6 Proven Strategies for Increasing Employee Productivity
If you’re running your own business, you probably already know just how important your employees are to your business. After all, without them, you won’t be able to keep your operations running and deal with documentation and taxes at the same time. What this also means is that the more productive your employees are, the better your business will do as well. This is something many Australian companies have already realized, and they keep coming up with new ways to help employees get their work done. If you don’t want to be left behind, think about doing the same. To help you, we came up with a list of 6 proven strategies for your increasing employee productivity.
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Try to discourage multitasking
People often have this misconception that by multitasking, they’ll manage to get more work done. Although it may seem like this habit does help you tackle more tasks and complete them in a timely fashion, this isn’t really the case. In fact, studies have shown that multitasking has a negative effect on employee productivity.
One of the biggest reasons behind it is that multitasking causes stress, which is the number one enemy of productivity. Moreover, when they multitask, people are more likely to make mistakes, which can sometimes cause your business to lose both time and money.
Try to discourage multitasking by only assigning one task to every staff member and don’t add more until they complete it. Using to-do lists is a great way to stay organized but it can also be used to make your employees focus solely on the tasks at hand.
Eliminate the noise
Noise can be a real trouble when it comes to staying productive. If you’re based in a big city such as Sydney or Melbourne, traffic can create a lot of noise and distract your employees from their work. Since you can’t do anything to stop all the cars outside from making noise, what you can do is not let it enter your office.
One of the most effective ways to deal with this issue is to get noise-cancelling headphones for your team. These little things can help eliminate distractions and focus on the task at hand. Just don’t forget to talk to your employees and urge them to create work-friendly playlists which won’t create further distractions.
You can also decorate your office with plants since greenery doesn’t only add style to the office but also helps eliminate noise, especially when you place it strategically.
Invest in air conditioning
Temperatures in Australia tend to get pretty high and unless you manage to cool down your office, you can’t expect your employees to perform at their best. In fact, during the summer, they’ll even struggle just to get their work done on time. To make sure this doesn’t happen, investing in an air conditioning system is a must.
So, give experts in air conditioning installation in Sydney a call and have them set up your new system as quickly as possible. Just remember that it’s your job to go around the office and ensure the majority of your team is fine with the temperature you’ve set.
An air conditioning system should also help keep the air inside the office clean, which usually results in fewer sick days. This too, can sometimes seriously impact office productivity level.
Create a cell phone policy
Cell phones are constantly becoming smarter and can now be used in so many purposes. Many employees tend to carry their cell phone to the office, expecting it to help them get their work done.
For sure, smartphones can be used for work but employees usually just end up scrolling through their social media accounts or chatting with their friends while working.
In fact, a recent study has shown that employees lose eight hours a week by spending time on their smartphones. Obviously, this isn’t the kind of effect you’d want these devices to have and coming up a cell phone policy for your office can help.
Ensure no one in the office uses their smartphone for anything other than work and you’ll see your entire team getting more work done. Just don’t forget to lead by example and never use your smartphone in the office.
Reward your employees
It’s no secret that people want to feel appreciated for all the hard work they put in. If you feel like your employees are doing a great job, rewarding them might just help them be even more productive. Rewarding your team members doesn’t have to be nearly as expensive as some people believe.
There are so many ways to do it and you should be able to find something that fits your budget and office culture. For example, if you believe your employees are outdoorsy and like to try new stuff, you can always take them to one of Australia’s popular paintball parks.
This can actually help them improve their teamwork skills and put a smile on their faces. Another good idea is to have special trophies designed for them after a big project has been completed. If you want to reward your employees but don’t know how to do it, consider getting them gift cards.
Get rid of clutter
Working in a cluttered office can be a real disaster. In case you’ve ever needed something to finish a project but spent hours looking for it, you probably already know it.
However, even if you feel like your office is well-organized, chances are there’s clutter that’s prevent you and your employee from being productive. This is why you should think about purging all the clutter from your office.
Go through the items one by one and set aside everything no one in the office used in the past year. Take a closer look at every item and decide whether you should throw it away or donate it.
You can also consider the idea of listing these things on eBay and increasing your company’s budget for the month. Pay extra attention to your employees’ workstations and ensure there’s nothing on them that can cause distraction.
Rely on the six strategies covered in this post and you can be assured that your employee productivity will rise and get more things done. Just keep in mind that you should always monitor how productive they are and try to come up with new ways to help them get there.
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