Productive employees play an instrumental role in helping business owners to achieve key objectives. Boosting productivity can help entrepreneurs maximise profits, impress customers and increase efficiency. If you’re eager for your team to reach the next level, here’s the ultimate guide to supercharging employee productivity.
Understand what your employees want and need
One of the most effective ways to encourage productive working is to get to know your employees on a deeper level. Organise meetings and one-to-one sessions to scratch the surface and understand what your employees want and need. Ask questions, encourage openness and find out more about individuals. Try to understand what makes them tick, what motivates them and what is most important about their job. If you know what your employees want and what drives them to want to work hard, you can motivate them using targeted approaches. Perhaps your employees would thrive on opportunities to earn a bonus for hitting a target, for example, or maybe they’re more likely to work hard or cover extra shifts if they feel the boss recognises their efforts and achievements.
Use employee feedback and the conversations you have with your team to share your strategy moving forward. Listen to your employees, note concerns and complaints and be prepared to implement changes or new policies and guidelines to support your team, address pain points and help them achieve both personal and company goals.
Recognise and reward success, commitment, effort and loyalty
There is a global talent shortage, which means it’s increasingly difficult to attract and retain the most talented employees. Employers should recognise the value of rewarding successes and appreciating commitment, effort and loyalty. If your employees feel undervalued, they may be less inclined to give work 100% and you could lose them to another business. The UK Human Workplace Index revealed that almost 40% of employees consider feeling valued the most important factor when deciding whether to stay in a job or leave.
There are many ways to recognise and reward hard work, dedication and professional achievements, including monetary bonuses, gifts, and incentives, such as extra paid time off. As an employer, it’s beneficial to draw up a rewards programme or plan that aligns with your budget and the needs and preferences of your employers. Perhaps your team would appreciate a bit of extra cash in their pay packet if they hit targets, they want an extra day off after working overtime, or they’d like to treat themselves, for example. You could offer an early finish or an extra holiday day, boost salaries with bonuses or commission or buy prepaid Mastercard gift cards to enable your employees to indulge in retail therapy. Research options and collect feedback and ideas. It could also be fun to plan a team celebration if you’ve hit a major milestone, won a new contract or client or scooped an award, for example. Social activities, team building and shared rewards can help to strengthen relationships and boost morale.
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Review workloads and staffing structures
Stress and burnout are common hazards for modern-day employers. Studies show that work-related stress has become more prevalent, with over 17 million working days lost in the UK alone in 2022/2023. Stress can hinder concentration, focus and cognitive performance while also affecting sleep quality, mood and motivation. If your employees experience high levels of stress, it’s important to be proactive in identifying triggers and causes and finding solutions. Review workloads, speak to your employees and listen to their concerns. If people are working too much, they have an unhealthy work-life balance or they feel overwhelmed due to high expectations or unrealistic demands, this can hamper productivity. If your employees can’t cope with the current workload, you may need to think about how you allocate work or manage projects and evaluate your staffing structure and rotas. If your business has grown, for example, you may need to hire extra employees or consider outsourcing.
Embrace technology
Technology is increasingly integral to the way businesses and teams operate. Embracing technology can improve productivity dramatically. You can use tech and tools to speed up processes, automate mundane, time-consuming tasks and facilitate stress-free, collaborative work and communication. By providing access to software, tools, devices, gadgets and machinery, employers can ensure that workers have the tools they need to do their jobs effectively. This can help minimise delays and disruptions, improve efficiency and boost team morale.
If you’re thinking about updating business technology, it’s always beneficial to undertake thorough research. See what other companies in your industry are using, learn more about how different technologies and tools work and focus on solutions that align with your business objectives.
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Outsource to free up time for critical jobs
Outsourcing involves working with third parties. It offers an alternative to hiring or asking employees to tackle jobs that don’t match their skill set or fit in with their schedules. One of the most advantageous aspects of outsourcing is freeing up time for critical tasks that underpin the smooth running of the business. If you own a medical practice, for example, you want your staff members to concentrate on providing treatment, supporting patients and delivering a positive experience to clients. If your receptionist is cleaning after their shift, or you have doctors or nurses trying to take care of marketing as well as running clinical operations, your team will suffer. You could hire additional employees but this is not the only option. Instead, you could work with a professional cleaning company and hire an experienced digital marketing agency. Outsourcing can help you access the skills and services you need, but crucially, it also enables your team to invest all their time and energy into the fundamental tasks that characterise their jobs.
If you are exploring the option of outsourcing activities, it’s important to choose the right businesses, agencies or individuals. Look for companies that have a proven track record and industry expertise and experience and compare quotes. Read verified reviews, look at case studies and data and get to know the people behind the business. Schedule meetings or calls, discuss your requirements in detail and see what kinds of packages and services are available.
Try to be more flexible
Flexibility is one of the most attractive incentives for employees. More and more people are looking for jobs and employers that actively encourage and facilitate flexible working. Remote working has become more popular and it’s also now more common for people to have flexible schedules, such as a 4-day week or flexibility outside of core working hours. A survey by researchers at the University of Birmingham Business School and the University of York showed that almost 60% of employers feel that flexibility increases employee productivity.
If you’re thinking of changing policies or working arrangements, it’s wise to communicate with your employees, ask for ideas and suggestions and take inspiration from successful companies. Research shows that the majority of UK businesses that took part in the world’s largest 4-day working week trial in 2022 were still using the model a year later.
Being more flexible in terms of location isn’t always possible, for example, some businesses cannot operate remotely, but there are often changes employers can make to increase flexibility. Employees may benefit from hybrid working, less rigid core working hours or different patterns of working, such as a certain number of days on and off per week or month. Research options and systems that suit your business and your team and consider running trials or test periods.
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Increasing employee productivity can have amazing benefits for business owners. If you run a company and you want to take the business to the next level and help your employees achieve more, there are many ways to supercharge productivity. Examples include getting to know your employees and understanding what motivates and matters to them, offering rewards and incentives and embracing new technology and tools. It’s also beneficial to review workloads, evaluate employee health and well-being, consider outsourcing and explore ways to be more flexible.
