Two-thirds of UK employees are working longer hours than two years ago but only 10 per cent think they are being more productive, according to a 2016 study by the Smith Institute.
Getting things done is the aim of work – at least it should be. Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy to be productive.
In today’s work environment, there are a wealth of factors that stop employees from being as productive as they could be.
Here are six tips to help ensure your employees can work optimally:
1. Encourage them to take breaks
Make sure your employees are taking breaks. According to a science daily study, short diversions at least once an hour vastly improve focus. Taking a walk, doing some exercise or just switching focus away from the screen will help your employees renew their energy and get more done.
2. Minimise distractions
Distractions in the workplace are a huge drain on productivity. Make sure that your office environment minimises the number of distractions for employees. Get rid of loud music, have a quiet office and try to give employees their own space. A study by Ask.com found that 61% found loud coworkers were the biggest distraction at work.
3. Make sure they get enough sleep
Sleep deprivation reportedly costs US companies $63.2 billion in lost productivity. Ideally, your employees should be getting at least 8 hours of sleep a day but that’s not something you can control. A range of research has shown that naps during the day can have a similar effect to a proper nights sleep, so encourage them to catch 40 winks at work.
4. Make sure they are happy
Happy workers are productive workers. According to a study by the University of Warwick, being happy makes employees 12% more productive. Make sure that employees have the right working environment, hours, management and support to help them be as happy as possible. Your bottom line will thank you.
5. Cut out the multitasking
Stop expecting your employees to multitask. Multitasking is just inefficient fast task switching. The best way for your employees to get things done is to stick to just doing one task at a time until it’s complete. According to research, multitasking can decrease productivity by as much as 40%!
6. Understand how they’re working
If you really want to help your employees be more productive you need to have as clear a picture as possible of their work days.
An excellent way to do this is by measuring employee productivity using employee monitoring software, which can be installed remotely onto all your employees’ devices.
The software will monitor exactly what websites and apps they use throughout the day, and generate personalised productivity reports for each employee.
You’ll be able to see exactly how productive your employees are being and understand where, when and how they are being distracted.
Over To You
Have any tips for increasing employee productivity that you think we haven’t covered? We’d like to know.
Share your suggestions through the comments section below.