Employee productivity has soared and waned over the past two years. During the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, when most workers operated from home, this increased as people adjusted to a new environment. However, as experts predicted, productivity has declined in the most recent quarters of 2021.
So, what can be done to kick things back into gear again? Here are a few ways to improve productivity among your employees.
Incentivize With Awards
Awards are a physical way to thank employees who take a step beyond what you require of them. It goes beyond an email thank you or a certificate. Custom awards in the shape of your company logo with their name embossed on the base reveal how you take extra steps to honor them.
Look for online or physical stores where you can create a variety of customized awards. Utilizing acrylics, designers mold it to your precise needs. The result will be something that reflects your organization’s mission and how important your employees are to make it happen.
Encourage Additional Learning
Stagnation is a huge problem in the workplace. Employees feel like they do the same things each day without a sense of moving forward. Soon enough, they lower their productivity. After all, why should they make an effort if nothing comes from it?
Minimize this feeling through the encouragement of additional learning. This isn’t only standard training required by the state and federal governments. It’s an education in something else that interests them in the company. Speak to them directly or have their managers let you know what they’d like to learn. Then, create programs to help them take the next steps toward their success.
Implement Agile Methodology
Originally implemented within the information technology (IT) sector, agile methodology is now useful across all industries. Generally, its concepts encourage involvement within a company culture. Furthermore, it helps establish success through smaller achievable goals.
Basically, agile coaches want everyone to be involved in a project. It doesn’t matter how minor their idea is, it’s immediately taken into consideration. If it doesn’t work out, the individual is asked to participate in another aspect of the assignment. As a result, they feel that they contributed something to its completion regardless of its size.
Enhance Regular Communications
One situation that decreases employee productivity is a lack of regular communication. Whether they’re in the office or working remotely, when you and your management rarely speak to your workers they feel ignored. In turn, they reduce their productivity due to anger or isolation.
Simple tools fix this. Instant message applications allow your employees to interact with each other as well as their supervisors. Video conferences give them a chance to see each other when they aren’t in the office.
On top of this, make sure you and your team maintain an “open door” policy. This makes your workers feel like someone will listen to their ideas and issues.
Set Achievable Goals
Your workers become more willing to complete projects on time when you set achievable goals. This doesn’t mean you create plans that undermine their knowledge. It should be challenging enough so your employee uses what they know or research something to come up with the solution.
Never design these goals with an if … then circumstance. There should never be a threat of punishment related to a project. This doesn’t increase their productivity. If anything, it causes your employee to make mistakes in an attempt to finish before or at the deadline.
Invest In Technology
Your employees won’t be productive if they work on old technology. When they run into constant delays due to the lack of storage or processing, then they stop. Or they spend their time finding ways to keep the technology running to finish their own project.
What you need to do is invest in modern technology. Move your operations to the Cloud and upgrade computers and mobile devices. Consider implementing applications like enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages that consolidate information into one unit for everyone to see. Allow them to work on their items through both their laptop and mobile device.
This list is only a small number of ways to improve productivity among your employees. If you feel that their interest is waning, then implement these immediately. Adjust the operations to enhance worker productivity.