Improving employee productivity and employee performance

Each company benefits from improving their employee productivity levels, but often struggle to reach the level of productivity without the use of a productivity improvement strategy.

Productivity improvement strategy

Correct use of your HR department and outsourced HR support solutions will help you engage your employees and improve productivity levels across the business.

10 proven productivity improvement strategies

1. Offer incentives for employee performance and improved productivity

   Especially in an environment where work is repetitive and simple incentive schemes have been proven to be very influential on the employee productivity levels.
   Incentives should be clearly communicated to the team and should be achievable by all team members equally.

   The key performance indicators(KPIs) used should be an indicator of the individuals or teams’ performance and shouldn’t be able to be significantly influenced by external circumstances. This could cause staff members to lose out on incentives when it was outside of their control, causing frustration and a feeling of loss.

2. Clearly communicate individual, team and organisational goals

   Each individual needs to understand fully what they and their team are working towards.

   Without clearly defined goals staff members can think they are doing well, however failing to meet their objectives. Another effect of ambiguous goals is that different managers will have different visions of what needs to be done, leaving team members confused by getting different or even conflicting instructions.

3. Provide constructive feedback and support to improve employee productivity

   Everyone needs feedback to improve performance and mend mistakes. The way in which you give feedback to your staff can either cause great improvement in staff productivity or be detrimental to your staffs’ performance and engagement.

   Giving constructive feedback helps the employee improve, using the tools, support and recommendations given. Giving negative feedback without any advice how to improve could leave the employee feel reprehended.

   Without the tools or support to improve their productivity levels, it could further leave the employee feeling demotivated and undervalued.

   

4. Provide training and development opportunities

   Each job becomes repetitive over time. To help employees show consistent growth and maintain motivated leadership can offer training and development opportunities internally, improving productivity and employee engagement levels.

   Your business can benefit further to employees who give training to more junior colleagues, helping both the trainer and trainee develop their skills.

5. Provide growth opportunities

   Providing growth opportunities are as much of an incentive as financial incentive and will likely have an equal positive impact on your employee productivity levels.

6. Respect your employees and their work

   It seems straightforward but its often an issue for lower level employees in large organisations. Employees feeling more like a number than a person and as a simple, easily replaceable extension of their machines.

7. Praise and reward hard work and high productivity levels

   Employees that work hard and reach good results will feel better about their efforts if their achievements are recognised and praised.

   Motivate your employees and continue to improve their productivity levels by recognising the work they have done.  Employees that feel like there is no difference between hard work and minimum effort won’t maintain their levels of productivity for long.

8. Promote a positive and healthy work environment

   Walking into work in the morning with a good feeling makes all the difference. Employees should feel positive about coming into work. Furthermore, its important they feel physically comfortable in their working area.

   For example, in an office you would make sure the temperature is average, good supporting office chairs are available and computer screens are at the correct height to avoid uncomfortable working positions.

   

9. Minimise interruptions to improve productivity

   Constant interruptions can have a detrimental effect on your employee productivity levels. Interruptions include for example:

   • Others talking loudly
   • Noises from outside
   • Phones ringing without answering
   • Employees constantly interrupting one another without good reason

10. Minimise meetings with little value

    Holding meetings for the sake of meetings is not productive. Weekly and daily meetings could negatively affect productivity. Create a meeting structure and set clear goals for each meeting.

    Create a meeting structure and set clear goals for each meeting and only hold meetings when they make sense to do so. Holding a meeting when most of the topics are not relevant or new to attendees can be a waste. Furthermore, meetings should result in an action plan for the attendees. It is the responsibility of leadership to monitor and follow up on these actions.