Whether you are the manager or owner of an entire business, which has impressively weathered the storms, trials and ultimate tribulations caused by the outbreak of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic in 2020, or else a department head or senior executive, you will be fully aware of the importance of employee efficiency.
So, with this in mind, here are 8 proactive and fairly immediate ways to increase employee efficiency.
Step 1: Strengthen the Sense of Company Culture
No member of your workforce will be happy, satisfied and content in their job role if the daily sense of atmosphere and wholly company culture is not only present, but consistently maintained and even improved upon.
The main elements of a positive working culture, whether that be in a physical office environment or else via communications online for those employees who work remotely from home, include your company’s long-term goals, business ethics, your working environment which you convey as well as your company’s vision.
There have bene numerous reputable research studies released over the last few years or so which time and time again emphasize the direct correlation between positive working environments and employee productivity and efficiency.
Step 2: Align Your Company’s Goals Seamlessly to Employee Performance
Another incredibly effective way of substantially boosting the overall efficiency levels of each and every member of your workforce is to ensure that the targets and goals you set for your employees are both achievable and provide rewards not just for your business, but for your workers themselves.
Not only should you set clear and accessible goals for your employees, but when targets are reached and even smashed, you should always make time and spend energy rewarding and complementing such achievements, as well as focusing on actively celebrating such results.
Step 3: Improve Your Own Educational Acumen
As the head of a department within a company, or else as the owner or manager of the business itself, especially if your role involves intensive business management responsibilities, it is your professional obligation to remain as ahead of the proverbial game when it comes to learning how each and every job role contributes.
One of the most effective and incredibly advantageous ways to achieve this is to embark upon a reputable, renowned and wholly prestigious online mba at an established online university. This way, you will be in the perfect position to actively change and improve the level of your employees’ productivity and efficiency having a clear and deep understanding of what their job roles involve.
Step 4: Encourage Employee Training & Learning Opportunities
As well as striving to improve and strengthen your own academic knowledge and practical experience, it is also absolutely essential, especially when focusing on boosting employee efficiency, to always provide training and development opportunities for your employees.
Furthermore, it is actually perhaps considered that the provision of exciting and challenging training by an employer is the number one strategy for boosting employee engagement and efficiency. If a member of your workforce feels as if they are valued and important enough for you to invest money into supplying additional training, then they are more likely to work harder and want to drive the business forward in terms of success and longevity.
Step 5: Upgrading Your Technology
Whether you like it or not, technology has not only taken over how businesses, regardless of size, scope or specific industry, operate, but is now absolutely integral to the clear running of the company.
If your employees are not afforded access to the latest equipment, computers, computing accessories and other software, then this can not only physically mean they are unable to produce as much work, but could also affect their energy levels and feelings of motivation.
Step 6: Delegate More Often
Sometimes, a highly successful and proactive business manager or department head feels as if, when an important job needs doing, especially to a timed deadline, then it seems easier to do it themselves.
Not only will this professional attitude result in the increasing of your already heavy workload, but it may well make your employees feel as if you do not trust them enough to complete the task themselves, or else feel as if they are unable to.
Naturally, as the owner of a business, your company is like your child and as such, you want to make sure that every single area is not only ticking over, but as productive and efficient as possible. From now on, however, try to relinquish at least some of the control over a specific department and instead trust your employees to be able to do the job themselves.
Step 7: Communicate More Effectively
Hopefully, you are already fully aware that at the heart of an effective management strategy is to be as honest and open with your communication to both people in other departments and to your employees who sit directly under you.
Unfortunately, one of the many disadvantages of technology being so intricately involved in the smooth-running of a company is that it can sometimes be easier to send a group and rather generic email instead of communicating with your employees on a personal one-to-one basis.
If your company is indeed heavily centered around using technology, then you should consider using social media platforms, especially those which have been specifically designed for a private business intranet, which will make your employees feel considerably more involved and valued.
Step 8: Introduce Rewarding Employee Incentives
Finally and perhaps most obviously, it is incredibly important when you are focused on and dedicated to boosting employee engagement and efficiency, to introduce exciting employee incentives, which could include one or more of the following, to name but a few:
- The implementation of a workplace employee wellness program
- Ensuring to celebrate individual employee achievements on social media platforms
- Distributing ‘Lazy Monday’ or ‘Lazy Friday’ coupons
- Handwritten notes for employees who have gone above and beyond their call of duty
- Rewarding employees with gift cards, pre-booked meals or special coupons