Top 10 Ways to Improve Employee Efficiency - Zenefits

One of the best ways to encourage employees to be more efficient is to actually give them a reason to do so. Recognizing your workers for a job well done will ... Top10WaystoImproveEmployeeEfficiency Howcanleadersimproveemployeeproductivitywhilestillsavingtime?Herearethetop10thingsyoucandotoincreaseemployeeefficiencyattheoffice Bookmark(19)Pleaselogintobookmark UsernameorEmailAddress Password RememberMe Noaccountyet?Register Alexandra Hicks onMay06,2021 SMBTrends SMBRules&Regulations Bookmark(19)Pleaselogintobookmark UsernameorEmailAddress Password RememberMe Noaccountyet?Register Withtheworldshiftingthewaytheywork,companiesareevaluatingwhat’sthemosteffectivewaytobuildtheirworkforce.Astudyaboutremoteworkfromthelastyearhaveshownproductivityisup47%whileworkingremotelyfromhome.Butnotallcompaniesareembracingaremotefirstphilosophy.AccordingtoaWorkestsurveyof1,000smallbusinessemployees,67%ofrespondentssaidtheircompanyispreparingareturntotheofficethisyear. So,howcanleadersandmanagersimproveemployeeproductivitywhilestillsavingtime?Herearethetop10thingsyoucandotoincreaseemployeeefficiency. 1.Don’tbeafraidtodelegate Whilethistipmightseemthemostobvious,itisoftenthemostdifficulttoputintopractice.Wegetit–yourcompanyisyourbaby,soyouwanttohaveadirecthandineverythingthatgoesonwithit.Whilethereisnothingwrongwithprioritizingquality(itiswhatmakesabusinesssuccessful,afterall),checkingovereverysmalldetailyourselfratherthandelegatingcanwasteeveryone’svaluabletime. Instead,giveresponsibilitiestoqualifiedemployees,andtrustthattheywillperformthetaskswell.Thisgivesyouremployeestheopportunitytogainskillsandleadershipexperiencethatwillultimatelybenefityourcompany.Youhiredthemforareason,nowgivethemachancetoproveyouright. 2.Matchtaskstoskills Knowingyouremployees’skillsandbehavioralstylesisessentialformaximizingefficiency.Forexample,anextroverted,creative,out-of-the-boxthinkerisprobablyagreatpersontopitchideastoclients.However,theymightstruggleiftheyaregivenamorerule-intensive,detail-orientedtask. Askingyouremployeestobegreatateverythingjustisn’tefficient–instead,beforegivinganemployeeanassignment,askyourself:isthisthepersonbestsuitedtoperformthistask?Ifnot,findsomeoneelsewhoseskillsandstylesmatchyourneeds. Askingyouremployeestobegreatateverythingjustisn’tefficient 3.Communicateeffectively Everymanagerknowsthatcommunicationisthekeytoaproductiveworkforce.Technologyhasallowedustocontacteachotherwiththemereclickofabutton(orshouldwesay,tapofatouchscreen).Thisnaturallymeansthatcurrentcommunicationmethodsareasefficientaspossible,right?Notnecessarily.AMcKinseystudyfoundthatemailscantakeupnearly28%ofanemployee’stime.Infact,emailwasrevealedtobethesecondmosttime-consumingactivityforworkers(aftertheirjob-specifictasks). Insteadofrelyingsolelyonemail,trysocialnetworkingtools(suchasSlack)designedforevenquickerteamcommunication.Youcanalsoencourageyouremployeestooccasionallyadoptamoreantiquatedformofcontact…voice-to-voicecommunication.Havingaquickmeetingorphonecallcansettleamatterthatmighthavetakenhoursofback-and-forthemails. 4.Keepgoalsclearandfocused Youcan’texpectemployeestobeefficientiftheydon’thaveafocusedgoaltoaimfor.Ifagoalisnotclearlydefinedandactuallyachievable,employeeswillbelessproductive.So,trytomakesureemployees’assignmentsareasclearandnarrowaspossible.Letthemknowexactlywhatyouexpectofthem,andtellthemspecificallywhatimpactthisassignmentwillhave. Onewaytodothisistomakesureyourgoalsare“SMART”–specific,measurable,attainable,realistic,andtimely.Beforeassigninganemployeeatask,askyourselfifitfitseachoftheserequirements.Ifnot,askyourselfhowthetaskcanbetweakedtohelpyourworkersstayfocusedandefficient. 5.Incentivizeemployees Oneofthebestwaystoencourageemployeestobemoreefficientistoactuallygivethemareasontodoso.Recognizingyourworkersforajobwelldonewillmakethemfeelappreciatedandencouragethemtocontinueincreasingtheirproductivity. Whendecidinghowtorewardefficientemployees,makesureyoutakeintoaccounttheirindividualneedsorpreferences.Forexample,oneemployeemightappreciatepublicrecognition,whileanotherwouldpreferaprivate“thankyou.”Inadditiontosimplewordsofgratitude,hereareafewincentivesyoucantry: PTO:Insteadofabonusorraise,youcanofferyouremployeesadditionalpaidtimeoffwithouthavingtousetheirvacationorsicktime. TakeThemOutForaMeal:Youcantaketheteamouttolunch,dinner,orhappyhour…orifyou’repracticingsocialdistancing,sendaGrubHuborDoorDashgiftcard. SendaHandwrittenNote:Sendingahandwrittennoteshowsyourecognizethegreatworkyouremployeeshavedoneandthatyoucareenoughtoputyourownpersonaltimeintothankingthem. LazyMondayCoupons:Anotheroptionisa“LazyMonday”coupon,whichallowsemployeestoarrivelateonaMondaymorning. TellYourBoss:Ifyouemailtheteamorteammemberthankingthemfortheirwork,consideringcopyingYOURbossontheemail. TryaWellnessProgram:Considerimplementingaworkplacewellnessprogramtocutdownonthenumberofsickdaysandreduceyourcompany’soverallhealthinsurancespend. 6.Cutouttheexcess Ifpossible,trynottogiveemployeessmaller,unnecessarytaskswhentheyarefocusedonalargergoal.Takealookattheteam’sroutine,andseeifthereisanythingthatyoucancuttogiveemployeesmoretimetofocusonhigher-priorityassignments. Forexample,ifemployeesareaskingtowritedailyreportsfortheirsupervisors,butsupervisorsgenerallydon’thavetimetoreadthem,considercuttingthewordcountrequirement.Doingsomethingsimplyasaformalityiswastingvaluabletimethatcouldbeusedforaccomplishinggoalsthatactuallyhelpyourcompany. 7.Trainanddevelopemployees Reducingtraining,orcuttingitalltogether,mightseemlikeagoodwaytosavecompanytimeandmoney(learningonthejobissaidtobeaneffectivewaytotrain,afterall).However,thiscouldultimatelybackfire.Forcingemployeestolearntheirjobsontheflycanbeextremelyinefficient. So,insteadofhavingworkershaphazardlytryingtoaccomplishataskwithzeroguidance,taketheextradaytoteachthemthenecessaryskillstodotheirjob.Thisway,theycansetaboutaccomplishingtheirtasksontheirown,andyourtimewon’tbewasteddowntheroadansweringsimplequestionsorcorrectingerrors. Pasttheiroriginaltraining,encouragecontinuedemployeedevelopment.Helpingthemexpandtheirskillsetswillbuildamuchmoreadvancedworkforce,whichwillbenefityourcompanyinthelongrun.Thereareanumberofwaysyoucansupportemployeedevelopment:individualcoaching,workshops,courses,seminars,shadowingormentoring,orevenjustincreasingtheirresponsibilities.Offeringtheseopportunitieswillgiveemployeesadditionalskillsthatallowthemtoimprovetheirefficiencyandproductivity. 8.Embracetelecommuting Allowingyouremployeestoworkfromhomemightseeminefficient–afterall,howcanyouguaranteethattheywillstillbeproductiveifnooneiswatchingthem?However,therealityisquitetheopposite(infact,studiesshowthatpeoplewhoworkfromhomearemoreproductivethanofficeemployees).Lettingyouremployeestelecommutewillallowthemtosavetimethatwouldotherwisebewastedcompletely. Forexample,sayanemployeeisfeelingtooilltocomeintowork(orissimplyworriedaboutgettingtheircoworkerssick)butcanstillbeproductive.Ifyoudon’tallowthemtoworkfromhome,theywillbeforcedtotakeasickdayandskipworkingaltogether.Or,forcingyouremployeetomissanentiredayofworkiftheyhavetowaitforthat2to4hourperiodtogettheirrefrigeratorfixed,simplyisn’tefficient.Instead,allowyouremployeetoworkfromhomesotheycanmaximizewhattimetheydohaveavailable. 9.Giveeachotherfeedback Thereisnohopeofincreasingemployeeefficiencyiftheydon’tknowthey’rebeinginefficientinthefirstplace.Thisiswhyperformancereviewsareessential–measureyouremployees’performance,thenholdindividualmeetingstoletthemknowwheretheyareexcelling,andwhatareastheyneedtoworkon. Increasingemployeeefficiencyisn’tallaboutwhattheycandobetter–someoftheresponsibilityfallsonyouaswell.Butjustlikeyouremployees,youaren’tpsychic.Soafterreviewingyouremployees,askthemwhatyoucoulddotohelpthemimprove.Maybetheywouldlikealittlemoreguidanceoncertaintasks,orwouldpreferalittlemoreroomforcreativefreedom.Askingforfeedbacknotonlygivesyouclear,immediatewaystohelpyouremployeesimprove,butalsoencouragesacultureofopendialoguethatwillallowforcontinueddevelopmentovertime. 10.Thinkbigpicture Thingsthatmightseemlikeaninefficientuseoftimetoyounow,mightactuallybetoyouradvantageinthelongrun.So,beforevetoinganapparentmisuseoftime,askyourselfhowthiscouldpossiblybenefityourcompany. InvestinginHRsoftwarenowcansaveyourcompany–andyouremployees–countlesshoursdowntheroad.Fromautomatedonboardingtopayrollthatrunsitself,embracingHRIStechnologywillimproveefficiency,reducefrustration,andhelpyourbusinessgrow. Byutilizinganumberofourefficiencytips,youcanbesurethatyoudon’tfallbehindandputthatextrahourtogood,productiveuse. Thispostwasoriginallypublishedin2015,andhassincebeenupdated. Bookmark(19)Pleaselogintobookmark UsernameorEmailAddress Password RememberMe Noaccountyet?Register Abouttheauthor Alexandra Hicks AlexenjoyscreatingengagingandinformativepiecesaboutavarietyofHRtopicsthathelpsmallbusinessessucceed.Shereceivedhermastersdegreeinjournalismandpreviouslyworkedasareporter,mostlycoveringbusinessandtechnology.Inadditiontowriting,she(unashamedly)enjoyscrimeshows,craftbeer,andpretendingtogotothegym. 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