According to Towers Watson, In 2014, just 4 in 10 global employees were highly engaged.

Productivity is, of course, critical for every business. Higher productivity equates to better performance, higher output and increased profits.

The more productive individual employees can be, the more valuable they become for your business. And with employee costs being one of the most expensive factors in running a business, high employee productivity is essential. Of course, it is impossible to force your employees to work harder, and trying to do so will usually backfire.

One of the best ways to increase productivity is to encourage and empower your employees to want to work harder.

Here are a few easy ways to do that:

1. Interfere less

The more you let people do their job without interfering, the more they’ll want to do it. Instead of micromanaging, give employees the space to do their work and help shape the business. Employees love being autonomous, so provide broad parameters and clear goals then take a step back.

2. Give them all the information they need

Sharing as much information as possible with your employees will empower them to perform better. By being able to put their work in perspective and to understand how their role is affecting the performance of the company, they will be massively motivated. Even better, share everything with them, so they feel even more invested in the company’s success.

3. Give them more authority

Increasing your employees’ power in their own roles will help them feel more responsible and invested. Get rid of some approval steps for daily tasks or give them further responsibilities – ones which are usually reserved for more senior employees. The more they ‘own’ their job, the better they will want to perform in it.

4. Make them part of the decision-making process

Nothing makes an employee feel better and more empowered than being invited to have a say when it comes to making management decisions in areas concerning their work.

Not only will your employees feel appreciated, respected and more involved, they might also come up with some great ideas.

5. A great tool to help

Another great way to help your employees become more productive is to give them a tool that monitors how they are working AND shows them how productive they are being.

Employee computer monitoring software can be installed remotely on to company devices to record the exact amount of time employees spend on websites and applications (which can be set as productive or unproductive) during working hours.

Weekly reports detailing their productivity can then be shared with each employee to help them understand how they work.

Your Turn

Which techniques do you rely on to help nudge your employees onto the path of productivity?

Let us know in the comments