3 Highly Impactful Ways
to Improve Employee Productivity

 

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Research shows that about 70 percent of employees aren’t exploiting their full productivity potential. Of these, 52 percent aren’t putting in any substantial effort.

As an employer, these stats are enough to keep you awake at night. Imagine what could happen to your company if all your employees were putting in their best shift. Massive growth, right?

  

 
 

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You know that 80% of results are achieved by 20% of people, but keep in mind that 80% of people believe that they are those high-performing 20%.

  

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Here’s the thing, though. You have to power to change that and improve productivity of your employees.

As much as sometimes it can come down to whether an employee has the personal will to do their best, for the larger part, it’s your responsibility to improve employee productivity.

Here’s how to do it.

 

Productivity

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1. Ensure Your Physical Infrastructure Supports Employee Productivity

Most employers and workplace managers looking to increase team productivity often focus on smaller things, like repainting office walls and installing office plants. This isn’t to say these changes don’t work. They do, but typically result in marginal productivity increases.

If you want a big jump in productivity, focus on the big stuff, such as your physical infrastructure. These include your buildings, equipment and machinery, and office appliances.

Let’s say you’re a logistics business. Unfortunately, your trucks are quite old, although in sound mechanical condition.

Do you think your drivers are highly motivated to come to work and drive the old geezers? There’s no doubt newer trucks with comfier seats are going to excite them. A happy employee is a productive employee.
 

Or let’s say you own a small manufacturing company. Have you given thought to how your plant layout could be hindering productivity?

If machines and equipment are crammed into a small space such that the place doesn’t feely airy, not many workers are going to enjoy working there. Improve plant layout and watch your people put in proper shifts.

2. Upgrade Your Technology

Is your business using legacy technology?

If yes, you’re just doing your employees a big disservice. You’re hurting your company’s bottom line as well. According to research, companies with legacy tech use 80 percent of their IT budget keeping the old computers and systems alive.

This is a no-brainer, really. Old tech is sluggish and unfriendly to users, which means your workers are dreading coming to work. It’s time to upgrade the technology and unlock your employees’ potential.
 

3. Evaluate Your Workplace Policies

Workplace policies are the rules and guidelines that spell out everyone’s duties and obligations.

If it’s your policy that employees break for lunch at a certain time, that’ll be it. If you require employees to wear a company uniform, they have no choice.

But are your policies creating a toxic culture that kills productivity? Or are they designed to make life better for your employees?

If your team’s productivity has been waning, perhaps it's your policies that are to blame. Reevaluate your policies and design new ones. In the process, gather feedback from your employees, especially with regard to policy changes they’d love to see.

Making some changes, such as allowing your employees to work from home for one or two days a week, will improve productivity.

Empower Your Employees to Do More

When you’re looking to increase employee productivity, it pays to focus on making high-impact changes. While the small tweaks here and there will help, it’s your physical infrastructure, technology, and workplace policies that’ll yield the biggest results.

Need more workplace tips and insights?

→ Employee Performance Review: 5 Benefits