Employee Efficiency: 12 Tips to Increase Productivity

Disengaged Workers Generate Losses, Not Profits

Labor costs are the number one expense for most businesses, so it’s important to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck. Disengaged workers cause massive losses in productivity – between $450 and $500 billion annually.

You’ve Heard it a Thousand Times: Culture Affects Productivity

Businesses that want their companies to prosper should focus their efforts on employee well-being and engagement to improve efficiency. It is also just as vital to look at ways to improve the overall company culture to help make everyone more productive.

Looking to enhance the efficiency of your employees? Check out these tips you can implement today:

1. Consider allowing employees to work from home when practical.
   According to FlexJobs, 75% of employees say they’re more productive when they work from home because they have fewer interruptions from their colleagues, less stress due to a commute and a big reduction in office gossip and politics.
2. Consider flexible work schedules.
   When employees have the opportunity to decide when they work the best (within reason, of course), they’ll generally be more productive. This solution obviously doesn’t work for every type of business, but it’s a good one to consider if practical.
3. Make sure your employees are engaged.
   According to the pollsters at Gallup, companies with highly engaged teams see a 41% reduction in absences and a 17% bump in employees performance. They also experience a 10% increase in customer approval and a 20% sales growth.
4. Try to eliminate distractions.
   The Chatty Cathys and Super-Social Stevens can really be a hindrance to overall employee efficiency. A noisy office, meeting just for the sake of meeting and excessive, unnecessary emails also contribute to an unproductive environment.
5. Make it easy for employees to communicate.
   Like we said above, email can be a huge time suck. A study by McKinsey found that it wastes nearly 1/3 of employees’ time every day. Use quicker methods of communication such as instant messaging and texting to cut back on the email monster.
6. Set measurable goals.
   People do their best work when they know what’s expected of them and when. Be clear in your goal-setting and invest in proper training.
7. Recognize employees.
   Everyone likes a pat on the back for a job well done, so be sure you give kudos when they’re deserved. A shout-out in an all-hands meeting for providing stellar customer service is great. A bonus or gift card to a favorite restaurant is even better. Make your employees feel like they matter. Because they do.
8. Invest in professional development.
   Millennials have said that this is one of the best benefits a company can offer, and they value it more than vacation time and money. Most of your people want to improve the skills they bring to the company. Let them!
9. Offer a company-wide wellness program.
   A UnitedHealthcare survey found that 62% of people who participate in company-wide wellness programs say they’ve noticed improvements in their productivity more than half (56%) of them used fewer sick days as a result.
10. Cut down on the busy work.
    50% of workers in a Conversica study said they’re all for automating their busy work when appropriate.
11. Make sure employee working environments are conducive to efficiency.
    20% of participants in a Staples survey say their offices are set up in a way that has a negative impact on their ability to efficiently do their jobs.
12. Look for ways to improve company culture.
    Eagle Hill Consulting found that 76% of employees say a strong culture has a positive impact on their overall productivity and efficiency.

Paycor Can Help You Improve Employee Efficiency & Productivity

Paycor is hyper-focused on the employee experience, from hire to retire with the goal of creating engaged and productive employees. To give you a glimpse of our expertise, here are some tips on how you can build a culture of engagement, based on extensive interviews with successful HR teams.

• Hopeful
  Within the first 30 days, organizations need to help employees answer 3 questions.
  • Why am I here?
  • Who do I work for?
  • Why should I be proud to work here?
• Involved
  • Get employees involved in the company, beyond their assigned responsibilities. Build programs that appeal to different personalities (i.e. a young professional’s group for extroverts.)
• Valued
  • Create multiple ways to recognize and reward employees. Some team members will be delighted by outward signs of appreciation, others will prefer a handwritten note.
• Inspired
  • Challenge employees with new opportunities to learn and grow. Dial up career pathing so there’s a clear vision of what comes next.
• Engaged
  • Now’s the time to give your advocates a platform to share their enthusiasm. An employee referral program is a great place to start.

For more on the employee experience, visit Paycor’s HR Center of Excellence