Employees are at their desks for an average of five hours per day, and businesses are paying for this time. But often the results of an employee’s job vs. time spent do not exactly match up. A model employee that appears perfectly productive can prove to be among the worst offenders.
Businesses today are starting to realise this and are beginning to allocate resources for performance management, such as hiring a business coach, which focuses on the performance of workers and ensuring that their output aligns with the goals of the business. In light of this, below is a list of measures to help improve efficacy, engagement and productivity at work. A number of them may appear to defy logic but entrepreneurs will realise that following them can result in a happier workplace and an increased ROI.
Relax on Internet limitations.
Too often, employers over-restrict Internet usage in the workplace. This could be from fear that company-owned computers may be misused. However, with the number of resources available on the internet, the reality is that most tasks can be performed more efficiently if workers are permitted to roam freely online in ways not anticipated by the employer.
A perfect example is the growing use of social networking, which often times has a valid business purpose. Marketing on social networking is becoming increasingly important to help companies and workers grow, and social networking can be helpful in keeping up with opponents’ latest moves.
Yet, there are lots of employers today who don’t allow employees to access social platforms on the job. It is not always about Facebook; employees can have zero productivity without even accessing the site. On the other hand, some workers can be super-productive social media gurus.
Constantly track employee action and productivity.
Measuring productivity to boost ROI is comparable to sales and advertising data. To be able to boost number of leads, you need to start counting those leads. If you wish to increase sales, knowing the origin of current sales is crucial. Breaking down the process of working with clients into steps, measuring every step and experimenting with improvements may cause an increase in ROI.
The same can be said for employee-performance management. To improve the structure in general, you need to consider the whole picture – and better so if you can have a recorded history to compare. This way, managers can ask, “how are we doing in this April compared to April 2014 when we worked from different office?” Or “How many productive hours per day does the marketing team have now, compared to last month when we had less on the payroll?”
To put it differently, to be able to boost productivity stats, reporting numbers must be addresses first to have a very clear idea what has to be improved.
Monitoring access of web content and applications can help businesses keep track of productivity levels, so long as it is handled the correct way. When businesses are open about tracking laptops or desktops, it creates a transparent, accountable environment. Managers should not enter it with a “Gotcha” attitude but instead with the mind-set to identify overall trends and ways to increase worker productivity.
Set objectives and use results to help employees develop.
When establishing a measurement system, supervisors should understand what their business’ current position is and then set up expectations and rules. If a person is spending seven hours on office and email software, and one hour on private sites daily, they could be considered acceptably productive. Or not. It really is dependent on management which is why guidelines will need to be set within each section or the business as a whole.
Managers should have routine check-ins about progress and goals, same as they would with KPI’s or any other progress-monitoring techniques. Goals could include a 10 percent increase in sales, a 10 percent satisfaction in service and 5 percent less time spent on entertainment sites. There should also be a strategy in place for counselling employees who could be falling behind because of unproductivity. A worker’s unproductive hours may come from spending too much time on non-work relevant websites or too many distractions at work, whether in a conventional or home office. By identifying the areas in which a worker is struggling, employers may work to help the employee reach their full potential and develop as a professional instead of letting them go.
Moreover, with some services, workers have the ability to keep tabs on their own personal performance and hold themselves accountable for fixing any issues. When they have the ability to visualise where wasted time stems from, it will become a lot easier to concentrate on eliminating those distractions. In addition, it can form a gamification impact of types — “how productive was I this week, and did I overcome last week’s measurement?”
Account for mind breaks.
Although understanding and monitoring employee productivity is important to the success of the business, it’s necessary for managers to recognise that everyone is human, and most of us need a rest from time to time. Short breaks (and holidays) have been proven to help the brain work better. As such, it’s completely reasonable to allow employees some latitude in conducting personal business while on a work computer, when they have spent the other 7 hours of the day writing content for the business.
