Employees are the backbone of any business, and unless your staff is productive, your business will suffer. The key to workplace productivity is your employees’ engagement – Harvard Business Review even referenced it as the holy grail of today’s workplace.
However, when it comes to engagement rates, statistics are quite shocking: only 15% of employees worldwide feel engaged with their work, while the others are just slacking off. It seems that businesses are not doing their part to motivate their staff to feel passionate about their work, committed to the company’s goals, and happy in the workplace.
If you’re out of ideas on how to boost your employees’ productivity and positively influence your company’s bottom line, here are a few methods you can try implementing.
Boost Their Morale
We can see how vital employee engagement is even through the fact that teams with higher engagement rates are 21% more productive.
A decent salary, attractive benefits, and perks do matter, but they’re not crucial for engagement. Employee engagement is, in essence, the emotional connection employees have with the organization they’re working at. When they feel engaged, they care for the company, and they want to contribute to its success. You can facilitate this through meaningful relationships that are formed in the workplace and an organizational culture that supports its staff to achieve excellence.
Boost your employees’ morale by providing timely and adequate feedback on their performance, recognizing their accomplishments, and praising them for well-done work. When your staff feels that the organization acknowledges all their effort, they will know that their actions matter and will be happy to do their best.
Effective Communication
Open and effective communication is another crucial factor for workplace productivity. Responsibilities and expectations should be clear to each one of your employees, but they also need to feel free to express their ideas and concerns and be taken seriously.
Listen to your employees and discuss all the issues with them. Treat them as equals and be transparent about any plans. This way, all the possible workplace problems will be out there, in the open, and won’t lead to negativity and loss of productivity. This way of communication in your workplace will improve your employees’ motivation and productivity.
Ensure Your Employees Are Happy in the Workplace
Your employees will be more productive if they work in a pleasant environment, where they can focus, and at the same time, feel comfortable.
Here are a couple of hints on the changes you can bring into your office space, ensuring your employees are happy at work:
Consider adding standing or kneeling desks, as well as stools and benches in your office space.
Have free fruit and snacks, and a bean-to-cup machine so that your employees can have a decent espresso when they need extra energy to keep up with their hard work.
Create quiet spaces that your employees can use when they shouldn’t be interrupted – some studies show that the average person needs 23 minutes to get back to their task when they’re interrupted.
Make a nap room for your employees. An energizing 20-minute nap break, when they need it the most, will do wonders for productivity.
Bring some low-maintenance plants into offices as they’re said to improve productivity by 15%.
Include wellness stipends in your benefits offering. These kind of benefits help employees cover healthy living and wellness-related expenses like getting the physical and mental health they might need to achieve a great work-life balance. Find out more with Benepass’s wellness stipend guide.
Have a “bring your pet day” once a week
Each one of these perks will increase your employees’ job satisfaction and overall workplace mood and have a positive impact on their productivity.
Have the Right Tools and Equipment
Your employees will hardly be efficient if your company doesn’t provide them with the right tools and equipment to perform their tasks effectively.
When it comes to the tools, take advantage of modern platforms and applications that are available. Various cloud-based and project management solutions can make your work process run smoothly. In addition, automation tools like an advanced calendar integration app for example, can take a significant burden off your employees’ shoulders, saving their time and energy to focus on meaningful and vital tasks.
Be Flexible
Your employees will be more satisfied with their job and consequently more productive if you allow them to work flexible hours, as well as give them an option to work from home occasionally.
We all have a different biological prime time – hours during the day when we’re most productive. By giving your employees a chance to adapt to their own rhythm, they’ll be working during their peak hours and be more efficient.
If it’s possible in your company, remote work should also be an option. Your employees will be relieved from the stress of commuting and more satisfied, all of which will increase their performance.
Avoid Unnecessary Meetings
To boost the productivity of your employees, forget about the unnecessary meetings.
According to Atlassian, an average employee attends 62 meetings within a month. Half of the time they spend on meetings is entirely unproductive – 91% admitted to daydreaming, while 39% even slept during the meetings.
And the truth is, you can replace most of the meetings with an email.
Reduce the number of meetings by holding only the necessary ones. When a meeting is unavoidable, plan its duration and keep it below 30 minutes. Also, limit the number of attendees to only the ones that need to be present.
Bottom Line
Consider the tips above, and find the ones that you can apply. Every step towards increasing the engagement and motivation of your employees will result in a productivity boost. As a result, you’ll foster a thriving work environment and improve your bottom line.
