10 Ways to Make Your Employees More Productive

Have you ever wondered how the most successful companies in the world ensure that their employees stay productive and focused at work? Well, we have. 

And we found some interesting hacks that you can integrate into your business processes to make sure you increase employee productivity and boost employee retention.

1. Track Employees Productivity: Want to prevent time theft and identify unproductive or inactive employees? 

Implement calendar automation or time-tracking software to monitor breaks and optimize scheduling. These tools can save valuable time and resources that would have been spent on manual tracking and physical supervision, thus massively streamlining the time management aspect of your business. 

Best Employee Tracking Tool: Buddy Punch

2. Acknowledge and Appreciate Good Work: Recognize and incentivize good work to improve employee satisfaction and productivity. 

Recognize employees’ exceptional work and create a reward system by giving them incentives such as bonuses, promotions, or other perks.  

Best Employee Recognition Platform: Assembly 

3. Encourage Risk-Taking: Encourage employees to take calculated risks and explore new ideas to drive innovation.

By embracing risk-taking, you can create a workplace culture that values learning and growth, leading to increased innovation and employee engagement.

Suppose you follow and implement the above-stated solutions into your business. 

In that case, you’ll automatically observe a rise in your employees’ productivity, as people generally seek clarity, transparency, and accountability to perform at their best level.

Let’s have a detailed look at the proven ways to ensure and encourage your employees to continually head in the right direction. 

Top 10 Ways To Increase Employee Productivity

1. Track Employees Productivity
2. Acknowledge and Appreciate Good Work
3. Encourage Risk-Taking
4. Get Your Team Behind the Business’s Mission
5. Give People Freedom and Autonomy
6. Push People Outside of their Comfort Zone
7. Get To Know Your Team Members
8. Create An Atmosphere of Transparency
9. Hire The Best People
10. Encourage Work-Life Balance
Why Employee Motivation and Productivity Might Be Low?
What Are the Practices to Calculate Productivity?
FAQs

1. Track Employees Productivity

Employee productivity refers to the level of output and efficiency that an employee exhibits in their work tasks. This can include factors such as completing tasks in a timely manner, meeting or exceeding goals, and contributing to the overall success of the business.

Why Is Tracking Employees Productivity Important?

As a business leader, you should always ensure to track and measure employee productivity. 

Why?

Tracking employee productivity is important for several reasons.

• It helps businesses identify areas where improvements can be made, such as reducing wasted time and resources, optimizing workflows, and increasing efficiency. 
• Additionally, tracking can help you identify which employees may be struggling or in need of additional support or training. 
• It can also help with resource allocation and workforce planning, as businesses can determine how much work can be accomplished with the current staff.

What Factors Affect Your Employees Productivity?
Knowing your team members can help you understand your employees’ strengths, weaknesses, and working styles. These findings will enable you as a business leader to modify specific factors to boost employee productivity levels and make them happy and productive. Here are the four factors that affect your employee’s productivity: • Work Environment • Defined Goals • Employee Wellness • Training

What Are the Effective Ways to Track Employee Productivity?

There are several effective ways to track employee productivity. 

1. Time-tracking software: It can help businesses monitor how much time employees spend on various tasks and identify any areas where time is being wasted. 
2. Set clear goals and objectives for employees and monitor their progress through regular check-ins and feedback. 
3. Measuring employee productivity and performance through sales numbers, customer satisfaction scores or project completion rates.

2. Acknowledge and Appreciate Good Work

Appreciating hard work is crucial for maintaining a positive work culture and keeping employees engaged.

According to OC Tanner’s research on employee engagement, 37% of respondents gave the feedback that if they get more personal recognition whenever they produce good work, especially by focusing on the quality of work instead of quantity, the more they will be encouraged to produce better work more often.

Here are some reasons why appreciation is so important to boost team morale and ensure workforce productivity:

1. Recognition helps to reinforce positive behaviors and outcomes. When employees receive praise for their hard work and achievements for their quality of work, they are more likely to continue putting in effort and striving for success.
2. It can help to build trust and strengthen relationships between managers and employees. When employees feel that their contributions are appreciated, they are more likely to trust their managers and feel more connected to the organization. 

Now that you are familiar with reasons why appreciation is so important, let’s have a look at the ways to recognize and appreciate your employees’ good work. 

Effective Ways to Acknowledge and Appreciate Good Work?

There are many effective ways to acknowledge your employees for achieving projected outcomes. Some ideas include: 

1. Verbal praise
2. Written notes or emails
3. Public recognition in team meetings or company newsletters
4. Offering small monetary rewards or incentives such as gift cards or extra time off.

You will be pleasantly surprised by how far a simple “good job” will go with some people. It can make the difference between productive employees and happy employees versus someone who wants to quit.

How Often Should I Acknowledge and Appreciate Employees Work?

Rewarding employees for their exceptional performance can be a challenging task for leaders. However, the frequency with which you provide recognition may depend on various factors, including: 

• The nature of the work 
• The preferences of your team members
• Meeting expectations
• Demonstrating a strong work ethic
• Willing to take calculated risks and innovate
• Making significant contributions to the organization

It is generally advised to give feedback and appreciate your employees or team members at least once a month. 

The easiest route would be to give them verbal appreciation and recognition by conducting a five to minute call every three to four weeks. 

In general, it’s essential to provide regular and timely feedback to your employees to keep them motivated and engaged.

3. Encourage Risk-Taking

Encouraging risk-taking is a vital aspect of fostering a culture of innovation and growth in the workplace. When employees are encouraged to take risks, they are more likely to think outside the box and explore new possibilities. 

It can also help in innovation and continuous improvement, which can help the organization to stay competitive and adapt to changing circumstances.

How Businesses Can Encourage Employees to Take Risks?

Encouraging employees to take risks can be a challenging task for many businesses. Here are some ways businesses can encourage employees to take risks:

• Create a safe and supportive environment: Employees are more likely to take risks when they feel safe and supported. Friendly environment encourages experimentation, where failure is accepted as a learning opportunity rather than a mistake.
• Offer rewards and recognition: Offering rewards and recognition for taking calculated risks can motivate employees to step out of their comfort zones even if their efforts do not always result in success.
• Provide training and development opportunities: Providing employees with training and development opportunities can help them develop the skills and knowledge necessary to take risks effectively.

What Are the Drawbacks of Encouraging Risk-taking In The Workplace?

Encouraging risk-taking in the workplace can lead to potential drawbacks if not properly regulated, such as:

1. Failure: When taking risks, there is always a chance of failure. Employees may feel discouraged and unmotivated if their risks do not pay off, leading to lower morale and productivity.
2. Safety concerns: It can sometimes lead to unsafe or hazardous situations, which can cause harm to employees and damage to the company’s reputation.
3. Legal issues: Certain risks may violate company policies or laws, resulting in legal issues that could have been avoided.
4. Financial losses: Taking risks in business can lead to financial losses if the risks are not carefully planned and executed. 
5. Employee turnover: Employees may leave the company if they feel uncomfortable taking risks or are not adequately supported when their risks fail. 

4. Get Your Team Behind the Business’s Mission

Getting your employees behind your organization’s mission is important for developing a sense of purpose, innovation and direction in the workplace. This is one of the biggest challenges at any business to keep employees excited about the work they are doing. 

When your team understands and aligns with the business’s values and mission, they are more likely to feel invested in their work, collaborate efficiently with their colleagues and contribute to the success of the business. 

How Can You Get Your Team Behind Your Business’s Mission?

There are several ways to get your team behind the business’s mission, including:

1. Communicating the mission and values of the business clearly and consistently.
2. Providing opportunities for team members to give feedback and contribute to the mission.
3. Aligning individual goals and objectives with the business’s mission.
4. Creating a culture that promotes and reinforces the business’s values.
5. Make sure that every employee understands how their work contributes to the business’s long-term goals.

What Are The Common Challenges When Trying to Get Your Team Behind The Business’s Mission?

Common challenges when trying to get your team behind the business’s mission can include:

• Lack of clarity or understanding about the mission and values of the business.
• Conflicting priorities or goals among team members.
• Resistance to change or new ways of doing things.
• Limited resources or support to execute on the mission.
• Ineffective communication or feedback mechanisms.

5. Give People Freedom and Autonomy

When employees are given freedom and autonomy, they can use their unique skills and talents to contribute to the organization in a meaningful way.

Encouraging employees to work freely is important for several reasons. 

1. When employees feel trusted and valued, they are more likely to be engaged and committed to their work. 
2. When employees are given the freedom to experiment and try new things, they are more likely to come up with unique solutions to problems.

What Does It Means to Give People Freedom And Autonomy In the Workplace?
Giving people freedom in the workplace means granting employees the ability to make their own decisions and work in a way that best suits their individual preferences and styles.  It involves trusting and empowering employees to take ownership over their work, without micromanaging or imposing strict rules and regulations.

How To Give People Freedom And Autonomy In the Workplace?

Team Leaders or Managers can give employees freedom and autonomy in the workplace by:

• Setting clear expectations
• Providing resources
• Encouraging creativity
• Offering feedback and recognition

Leaders must encourage their employees to take risks freely and push themselves out of their comfort zones to help them grow and develop new skills, which can benefit both the employee and the organization as a whole. 

6. Push People Outside of their Comfort Zone

Pushing employees out of their comfort zones can be a perfect way to challenge them and help them grow both professionally and personally. 

When employees are encouraged to think out of the box and are given new challenges, it can help them learn new skills and gain confidence in their abilities.

What Are the Reasons to Push Employees Out Of Their Comfort Zones?

There are many reasons to push employees to grow their skills.

• It can help to identify strengths and weaknesses and offer opportunities for growth and development. 
• Pushing people out of the box can also help to foster creativity and innovation.
• It can also lead to improved job satisfaction and employee retention as employees feel supported and challenged in their work.

How to Push Employees Outside of Their Comfort Zones?

Here are the ways to push people out of the box:

1. One way is to give them new and challenging tasks that are outside of their regular job responsibilities. 
2. Another way is to motivate them to take on projects that they may not have considered before, or to take calculated risks and try new techniques to solve issues. 

In addition to pushing employees, it is important to know your team members to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and work styles, as well as their personal interests and motivations. 

7. Get To Know Your Team Members

Knowing your employees is important because it can foster a more positive work environment, effective communication habits, teamwork and lead to better organizational outcomes.

What Does Knowing Your Employees Actually Mean?
Knowing your employees is a process of building strong relationships with colleagues by learning more about their interests, personalities and strengths.  When you ask someone about their life or check in on someone who seems a bit down and provide them with the support and resources they need to succeed, you build a much stronger connection with your team members.

What Are Some Effective Ways to Get to Know Your Team Members?

Here are some effective ways to know your team members:

1. Regular one-on-one meetings: Schedule regular one-on-one meetings with each team member to discuss their goals, interests, and career aspirations.
2. Participating in team-building activities: Plan team-building activities like team lunches, happy hours, or off-site events to break down barriers and create a more relaxed atmosphere where team members can get to know each other.
3. Encourage open communication: Create a culture of open communication where team members can share their ideas, concerns, and feedback. You can use Slack as it can push notifications on your screen, thus helping you address concerns and issues immediately.

How Can You Improve Workplace Morale and Productivity by Knowing Your Team Members?

By knowing your team members, you can have a positive impact on workplace productivity and boost morale in several ways:

1. Create a culture of transparency: When team members feel comfortable with each other and trust their leader, they are more likely to communicate openly and honestly.
2. Enhanced motivation: When team members feel valued and appreciated, they are more motivated to perform their best work. 
3. Better understanding of team dynamics: Leaders who know their team members well can better understand their individual needs, personalities, and communication styles. 
4. Improved employee retention: Team members who feel connected to their colleagues and leader are more likely to stay with the organization long-term. 

8. Create An Atmosphere of Transparency

The atmosphere of transparency in a workplace refers to a culture of openness and honesty, where information is readily shared among colleagues and management.

It involves being open about company objectives, strategies, financial performance, and employee performance. The idea is to build trust among employees and promote a collaborative work environment. 

Why Creating an Atmosphere of Transparency Is Important?

Creating an atmosphere of transparency in the workplace is essential for building a positive work environment. 

Here are the reasons why creating an atmosphere of transparency is important:

1. Fosters trust between employees and leadership, thus enhancing the functionality of your business.
2. Encourages open and honest communication.
3. Increases employee engagement and job satisfaction.
4. Helps identify and solve problems more quickly, even at higher levels.
5. Builds a positive company culture.
6. Improves decision-making and problem-solving.
7. Reduces the risk of unethical behavior and corruption.
8. Enhances the organization’s reputation and credibility.
9. Streamlines the onboarding process for new hires or new employees.

What Are the Challenges of Creating An Atmosphere of Transparency?

There are many challenges when creating an atmosphere of transparency in the workplace.

Some of the challenges include:

• Fear of backlash: Some employees may fear retaliation or backlash for speaking up, particularly if they are raising concerns or criticizing a decision made by their superiors.
• Confidentiality concerns: Transparency can be challenging in situations where confidentiality is required, such as sensitive employee information or confidential company data.
• Legal constraints: Certain legal and regulatory requirements may limit the amount of information that can be shared with employees or the public.
• Lack of trust: In some cases, employees may not trust the leadership to be transparent or may perceive transparency as a facade.
• Resistance to change: Introducing transparency into an organization can be met with resistance from those who are accustomed to traditional hierarchical structures.

How to Create an Atmosphere of Transparency?

Being transparent with employees is something many managers struggle with due to fear of vulnerability. However, admitting to mistakes and weaknesses can actually foster a culture of honesty and openness within the workplace.

To create an atmosphere of transparency, leaders should communicate openly with their employees and encourage feedback. They should lead by example and be transparent about their own actions and decisions. 

It’s also important to create a safe workspace for employees to share their thoughts and ideas without fear of judgment or reprisal.

However, creating a transparent atmosphere can be hard. At the highest levels of a company, such as the CEO, it is crucial to set an example of transparency by admitting to mistakes or lack of knowledge. 

Many leaders believe they must always be in control and never show vulnerability. However, it takes true courage to admit when one is wrong or doesn’t know something.

Creating a free culture, learning through admitting mistakes, and hiring the best people enables businesses to foster an environment of trust and continual improvement.

9. Hire The Best People

Hiring the best people is important for businesses, especially for a small business that is just starting out. It will serve as a major factor if you need to achieve success and remain competitive in the longer run.

If you are a small business, your risk factor is high in comparison to established businesses, as they can afford to hire and fire people without having a major impact on their business. So, always ensure to make those sorts of new hires or new employees who are:

• Passionate.
• Bring a wealth of skills and experience.
• Introduce fresh perspective to drive innovation, productivity and growth towards your business.
• And you can see a future business leader in them.

What Are the Benefits of Hiring the Best People?

Hiring the best people has several benefits, including:

• Increased productivity: It ensures that you have a highly skilled workforce that can work efficiently and effectively.
• Better collaboration: When you hire skilled workers, you’re likely to have a team that is highly motivated, engaged, and willing to collaborate to achieve common goals.
• Lower turnover rates: It also helps lower turnover rates since they are more likely to be satisfied with their work and stay with the company longer.
• Enhanced innovation: It often brings fresh ideas and innovative approaches to their work, which can help companies stay competitive and adapt to changes in the market.

How Can Businesses Attract Top Talent?

As a team leader, it’s important to recognize that not everyone on your team will be a superstar. It’s your responsibility to bring out the best in each team member and help them develop their skills and abilities to achieve their potential. 

To attract and retain the top talent, businesses need to provide:

• Install a human resources department in your business
• Offer competitive compensation packages
• Build a positive inhouse culture
• Offer flexible working arrangements
• Opportunities for career growth and development
• Promoting wellness programs to enhance employee experience
• Equity
• Diversity 
• Inclusion 

Encouraging work-life balance is another important aspect of creating a positive work environment that attracts and retains the best talent. 

To ensure that businesses are hiring the best people, organizations should have a rigorous hiring process that includes multiple rounds of interviews and reference checks. 

10. Encourage Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance is important for employee well-being, satisfaction, and productivity, whether they are doing remote work or are present physically on the office premises.. A healthy work-life balance can vary from person to person, as each employee has different interests, responsibilities and commitments outside of work.

When employees are overworked or stressed, during their workday, they are more likely to experience burnout and other negative consequences that can ultimately impact their performance and quality of life.

By promoting work-life balance, especially in the case of remote workers, businesses can enhance: 

• Employee Retention
• Employee Motivation  
• Employee Satisfaction

How Can Companies Encourage Work-Life Balance?

Companies can encourage work-life balance in several ways, including:

• Offering flexible work arrangements: Employers can allow their employees to work from home, have flexible and trackable work hours, or offer part-time or job-sharing opportunities.
• Promoting time off: Businesses can encourage their employees to take their vacation time and provide paid time off for personal and family needs.
• Setting realistic expectations: Businesses can set realistic deadlines and workload expectations to prevent employees from feeling overwhelmed or overworked.

Businesses can also employ their employees with project management tools and time tracking tools for easy management of daily or weekly tasks and tracking flexible work hours. 

Top Time Tracking Tool: Buddy Punch

How Businesses Can Measure the Effectiveness of Work-Life Balance Programs?

Measuring the effectiveness of work-life balance programs can be challenging, but companies can track metrics such as time clocked in and clocked out by your employees throughout the month, conduct employee satisfaction surveys, track the data of each employee regarding meeting their project or task deadlines, and the overall employee retention rate to determine the impact of these work-life balance programs.

Additionally, gathering feedback from employees through focus groups can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of these programs and areas for improvement.

Why Does Employee Happiness Matter?

Ensuring the happiness of your employees is crucial for the success of your business. It’s not just about satisfying customers, but also about creating a positive work environment that fosters productivity and employee satisfaction. 

But why exactly does employee happiness matter for your business?

When employees are happy, they experience a sense of pride and fulfillment in their work and genuinely enjoy what they do. 

This feeling of purpose and fulfillment creates a positive cycle in which their sense of satisfaction decreases stress levels, ultimately leading to improved productivity.

Here’s why you should take employee happiness very seriously:

1. Make Smart Decisions at Work

According to research, happy employees are more likely to make better decisions at work when they have less anxiety and fear. When employees are satisfied and motivated, they have a greater sense of purpose and are more invested in the success of the organization. 

Additionally, they are more likely to collaborate effectively and communicate well with colleagues, resulting in better decision-making overall.

2. Are Less Likely To Quit

Unhappy employees are more likely to quit, leading to high turnover rates and the need to constantly recruit and train new staff. This can be costly in terms of both time and money. 

In contrast, when employees are happy, they are more likely to stay with the company long-term, reducing turnover rates and ensuring continuity of skills and knowledge within the organization.

3. Are More Creative

Happy employees are more creative, imaginative, and open-minded. They are more likely to think outside the box and come up with new ideas and solutions to problems.

4. Make Others Happier, Too

Happy employees create a positive work environment and contribute to a culture of happiness and well-being. They are more likely to treat colleagues with kindness and respect, leading to a more harmonious and productive workplace. 

Why Employee Motivation and Productivity Might Be Low?

Identifying a problem with workplace productivity is the first step towards finding a solution. 

In order to address the issue, it is important to identify the factors that are affecting the employee’s motivation.

There are some factors that can be modified to improve productivity levels. 

1. Workload 

Employee productivity can be affected by the workload they are given, which can be either too high or too low. High workload can put a strain on mental health, leading to burnout, while a low workload can cause boredom and fatigue. 

To address these issues in your organization, it is important to have open communication with your employees and work together to find ways to make the workload more manageable.

One effective solution is to use document management apps that can be integrated into your company’s intranet platform, such as Monday or Trello. 

These apps enable you to create a clear structure of tasks that need to be done and when they need to be completed, making it easier to prioritize and delegate tasks efficiently. 

2. Opposing Dynamics 

In any business, it’s not uncommon for disagreements and conflicts to arise between employees. However, when these conflicts escalate and begin to impact team collaboration, it’s essential to intervene.

If you sense that an issue is arising in the workplace, it’s crucial to address it quickly. One effective approach is to hold one-on-one meetings with each employee involved to listen to their concerns and offer support.

3. Team Motivation 

Low morale can silently deteriorate the workplace, affecting not only an individual employee’s performance but also the entire team. Key signs of low employee morale may manifest as a change in attitude, lack of initiative, and poor performance.

If you observe any of these factors in the workplace, it’s essential to address them immediately to enhance employee motivation.

What Are the Practices to Calculate Productivity?

Once you have implemented ways to make your employees more productive, it is equally crucial to effectively calculate the results of these efforts. 

There are several practices that can be used to measure productivity:

• Amount of projects completed
• Amount of time spent on each project
• Amount of profit
• Amount of goals met

All of these practices are important to make sure that your employee productivity is kept to the highest standard. 

FAQs