A business can have a great concept, sell a fantastic product that consumers want and still end up failing. While there can be many culprits that lead to a company’s eventual demise, very often you can trace the original problems back to an unproductive workforce.
If employees hate doing their job, the efficiency of the entire operation will take a hit. That will lead to profits disappearing. Those workers may also end up leaving the company. Employe turnover costs companies $11 billion a year.
With this in mind, you need to know what causes employees to lose productivity so you can increase the efficiency of your workforce and lower the possibility of turnover. Here are five tips that can help.
1. Track Employee Internet Use at Work
While it may seem invasive, and it somewhat is, tracking your employees’ internet and computer use while on the job is one way to enforce productivity in the office. Of all the time wasters employees use in place of completing work, surfing the internet and checking social media updates is certainly near the top of the list.
An article by the Telegraph states that the average employee wastes 759 hours at work each year due to distractions. While employees should have some degree of privacy, that needs to be balanced against allowing them to waste your money.
2. Give Employees’ Feedback
The lack of proper feedback from management is one thing that can lead to an unproductive office. If employees don’t think their effort matters, they are certainly much more likely to not even bother working hard at all. You can’t blame them really. In such cases, management may not actually care what they’re doing with the company’s time.
Instead, there should be direct communication between supervisors and employees regarding their performance. When they do something wrong, they should know. They should also know when they do something well. It should be an appropriate mix of positive and negative feedback depending on the situation.
3. Consider Allowing Employees to Telecommute
It may seem counterintuitive that allowing employees to telecommute could increase productivity. When employees telecommute, you of course are giving up direct physical supervision of those workers.
However, this is not the case according to research. Statistics state that employees that telecommute tend to be 13 percent more productive than employees who always work from an office. Employees may be more productive in a space they own. They’re also more likely to work through illness instead of taking sick days. Commuting itself also requires a lot of effort that could be spent working instead.
4. Track Productivity with Software
If you want a more concrete solution for tracking worker productivity to insure you are reaching peak efficiency, you should probably consider investing in software that can help you achieve that goal.
One good choice is installing a workflow management system. This is software that can actually allow you to track workflow in real time. If you run a factory, for example, you can use this software to pinpoint exactly what components of the production line workflow are negatively affecting efficiency. If it is a single employee, you will know.
5. Set Clear Goals
If you want a productive workplace, workers need to know what goals they’re striving towards. They should know the specific benchmarks for success. However, if you don’t provide clear goals for employees, it is doubtful they will put in as much effort. As with any game, you work harder when you know how to win. The same can hold true for the workplace. Workers will put in extra effort to make sure they achieve specific goals.
Worker productivity is extremely important. If productivity is poor in the office or other places within your company, it can create a substantive drag on profits. Make sure you keep tabs on worker productivity and institute policies that are conducive to a productive and efficient workplace. The company will benefit as a whole.
