7 Tips to Boost Employee Productivity | SMB Compass
Ezra Cabrera | August 20, 2021
Key Takeaways
- Business owners and managers must pay attention to employee productivity because productive employees provide greater revenue generation, improved engagement, and better customer service.
- You can boost company productivity by using productivity tools and software, communicating effectively, giving incentives to deserving employees, setting well-defined goals, and matching their skills to tasks.
Your employees are central to the operation of your business. You hired them because of their skills, expertise, and ability to complete tasks competently, consistently, and on time.
However, certain factors can affect employee performance, such as processes, work culture, training, personal issues, and the equipment and tools provided.
Business owners and managers must pay attention to employee productivity because productive employees provide greater revenue generation, improved engagement, and better customer service.
To ensure long-term sustainability and profitability, managers must develop a plan for improving employee productivity. Before making an in-depth plan, it is recommended to do some research first, so here are seven solid pieces of advice on what to consider when looking to significantly boost employee productivity.
Use Software
Keeping a watchful eye on your employees and carefully tracking the progress of their work is easier than ever, thanks to management software. There are many benefits to using this kind of software, and you can use this site to get a general feeling of available options, such as automatically tracking productivity. These apps can also improve project management, time tracking, communication, and work culture.
The cloud-based software provides managers with the means to effectively plan and manage projects by providing tools to assist with scheduling, tracking tasks, setting meetings, filing documents, communicating, and allocating work.
Effective Communication
Even highly trained employees can have their productivity affected by poor communication practices. The effective sharing of information and culture of cooperation helps to boost employee productivity for several reasons:
- Misunderstandings occur less frequently
- Teams can work together to solve problems as employees’ different skills can complement each other.
- Increased cooperation between team members across departments and workgroups
- A company culture based on openness and honesty makes employees feel appreciated.
- Improved employee retention; happy employees who can easily communicate with other employees to complete tasks efficiently are more likely to stay at a company long-term.
- Faster turnarounds as technology allow employees to communicate and solve problems from anywhere and anytime.
Training
For businesses looking to maximize productivity, reviewing employee training is a crucial step. When employees receive inadequate training, their working hours are likely to be inefficient. Hours of valuable time could be wasted on doing tasks incorrectly or figuring out processes on the fly.
However, staff who have received full training on skills and tasks will consistently complete their work efficiently and to the right standard.
Two-Way Feedback
To improve their productivity, an employee must be aware of their mistakes. Therefore, managers should make a habit of providing constructive feedback to employees so they can make adjustments and improve.
A key part of giving employees feedback is undertaking performance reviews every few months. During individual meetings with employees, you can refer back to performance reviews and issues affecting productivity addressed.
Additionally, managers should also respect that feedback is a two-way process. In performance meetings, employees should be encouraged to provide input about workflow, conditions, and any productivity problems.
Incentives
Most people are generally are motivated by rewards, and this also applies in the workplace. One way to boost productivity is by offering different incentives such as bonuses or holiday vouchers.
Incentive systems encourage staff to maintain or improve their productivity. However, their success depends on how carefully you package these rewards. When making an incentive plan for employees, managers need to:
- Effectively communicate the incentives to employees.
- Link rewards to key performance indicators and standards.
- Reward both small and large achievements.
- Encourage teamwork.
- Switch things up in terms of the rewards you offer.
- Offer rewards that are unique and meaningful.
Matching Skills to Tasks
Asking employees to do tasks they do not possess the skills to finish competently will lead to hours of wasted time and poor quality work that will need to be done again. Therefore, when managers plan projects, they should carefully check employees’ skill sets and match them with the right tasks.
Well Defined Goals
Setting clear aims and goals motivates most employees, as they understand both the importance of their tasks and how to carry them out efficiently. To achieve your goals, they should be specific, easy to measure, and realistically achievable in the timeframe set.
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