Getting employees to work efficiently is a continuous battle for most business managers. While you want to ensure your staff are happy in the workplace, there is also a need to maximize productivity.
Of course, it literally pays to be efficient in the business environment, so it’s vital that you listen to your workers to understand what will help them to enhance their performance on a day-to-day basis. Implementing this simple sentiment is guaranteed to improve your management style for the greater good.
There are some simple steps you can take to improve workplace productivity which could really make a difference when it comes to how quickly work is produced, the quality of its delivery and the general satisfaction of your staff.
Here are a few ways to help your employees work more efficiently:
The office environment
If you run an office-based business, motivating your staff could be as easy as changing the environment in which they work.
Lighting is one key aspect that could be altered to help improve a worker’s mood and energy levels. A study by the American Society of Interior Designers revealed that 68 per cent of employees complain about lighting in the office, while the 1989 Steelcase Office Environment Index showed that eyestrain is one of the biggest hazards in the workplace.
By creating a lighter and more airy environment for your employees, you can help to improve their mood and reduce the strain on their eyes. This is particularly important for those that work with computers on a daily basis. Natural light is far better than artificial light and can actually help to prevent sleepiness. This is both an easy and affordable way to increase worker productivity.
Flexible working
The flexible working craze is being embraced by more and more businesses around the world. The system offers employees the freedom to work when and where they please, which greatly helps to create a more dynamic and enjoyable work-life balance.
In most cases, this gives parents a chance to take the kids to school and pick them up on time. In others, it means that even when out of the office for business or travel, work can still be completed and important deadlines met.
While flexible working has made the business environment better for ad-hoc practices, it does create a problem for email security.
This is why a single approved platform solution such as Unified Email Management from Mimecast is important to ensuring that viruses, spam and data theft do not affect your business and its workers.
Without an effective strategy in place, businesses create risks for personal electronic equipment such as laptops, smartphones and tablets. The security of the wider business server is also jeopardised which could lead to far more damaging problems. This occurs not only as a result of online hacks but also through the loss of equipment that holds important documents.
Emails often contain confidential customer files and details that could cause reputational or financial damage should they fall into the wrong hands.
Unified Email Management not only improves the cloud-based email security and archiving system but it also simplifies the whole process, making it easier for businesses to conduct day-to-day operations via a manageable server.
Support and feedback
Your workers often perform feats of excellence every week, but sometimes these aren’t adequately recognised.
Offering consistent and vocal feedback when a worker produces something fantastic or seals an important deal can do wonders for future productivity.
Furthermore, if other workers see and acknowledge the praise one member of staff has received, they may be encouraged to look for similar plaudits.
That said, singling out one individual isn’t always an effective method of encouragement. It is sometimes more important to credit the efforts of a team for a working success.
This creates a sense of inclusivity among workers while also helping to increase co-worker connections and create a positive working atmosphere in which staff can thrive.
However, positive feedback isn’t always the go-to response and it is important to remember that constructive criticism is almost as important as delivering praise.
If a worker seems to be out of their depth, giving them the necessary support and training will ensure they aren’t feeling lost. It will also give them the confidence to seek help from management if a problem arises in the future.
This helps to minimise workplace anxiety and depression while creating a healthy and supportive working environment.
It’s an important management skill to acquire, but could make a huge difference to the happiness and productivity of workers. If an employee identifies an issue quickly, it can be resolved as quickly as possible. This will result in minimal time wastage and the swift progression of staff on to the next task.
