Seven Methods to Improve Staff Productivity

It’s often said that the company is only as good as its employees. This is true, but it’s only the half the story. The company should always strive to get the most out of its employees by creating the atmosphere that fosters productivity and collaboration.

This is only partly about money and bonuses. It’s mostly about making your employees feel appreciated and a part of a team that values their strengths and talents.

Match tasks to skills

The first thing every manager needs to deal with is how to delegate the right task to the right employee. This is an especially difficult task in a small company that has limited resources and almost all employees need to pitch in on all positions. This often means that the strengths of various employees aren’t being utilized properly. It isn’t only bad for productivity but for morale as well.

Research shows that revenue is directly correlated to the allocation of labor. The only way to accomplish this is to know your employees and to focus on what they could bring to your company. Specializations such as this may take longer and be more expensive, but they’re a more productive way to go in the long run.

Communicate effectively

Every business owner knows that time is the most important resource. Most of the time is wasted because the team in your company isn’t communicating effectively. It’s your job to set up clear communication channels and to allow the employees to contribute to the process in an open and fair way.

It’s also of great importance to prepare for possible conflicts, because there are going to be some. The company should be a platform where everyone can express their problems and concerns. That’s the only way to discuss issues that might arise among coworkers.

PREMIUM CONTENT: North America Staffing Company Survey 2017: Which types of training for internal staff have the highest return?

Keep goals clear and focused

The biggest confusion within a company probably comes from not having clear goals for the employees. This happens when goals are too broad and thus the employee is left on their own to choose how much to do and when to do it. However, a problem could also arise by making the goals too specific and hand-holding the employee too much.

According to one study, workers can be up to 15% more productive if they have a clear task delegated to them. This process should be prepared in advance and carefully studied.

Cut out the excess

One of the most important pieces of productivity advice out there is to limit the number of tasks you do per day. Employees often have one or two really important things to do on any particular day and lots of smaller and mundane tasks.

These less important tasks take their toll and waste a lot of time. Try to avoid assigning less important tasks on the days when there’s real work to be done. It’s probably best to assign a particular day or week to deal with less important projects.

Train and develop employees

A lot of companies are afraid of providing their employees with in-house training and development. They believe it’s an expensive proposition and there’s a good chance the employee will leave the company after they’ve acquired the skills needed to move on.

That’s a mistake, research shows that providing employees with proper training affects both their productivity and overall job satisfaction. It might even have the opposite effect and make the employee more loyal to the company by making them feel like a part of a team.

Provide proper equipment

Companies are relying on having the right equipment and tech more than ever. This is one area where you can’t lag behind or you’re going to get crushed. There are ways to accomplish this if you’re just starting out, like renting or sharing equipment before you get on your feet.

When this is the case, you must try to personalize the computers for each employee. Setting up a unique infrastructure for your organization as a part of your IT-cloud solution  will allow each of the users to keep track of their data. This is especially important if it’s sensitive and confidential.

Collect feedback

In the end, try to collect feedback from your employees about the state of affairs within the company. These types of reviews are very important to get a feel for how employees are working in a team and how to improve this facet of their working experience. It also helps the company reward those employees that really deserve it.

Don’t hesitate to give rewards when they are due. They don’t always have to be in the form of bonuses; sometimes a pep talk and a handshake are all that it takes.

There are ways to improve staff productivity without breaking the bank. All you need to do is to understand your business and your employees and to match one with the other.

MORE: 3 Reasons to Rehire Former Employees

Oscar Waterworth

Oscar Waterworth
Oscar Waterworth is a writer from Sydney and senior editor at Bizzmarkblog. By working with product development teams for almost a decade, he has gained insight on remote team management and project operations in the startup sphere. To stay updated with his latest posts, follow him on Twitter.

Oscar Waterworth

Share This Post

Tweet

Related Articles

Powered by staffingindustry.com ·