Some of the most common issues within the workplace which can impact productivity include lack of communication, and poor performance management. Communication is a vital part of any business, but if you don’t have good communication with your employees, then they won’t feel like they are working for you. 

If you want to improve their morale, make sure that you communicate with them regularly. This can be done via email or text messages. You should also try to schedule regular meetings with each individual on your team.

This article looks at some of the most common employee management issues, and how you can improve employee productivity.

How To Recognize When Your Workplace Needs Work

What Is Employee Productivity?

Firstly, it is worth considering how you are defining productivity. This can allow you to adopt a new perspective when it comes to managing your employees. Taking a closer look at employee productivity is a great way to begin thinking about new ways of encouraging it within the workplace.

There are many definitions of employee productivity, but it is generally defined as maintaining an efficient and effective workplace. Using working hours constructively to produce more and better results in less time is the goal for many employers who are trying to improve productivity. 

How Do You Determine Productivity? 

One of the most important things to be aware of when determining productivity is that tasks should be measured rather than hours. It is a common belief in many organizations that productivity is determined by time. However, modern workplaces are recognizing that tasks can take different amounts of time in order to carry out properly.

Consider your business’ requirements, and the type of industry that you are operating within. While some workplaces are more appropriate to use time as a measure of productivity, such as factory industries and workshops, other fields of work have begun using task completion and regular monitoring in order to measure productivity.

Some workplaces also use a combined approach of time and task completion as a way of tracking productivity. This has been proven to be a highly effective way of monitoring whole teams as well as individual employees within the workplace, and it could be worth taking this approach when you are trying to promote productivity.

Most companies in the modern world use Human Resources Management Systems (HRMS), which have time-tracking software included. This has been made to keep track of every employee’s activities and encourage them to be more aware of the times of day that they are the most productive.

Using a more optimistic approach can put employees in control of their working days, and decide when they need to meet their goals and make the most out of their more productive periods during the day.

Some ways that you can adopt this approach if your industry is more focused on task completion rather than a particular time frame within the day include establishing a baseline for your employees. Think about how each person performs during a regular working day, when they get the most done, and what types of conditions they prefer individually.

Another thing to consider is carrying out a detailed survey from the employees and client, if appropriate. This can allow you to see whether certain tasks are more time sensitive, or if your employees have a little more flexibility to work on their own pattern.

Make sure you are monitoring absenteeism as well as presenteeism, and show your team that the quality of work should be made a priority over quantity per se. It is also worth taking a closer look into the culture that exists within the workplace, and whether this promotes productivity or not. This can allow you to make necessary adjustments if you think it is appropriate.

Ask Yourself The Following Questions

When you are trying to figure out a new approach to productivity, it is important that you are making the best decision for your workplace and the type of industry you are working in. Because there are so many variables involved when it comes to assessing and improving employee productivity, it is critical to consider certain questions.

Think about what the overall quality of work is like at the moment within your organization. This is an ideal way of setting a baseline measure on the whole, which can be used to motivate your team and hold certain employees accountable when necessary.

It is also worth asking yourself about certain absences within the company, and addressing these if there are many of these on a regular basis. The turnover is also extremely important when it comes to creating a more positive, productive work environment. It should be efficient and relatively smooth, but can be an area where overall task completion goes down consistently.

It is worth addressing this if it is an area which needs improvement. It may seem obvious, but you should also take a closer look into the variety of tasks which your employees are completing within certain deadlines.

Additionally, it is worth considering whether you are consciously checking employee wellness on a regular basis. This should be related to the overall working environment and the type of atmosphere which you have created within the office, factory, workshop, or store. 

15 Helpful Tips To Improving Employee Productivity

There are so many things that can influence employee productivity, that it is difficult to quantify. Because of this, we have outlined fifteen ways that you can boost productivity within the workplace. Consider starting positive and productive communication if this is something you struggle with.

Emphasize Company Culture 

Within the modern workplace, culture is often something that gets overlooked. This is because there are currently more people working from home than ever before, which means that employers tend to have less control over the way in which members of their team interact on a regular basis.

Consider the aspects that can contribute to company culture and how they can improve. These include ethics of the company, long and short term goals, and workplace. Of course, if you have a team that is mostly based from home, then it can be hard to create a positive company culture.

Because of this, it could be worth taking team building exercises and regular meet ups a little more seriously. This can be a great way of building rapport and positive employee relationships. Avoiding any type of hierarchies from emerging is widely considered an essential part of improving productivity across your team.

Encourage Employee Learning Opportunities

Another way of boosting productivity is by providing employee learning opportunities. Consider the type of things that your team are interested in, and what their long term career goals are.

If possible, you could source certain speakers or schedule an afternoon for information sharing within your team. This could be a great way to encourage your employees to improve their skill sets and develop their knowledge.

Not only that, but your team will feel like you have acknowledged their aspirations and encouraged them to progress during their time at the company. There is a great deal of evidence suggesting that providing employees with learning opportunities and the chance to continue in their education or improve their skills can increase productivity levels on the whole.

Not only will your team thank you for acknowledging their areas of interest and desire to learn, but it can create a better working environment with employees, which leads to a more productive team.

Keep Goals Clear 

Effective communication is essential in order to maintain a productive company where everybody feels valued. Make sure you are being clear about how a particular task directly impacts your company’s goals.

This is a great way to keep your team motivated and willing to do every task necessary. It is definitely worth adopting an open communication when it comes to small goals as well as larger ones, so that you can show all of your employees how their work is contributing to these.

Match Tasks To Skills

There is little point assigning certain tasks to employees with less background knowledge or experience handling them. It seems a little obvious, but it is worth giving tasks to certain employees based on their skill set. This can allow you to get to know each member of your team a little better and make sure their skills are being used to their full potential.

Not only can this lead to a more productive and efficient work environment, but your employees will feel more valued and listened to in the long run. It is also worth considering employees’ personality types, and where their strengths lie.

For example, more introverted people will not be able to engage in effective client interactions compared with a more extroverted employee. Make sure everybody is comfortable with their assigned tasks, and that each member feels valued and like they can use their existing skills while developing new ones.

Incentivize Employees

One of the biggest challenges that larger companies face comes from keeping employees motivated and willing to work towards their goals. It can be easy to do when you are managing a larger team on the whole, but it is essential to incentivize your employees when possible.

Showing them that their hard work is valued by giving them bonuses if certain targets are met is a great way of encouraging them to keep working hard. Consider what type of thing you think your employees would value, and how you can say ‘thank you’ for their hard work.

Some companies offer ‘lazy Monday’ coupons which allow employees to come in late on a particular Monday when cashed in. Others provide a gift card, handwritten notes, or extra paid days off if possible.

Whatever works for you, it is a great idea to reward hard work which your employees have done. This encourages them to complete more tasks in productive and efficient ways in the future.

Provide The Right Technology 

There are a surprising number of companies that do not have up-to-date technology. This can limit employees’ productivity because of slow software updates, inefficient processes which could be made much smoother, and even have a negative impact on the workplace culture.

Consider how old your current technology is and think about updating it if necessary. Additionally, you should make sure that every member of your team has the appropriate technology in order to carry out their job to a high standard. This makes them feel heard, and it can promote productivity by making certain tasks easier and more straightforward.

This is also necessary if your company works within the tech industry. Using outdated equipment or technology can be an inefficient use of company money. This is because there is little point giving advice to customers which is not actually being used by employees.

Feedback Is Important

Keep your entire team informed about how their productivity could be improved and the steps you are planning to take. They will not know that their productivity needs work unless they are kept in the loop.

Most companies engage in regular performance reviews, which are a useful way of informing employees about areas which need improvement. You could also call them in for smaller scale meetings, which can be used to address their needs and long term goals.

Consider everybody’s opinion when you are thinking about making certain changes to the workplace, because it could hinder someone’s ability to remain focused and on-task. It is also critical to acknowledge that you are not perfect, and asking your employees during these meetings or at the end of their performance review how you can improve.

This is a great way to promote an open dialogue within your team and encourage them to express their opinions honestly within a safe environment.

Strengthen Communications

One of the most important things you can do is to promote effective communication between different departments, and between you and your employees. It is much more likely that your business will have an issue with productivity in the long run if you are not promoting open communication across the board.

Even if this involves handling smaller scale issues such as a particular software issue, communication is key. A big reason why some companies will struggle to engage in constructive dialogue on a regular basis is if the manager is less approachable.

Because of this, it is important that you come across as easy to talk to and a figure that your employees can schedule any type of conversation with. Even if they are having issues at home, make sure they know that they can talk to you about anything.

Embrace A Hybrid Work Environment

A key feature which is becoming more popular within the modern workplace is flexibility, and it can be useful to be a little more flexible when it comes to productivity. Some employees prefer working from their home offices, while others are more productive at company headquarters.

Try to give employees the option if your industry allows them to work from home, because they are more likely to feel heard when they can work at a time that suits them a little more. For example, if someone needs to wait at home for a delivery slot, then they shouldn’t necessarily need to take a day off for it when they can work from home that day.

Hybrid work environments are a great way of improving productivity on the whole. This is because employees can easily explore their options and figure out what kind of work environment or time of day they are most productive within.

Spread Tasks Evenly

It is easy to give more tasks to the more experienced members of your team, and leave very little for the new recruits. However, it is worth maintaining an even spread of tasks during the regular working day. This can greatly reduce the risks of burnout within your employees caused by pushing themselves too hard.

Additionally, certain members of your team should not be compensating for lazier individuals who do not want to engage in heavier workloads. Consider implementing a more reliable system which assigns tasks to each member of the team evenly while still assigning certain tasks based on their skill set.

Spreading tasks evenly is also a great way to encourage your employees to focus on quality rather than quantity when it comes to productivity. It also reduces the strain placed on certain individuals, and can outline employees who are not working as well as others.

Create Team Strategies And Focus On Them

Encourage all members of your team to work together in order to achieve company goals. This can allow every employee to see how every task comes together and contributes to larger concepts. Developing team strategies can allow everyone to appreciate the importance of each task, and evenly distribute certain projects.

Additionally, it can be useful to encourage team members to split up workloads and share tasks. Team strategies can also allow your employees to outline areas that need improvement and focus on making everybody feel valued. In turn, this can lead to a boost in productivity within the company as a whole.

Focus On The Big Picture

Think about what type of things your company stands for, and try to relate your current approach to that. It is worth focusing on the big picture in order to make the best decisions for your company in the long run.

For example, implementing a more efficient HR system could save a great deal of time and effort later down the line. Remember that short term loss can lead to long term gains, and it is worth putting things in motion for the benefit of your company and your staff in the future.

Create Clear Workflows And Processes

Showing your team how you can track progress and monitor productivity can be a great way of holding them accountable. If your current workflow is not generating the best outcome, then it could be a sign to take a closer look at it.

Many companies are guilty of certain bottlenecks and inefficiencies which need to be addressed in order to speed up the process and boost productivity. One way of optimizing your workflow could be to make it more efficient and automate a great deal of processes.

This can save company time and allow employees to focus on more important tasks during their working day. Certain members of the HR team as well as tech support will be able to use their time more efficiently when these processes are optimized.

Encourage Health And Wellbeing Practices

Another factor which is often overlooked is the promotion of health and wellbeing practices within the workplace. Studies have shown that taking your employee’s health into account and encouraging wellness exercises such as meditation can actually cause an increase in productivity.

Not only can promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyles lead to more productive employees, but it can improve their mental health as a whole and outlook on life. Consider boosting healthy diets and even setting up a discounted gym membership for your employees if possible.

Spread Appreciation And Recognition Frequently

Regular communication doesn’t have to just be about criticism and negative feedback. Try to promote positivity by acknowledging certain departments or employees that are working especially well.

Showing your team appreciation on a regular basis is a great way to create a sense of respect and gratitude within the workplace. It can also lead to a more productive team on the whole, because employees are more likely to be in a positive headspace when their hard work is being recognized.

A little positive praise goes a long way, and a lack of recognition is one of the most common reasons why employees leave their jobs. Try to create a positive environment for everyone in your team by showing appreciation consistently. 

Benefits Of A Positive Workplace

One of the best ways to boost productivity is to focus on creating a positive workplace. There are so many benefits to this that it can be hard to quantify. Happier employees who feel valued are more likely to engage in work and give 100% of their focus on a regular day.

Knowing that their colleagues are supportive of them and that open communication is encouraged allows employees to share their issues and ask for help when needed. These are some of the main benefits that a positive workplace can do for your company.

Enhances Creativity And Innovation

By promoting a more positive work environment, you are encouraging employees to be themselves a little more. They are more likely to feel valued and willing to contribute during staff meetings. This can lead to an increase in creative and innovative suggestions.

If more employees are engaging in regular meetings, then a wider range of ideas can be brainstormed on a regular basis. This can allow more perspectives to be explored and considered. Practicing a more positive workplace has also been proven to create a more flexible stance that companies use when interacting with customers and clients.

This allows your company to adapt to customer preferences a little easier and adjust with the changing times. In turn, this can help contribute towards a more secure future for your company as well as employees.

Employees Are Happier

Happier employees are generally healthier and more likely to take pride in their work. Creating a positive work environment can make each day a little easier, because employees are more likely to feel comfortable and able to focus on their daily tasks.

Happy workers also have a higher chance of offering an optimistic outlook and fully contributing to meetings, their role, and the company as a whole. Being able to celebrate the good and the bad with supportive members of the team is a great feeling, and many people enjoy the increased sense of morale that comes with a positive work environment.

Communication Is Better

Creating a working environment where employees feel valued and listened to can lead to better communication between team members and across departments. It is worth making every effort to create a comfortable, safe environment for everybody to work well within.

This can actually lead to more consistent communication because employees are more likely to be open and honest about their issues and concerns when they are comfortable within the workplace.

Getting better communication within the workplace is a great way to address any challenges or setbacks that your company may have faced. It is a useful tool to have when it comes to discussing the good and the bad. This is because your employees will find it much easier to approach you and tell you what’s going on if they know that you are a calm person who is easy to talk to.

It can be useful to maintain good communication if you want to know what a particular employee is going through or what could be bugging them and therefore limiting their productivity.

Lower Rates Of Burnout

Another reason why you should begin working towards a more positive workplace is to avoid employee burnout. This is more likely to happen in working environments which are not nurturing and have a negative impact on productivity.

Make sure you are maintaining positive interactions with everyone who works for you on a regular basis so that they feel supported and valued. This is a simple yet effective way to boost employee morale and reduce the chances of burnout significantly.

Creating a healthy, positive environment can actually make employees feel more confident in themselves and their jobs. This can lead to a greater resistance to stressful situations within the workplace, and more resilience in general.

Knowing that coworkers or members of staff higher up in the organization are more than happy to help when they need them is a huge reassurance during stressful times at work. Try to create a positive atmosphere within the workplace in order to encourage employees to support each other when needed. This can lead to more open communication in the long run. 

Summary

There are many ways that you can tackle employee productivity, depending on the type of environment you are working in and the size of your company. It is worth taking a look at employee performance in general before considering the changes which you can make.

Some of the suggestions above are just that, and you may find that these are not necessary for you and your organization. It is, however, worth taking a closer look at the communication that you have with your employees and deciding if it needs to be improved.

Creating a positive working environment is never a bad idea, and it can be incredibly rewarding as well as beneficial to create a bond with your employees over time. There is definitely a sense of respect, which can lead to a boost in productivity on the whole.

There are a surprising number of factors that can influence employee productivity. These include support systems, quality of communication including the amount of feedback received, and the amount of strain placed on certain workers throughout the day.

It is undoubtedly worth thinking about creating a more positive environment in order to boost employee morale and increase motivation. Productivity can increase as a result of this over time.

Remember that there is little point making some of the above changes unless you are willing to stick to them. This is because the real benefits of these adjustments will be seen over longer periods of time. Creating a healthy working environment isn’t something which is achieved overnight. Certain habits need to be challenged and adjusted over time in order to truly be nurturing and positive with all employees.