DELICIOUS
SU
REDDITAre your employees wandering around the workplace like a mob of caffeine-deprived zombies? Do they aimlessly swipe at their keyboards before taking a long snooze on their desks? Has your company’s productivity hit rock bottom?
If you’re nodding glumly at all of the above, your business is ready for a corporate shakeup.
Of course, in a world of hyper-connectivity, today’s workers enjoy access to a constant tide of information, which means checking Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn or BuzzFeed can often get in the way of a hard day’s graft.
But short of spiking the water cooler with Red Bull or smacking your staff with whips (we’re joking, of course), it’s important to have a plan in place to boost employee productivity and make sure your firm’s bottom line doesn’t suffer any longer.
Here’s how …
1. Improve Engagement Levels
Research has found employees with low engagement levels will take an average 6.19 sick days per year, which is very different from the 2.69 days taken by employees with far higher engagement. Indeed, experts reckon low levels of engagement are costing the UK economy up to £64bn per year.
However, an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) offers a cost effective solution, as it provides counselling and advice to workers, not to mention the ability to match suitable childcare or eldercare. All of this, of course, will lead to a happier, more focused workforce.
2. Set Your Employees Targets
An employee without a defined set of targets is likely to plod along, happy (at least for a while) in their blissful ignorance and their, on the face of it, easy ride – but eventually they’ll become disengaged with their workload due to the absence of a clear career road map.
Consequently, try to set your workforce realistic targets; targets that are challenging but not out of reach. Set them too low and your employees will get bored, but set them too high and you run the risk of alienating and burning out your staff.
3. Encourage Teamwork
It’s hardly a secret that all teams need to be pulling together in order to achieve a common goal. This synergy will go a long way to improving the overall productivity of your outfit, so it’s important to encourage teamwork wherever possible.
Not only will it bring out the best in your workforce, teamwork will allow you to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of your employees, offering valuable insight into areas of the business where those particular skills may be of more benefit.
Admittedly, there are many more ways a business can boost employee productivity, so let us know what you think by leaving your own tips in the comments below – we’d love to hear from you.
