How to improve employee productivity

Every manager wishes they could assure constant productivity throughout their team. The fact is, though: we’re all human – employee productivity is a force that varies day-to-day.

However, there are ways in which employers can promote productivity in their workforce, getting the most out of their employees’ talents on a daily basis. Here we outline some of these, and how they can be achieved:

Why is employee engagement so important?

Employee engagement isn’t just ‘another HR fad’. Engagement levels within your workforce have a direct impact on your company’s ability to reach its goals, and compete in its market.

Here’s why employee engagement is such an important focus for your HR team:

1- It has a direct effect on worker productivity 

Employee engagement and workforce productivity go hand-in-hand. The more connected your employees feel to the wider business, the more they are driven to complete their work to a high quality. 

This becomes even more important when employees are working remotely. By maintaining frequent, quality contact with your employees, and ensuring they feel connected to the business, you can help to keep productivity high in spite of the challenges.

2- It is key to maintaining employee morale

Maintaining employee morale is crucial to upholding a strong workforce culture, and promoting productivity within your business. By driving employee engagement, you help to keep spirits high and creativity fully-fuelled – driving high performance and career satisfaction.

If you witness a drop in employee morale, you’ll likely see a drop in performance, as well as a rise in staff turnover and resignations. It’s therefore critical to hold employee engagement at the core of your workforce planning strategy.

Set and review SMART targets

We’ve all heard of, and been given, performance targets in our careers. However, many of them can be ambiguous, focusing only on the end-result, and not the process of achieving this. With SMART targets, employees are given focused goals that are measurable, attainable, and time based – driving productivity. 

– What are SMART targets?

SMART targeting is a clear, established system for setting out, and achieving specific goals. This helps to promote efficiency in your employees’ workflow, and allows you to measure their success. 

SMART targeting stands for:

S – Specific: Laying out focused goals to allow for effective planning/analysis.

M – Measurable: The success of the goal is able to be measured directly.

A – Attainable: The goal is realistically attainable with the available time/resources.
R – Relevant: Targets should contribute directly to wider projects and objectives.
T – Time-based: There should be a realistic, but concrete deadline for task completion.

Choose positive over negative reinforcement 

As an employer, it’s crucial to find the right balance between positive and negative reinforcement, as this affects employee productivity directly.

Positive reinforcement is giving praise for positive behaviour, whereas negative reinforcement is reprimanding for undesirable performance. 

While it is crucial to make employees aware of what is/isn’t acceptable within your business, too much negative over positive reinforcement leads to poor engagement and productivity. By ensuring employees are regularly praised for their achievements, and by dealing with downfalls sensitively, you can promote a positive, productive working atmosphere.

Top tip: try departmental progress awards alongside casual praise to promote enthusiasm. 

Strengthen your EVP to engage your employees & drive productivity

Your employee value proposition (EVP) is a key contributor to employee satisfaction/productivity. These are the values and benefits that your employees are given in return for their hard work.

By regularly analysing your EVP, and changing your incentives to suit employees’ needs, you can maintain a happy, productive workforce. 

Read more: Why a pay rise won’t solve your staffing issues

Make employee morale your focus

Employee morale and wellbeing are key aspects affecting productivity. If your workers feel uninspired, unsupported, or unhappy, their drive for achievement may fall. 

Focus on keeping your employees’ spirits high; hold regular formal/informal catch-ups with colleagues to assess their concerns/needs. Implementing a clear, effective wellbeing strategy is crucial to maintaining worker morale. Make sure your employees feel able to speak up and seek support when needed. 

To discover our top tips for maintaining worker morale, read our employee wellbeing guide.

Match tasks with talent – recognise strengths/weaknesses

In an ideal world, we would all be proficient in every skill and setting. The reality is, however, we all excel in different areas. Recognising employees’ strengths and weaknesses, and matching them with tasks that relate to these, is crucial for both achievement and job satisfaction. 

This applies both across the company as a whole, and within specific departments. If, for example, one of your marketers excels in content creation, while another has talents in advertising strategy, set them tasks and goals which complement these skills. 

Meet with your employees regularly to discuss challenges they are facing, as well as areas in which they feel they would excel if given the opportunity. Refocusing their efforts based on these assessments helps to drive productivity, and keep team spirits high.