In the fast-paced digital age, the meaning of productivity is constantly evolving. As we battled through the pandemic and overnight shift to remote work structures, much of the conversation around productivity focused on adapting to the new normal. Now, having settled into new ways of working, businesses have the time and resources to look inwards at how to improve productivity and employee wellbeing in the long-term, argues Ian Rawlings.
While having a productive workforce is essential for a successful business, keeping employees motivated can be tricky for managers, especially in the current climate. Indeed, research shows that more than one fifth of employees in the UK believe that they are truly productive for an entire day, with the average UK office worker only being productive for 2 hours and 53 minutes each working day.
With this in mind, here’s five proven ways to bolster your workforce’s productivity that will also have a positive impact on employee retention rates:
A skills refresh
On a fundamental level, employees who are confident in how to do their everyday tasks will be more productive, and less likely to make basic mistakes. Employees should be given comprehensive training in their day to day duties, with refresher training sessions at regular intervals.
Regular training inspires employees by giving them attainable goals to accomplish. And, with UK businesses losing £70 billion each year due to lack of engagement, providing employees opportunities to develop new skills throughout their careers will enhance engagement as well as boosting their knowledge.
Update your performance reviews
Having career prospects is extremely important to today’s workforce. However, in the busy workplace, it’s easy to get caught up in urgent tasks and let performance reviews get postponed or slip off the calendar completely. Without regular reviews, employees may feel undervalued and their productivity and performance is likely to suffer.
Feedback is often more impactful when given in “real-time” as it ensures more timely behaviour change, keeping employees focused on the most important goals. Replacing annual review processes in favour of a continuous feedback approach will ensure business leaders can keep employees accountable for reaching goals, while ensuring the company delivers on its promise of career mobility and progression. Performance management tools can also ensure managers can improve the performance review experience for their employees without it taking a toll on their own workload.
Flexibility is key
Over the last few years, workplace practices have been turned on their head. Now accustomed to working from home some or all of the time, employees have developed new ways of working that enable them to maximise their productivity. In hybrid work structures, for example, employees are able to utilise WFH for concentrated working, and in-office time for collaborative tasks.
By having a more flexible working culture, and allowing employees to work in a way that suits them, employers can see improvements to efficiency and productivity. Ultimately, if employees are working in environments that they perceive to be more conducive to work, they are more engaged, happier, and output is likely to be greater.
Added benefits
In today’s candidate-driven market, what employees want out of their employer has shifted. With employees more willing to switch jobs every few years, benefits are playing an increasingly important role in attracting and retaining talent.
An easy way to increase employee happiness and engagement, these ‘extras’ are often sought after more than monetary remuneration. And, great business leaders are aware of the significant impact that employee engagement has on business performance, increasing productivity and satisfaction.
Adding to this, shortfalls in staff can have a knock-on effect on existing employees, who are often left to pick up the slack. Building a culture where employees feel appreciated, and more likely to stay, ensures that existing employees can work efficiently without the pressure of taking on additional workloads.
Harness your data
Data holds invaluable insights for workforce management – increasing performance, identifying learning opportunities and uncovering trends. However, many organisations are failing to use it to its full potential, only having a partial understanding of their current and future employee needs. In fact, only 29% of companies describe themselves as having a strong talent analytics function.
Often, the data required for holistic talent analytics is found in a range of disparate sources, which many organisations struggle to integrate. This means they are slow to turn their big data into actionable intelligence that can drive strategic decisions.
For true business value, employee data should be combined with business performance data to generate trends and correlations that push towards the ‘why’ rather than the ‘what’. This will help business leaders review productivity and inspire any necessary changes.
There are a number of steps that employers can take to support workplace efficiency and ensure that all employees feel engaged in the digital age. From boosting skills and benefits to utilising flexibility and data analytics, building a more productive workforce will help organisations to achieve business goals and ensure employee satisfaction.
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Ian Rawlings, RVP EMEA, SumTotal.
