For any business, your employees are a central component of the success of your company. Happy employees make productive employees, and productive employees mean the whole company achieves its goals quicker. As a HR manager or recruiter, it may fall to you to assess exactly how to boost office productivity in the workplace. While a lot of this lies in making your employees comfortable and happy, there are some things you can do to see an instant boost in overall productivity. We’ve covered those things here:
- Ensure Your Team Has The Right Tools
A productive team is a well-prepared team. Make sure you know what tools your team needs to be able to perform their job efficient;y and to a high standard at all times and that adequate funding is provided for these tools to be sourced.
For example, this could be simple ergonomic considerations such as comfortable and supportive office chairs, to providing multiple screens for a split screen function, or up-to-date software for IT-related roles.
- Reduce Distractions
As the employer, your priority should be assessing the workplace and identifying possible distractions that could be harming office productivity. Workplace distractions can be a huge reason productivity is lower than it should be, so this is definitely an area you should think about addressing.
For example:
– Could your existing email system be overwhelming and distracting employees?
– Are meetings taking place too frequently (and often unnecessarily), interrupting employees’ days?
– Is the noise level in the office too high?
– Could social media and the internet be causing a distraction for some?
– Is the workplace cluttered and a little chaotic?
There is a fine line between helping your employees and taking away their autonomy – but it’s well worth considering if there are any aspects of the workplace that may actually positively affect the office as a whole if you address them.
- Consider How You Could Improve Workplace Conditions
A pleasant workplace is absolutely going to boost office productivity – after all, it’s not easy to focus when you’re surrounded by mess and clutter.
Analyse your office’s conditions and think about what changes you could make to improve it. Things you could consider improving to help boost office productivity could include:
- Adding partitions for reduced noise levels and added privacy
- Creating more seating areas for employees who struggle to be productive working in the same place all day
- Adding in some interesting artwork to spark creativity
- Consider adding some games (online games to help creative thinking can be great, but so can things like pool or tabletop football, for example) for employees to blow off some steam on their breaks
- Offer Support & Incentives
Do your employees need clearer goals in order to stay on-track? It can be hard to measure productivity if your line-managers have no real way to actually track their employees’ progress.
Creating goals and incentives can be a great way of boosting employees productivity – just be sure to offer support where it’s needed to avoid adding too much pressure and instead keeping the goals as something to aim for rather than a deadline that they’ll be penalised for not meeting.
- Focus On Improving The Company Culture
A positive, friendly company culture is essential for cultivating a productive workplace. Happy employees are more productive, more creative, and much less likely to quit – so a great company culture should be a key priority for any employer.
Ways of ensuring your employees are happy could include regular team-bonding activities and days out, hosting social nights, offering extra perks like gym memberships and discounts in the local area, rewarding and recognising the efforts of your employees, providing generous holiday allowance etc.
These extra perks are cheaper in the long-run than simply giving all of your employees a raise – but make a big difference in boosting company morale and productivity.
- Provide Training Where Necessary
Anyone can begin to stagnate in their role if they’ve been idling in the same place for a while. Offering additional training and the option for your employees to widen their skillset is a great way to make sure your employee stays engaged and interested in their role – and that you are getting the most out of your staff without the risk of them looking for greener pastures elsewhere.
- Encourage Employees To Be Autonomous
Some managers may think that they are doing the best thing by removing each and every potential disruption to employee productivity in the office – things such as unlimited internet access to social media etc, coffee break areas, flexible working hours etc.
However, this approach can be stifling. Giving your employees more freedom over their work can have a huge impact on productivity, so avoid the urge to micro-manage every aspect of their job with you. Giving your employees more freedom to choose where and when they work may sound like a risk, but often pays off – with happy, productive employees who are trusted to know when they work best and when they’ll deliver the best results.
- Communicate Company Goals, Plans, and Targets Clearly
Make sure your employees are a part of the bigger picture. Communicate your company goals, plans, and targets for each quarter clearly, and demonstrate how the work each employee is doing is a vital part of achieving these goals.
People like to be a part of something, and are far more likely to be their most productive selves when working towards a collective goal that is actively contributing to the company’s success.
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At the end of the day, your employees’ happiness should be a top priority. Unhappy employees simply are not going to achieve the same results as someone working in a role with a fantastic company culture and great perks.
Focus on happiness first, and productivity will follow!
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