Even the most talented, well-trained employee can lose efficiency with time if the work environment isn’t aiding and encouraging productivity. As an employer, it’s your duty to always find creative ways to increase workplace efficiency and ensure maximum productivity.
Here are few simple ways to boost workplace efficiency:
1. Motivate employees through Gamification
Lack of motivation kills productivity faster than most other factors. An unmotivated employee would usually lack the enthusiasm to complete challenging tasks.
One great way of boosting employee motivation is using gamification techniques, that is, employing gaming elements like achievement badges, levels and rankings, leader boards, points, rewards, virtual currencies, and so on, to make challenging or boring tasks more engaging.
2. Encourage regular breaks
Research has shown that working without breaks leads to a steady decline in performance, while brief and rare mental “breaks” keep people focused. Encourage taking short scheduled breaks during long tasks and watch your employee’s concentration improve – and your bottom line grow.
You can also encourage working in intervals of 90-minutes; it’s a good prescription for maximizing productivity.
3. Discourage multitasking
This point might seem counterproductive, but in reality, the ability to multitask might not be an important skill for increasing work efficiency. It might actually be taking a toll on productivity, as found by The American Psychological Association.
Better practice is committing to a single task before moving on to the next one. And this is what you should encourage.
4. Having a Breakroom
Every office should have a breakroom where employees can gather to enjoy morning coffee, talk over the water cooler or dispenser, relax, and probably prepare lunches for mid-afternoon breaks.
Ensure the breakroom is well stocked and maintained – with food items and appliances like microwave, refrigerator, coffee maker, water dispenser, blender, etc. And whenever any of these gets faulty, call for appliance repair immediately.
5. Pleasant sights
Might sound out-there, but enlivening the office space with paintings, flowers or plants, pictures, and other aesthetically pleasing objects can increase work productivity by up to 15 percent. Now imagine what some extra 15% productivity from majority of employees would do to your business!
6. Have a wellness program
A healthy employee is a productive employee. Whether it is through rewards or discounted insurance rates, there should be a preventive care and maintenance program available to keep your employees healthy and motivated. Wellness programs like these will definitely give your workplace a boost in efficiency and productivity.
Conclusion
Increasing workplace efficiency is an unending journey of finding new or more ways to increase employee happiness and satisfaction, and consequently boost their productivity. It also involves creating a work-friendly and motivating environment for employees.
While there are several others, following the above-discussed 6 simple ways will definitely boost your workplace efficiency, and in turn, have a positive effect on your bottom line.
Now over to you…
Which other tips would you recommend to help boost the efficiency of the workplace? Kindly share with this community in the comments section.