being spent and can focus on improving the efficient use of time. Even the hardest working members of your team may be surprised to see how much time in an average work day they actually spend on work-related and non work-related items. This is the main principle behind productivity. By having a better understanding of how time is used, you have a better chance at helping your staff to focus better on the tasks at hand before moving on to something new.
5 – Keep Your Employees Satisfied
It is no secret that happy employees will produce quality work when in the office. Those who are not happy with their jobs will either waste time or end up on the unemployment line. It is wise for management to be able to identify those who are not feeling fulfilled at work and finding ways to correct this. Sometimes all it takes to a simple acknowledgement of a job well done. Other times it may be far more involved. The overall culture of the office has to provide a positive and encouraging atmosphere to begin with. It is from this that your office will have a foundation to grow from. If that foundation lacks the elements that keep staff interested, feeling valued and motivated, it will eventually show in the quality of their work. Satisfied employees are those that get things done and that is truly the bottom line. When the tasks are completed, productivity is the reason for that result.
In Conclusion
There are several effective strategies that can be employed in the workplace to increase productivity. Not all of them require great expense or time commitment, either. By recognizing the limitations that are present in the office, improving them and the way in which employees are used in the workplace all go towards increasing the amount of quality work produced. Ultimately, the management and staff have to work together within these strategies in order to see success. However, there is no doubt that when employees feel that they are an active part of the company they work for, it improves how they feel about their job. By offering additional enhancements, you can create the office culture that keeps staff happy and working hard at the same time. Allowing them to see how they spend that time with tracking tools and giving them breaks to recharge all go together in creating a hard-working, productive workforce. After all, isn’t that what you have been trying to do with your staff?
