Low productivity levels continue to affect businesses across the world each day. Employees become unmotivated and disengaged with their work, and as a result, this affects profitability.
Luckily, there are a few crucial steps that all business owners can follow to help revive their business and re-engage their employees. This article will show you how.
Set Realistic Expectations In Place
It has become apparent that many employees feel stressed about the level of work they are assigned. Research shows that 54% of the general workforce feels overworked. A figure that is shockingly high. Stressed employees are less likely to be productive, so what’s the solution? As a business owner, you should make it your duty to put realistic expectations in place. Start by setting daily/weekly goals for your teams and avoid setting them up to fail by giving them too many tasks at one time.
To help you with this, it is recommended that you hold regular meetings with your department managers. They can give you a clear idea of how long specific tasks take to complete. This will help you develop better deadlines that will take pressure off your employees. Once your employees are comfortable with the amount of work you will have to do, you will see an increase in productivity levels.
Minimize Distractions
Distractions can be hugely damaging to productivity levels in the office. Are your staff constantly on the phone? Or maybe there’s a lot of chatting in the office. Although you want your team to work collaboratively, you don’t want time to be wasted on distractions. As a business owner, you need to be vigilant. Ensure that your department managers are observing their teams. Are there two colleagues who are chatting too often? Try rearranging their desks – so they are further apart.
Meetings can also be a huge distraction, especially if they are conducted in the corner of the office. Instead, it would help if you had dedicated rooms for meetings, so no one in the surrounding areas is distracted by noise. Some offices decide to have music playing in the background throughout the day. Conduct an anonymous questionnaire to find out if employees enjoy this or see it as a distraction. It will help you implement necessary changes to help boost productivity levels.
Re-Vamp Your Office Layout
Are you tired of your drab, old office space? If you are, it is likely that your employees are too. If you want your employees to feel excited about coming to work, it’s time to re-vamp your layout. It’s time to say goodbye to cramped desk spaces and grey walls. Instead, try to inject some creativity into the room. Why not be bold and use a bright color palette throughout? Research color theory to find out which colors represent happiness and professionalism. You want your office layout to inspire your employees. This will help them feel more motivated, which will positively affect productivity levels.
If you need some guidance on choosing the best layout for your office, take a look at this article from Branch Furniture. They delve into the importance of changing your layout and give you examples to help inspire you. It’s time to get your employees excited about coming to work. A creative workspace is certainly something that can help with this.
Reward Hard Work
Do your employees have any incentives to work hard? Although you don’t need to hand out rewards each day, it can be a good idea to have an employee rewards system in place. For example, if your team hits their monthly sales target, you could treat them to a work lunch. Employees want to feel appreciated by the company that they work for. By rewarding hard work, you are helping to motivate your employees, which will positively affect productivity levels. If too many employees feel unappreciated by their place of work, they are likely to look for a job elsewhere which will also affect your retention score.
Rewarding your employees doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money. After all, not all businesses have the funds to set up an expensive program. Instead, there are plenty of low-cost ways to reward employees. It is recommended that you conduct some online research to seek inspiration. Most of the time, even a simple “thank you” can go a long way.
Automate Business Processes
It’s time to minimize the need to complete mundane office tasks. Document filing is one of those admin tasks that can certainly demotivate your employees. This is where automation can help your business. It is a process that involves the introduction of technology into the workplace to reduce human intervention across different aspects of business operations. This doesn’t put your employees out of a job. Instead, it frees up their time so they can focus on other areas of the business that need it.
There are many areas of your business where you can use automation. Some include sales, manufacturing, emails, and accounts, to name a few. Take a look at some top tips online to help you get started. No employee wants to complete mundane tasks each day. It can affect their motivation which negatively reflects productivity levels. By using automation, you can help make your employees’ daily tasks a lot more manageable.
Make Sure Your Team Take Breaks
Tired employees who feel burnt out at work will not help boost productivity levels. Therefore, you must prioritize employee well-being. Are your team taking their breaks? Are they feeling stressed about an upcoming task? Your employees must know they can talk to you if they are worried about their work. Research has shown that 52% of all workers are feeling burnt out. Avoid falling into this statistic by implementing an open-door policy. It lets your employees know that they can come to you if they feel stressed. Instead of bottling it up, you can work together to overcome these negative feelings.
Holding regular 1:1 meetings can also help. It gives you an opportunity to chat one-on-one with your employees to learn how they feel about their job. It gives them a chance to air out any concerns that they may have. Some problems may be hindering their work, so you can work quickly to resolve them, and you will see this positively affect productivity levels.
