Workplace efficiency is the foundation of company success. Every day, HR teams across the globe implement new tactics that help people become more productive while feeling satisfied with their professional development. The road to creating an efficient, people-centric workplace is often complicated, and its exact specifics depend on each company's unique blend of culture, purpose, and industry. However, some common factors involve empowerment, recognition, training, and empathy towards employees, clients, and customers. Many HR specialists struggle to find the time and instruments to develop effective systems that adhere to all these principles while achieving fundamental requirements like payroll processing and benefits administration.
In this post, we'll take a closer look at the tactics companies can implement to achieve this and share some ideas on how you can improve workplace efficiency by empowering employees.
Ideas to Improve Workplace Efficiency
Workplace efficiency directly depends on the level of employee engagement you can achieve. Improve engagement means making it easier and more satisfying for your workforce to achieve its goals. Developing processes that create short pathways between beginning and completing a task allows employees to work efficiently – making them and the company more productive.
Here are some ideas to set up efficient work processes.
Implement Clear Task Management Systems
Each project requires a robust tracking and accountability system to keep everyone on the same page. By implementing a task management system, you don't just keep an eye on what your team is doing but can help each employee see their position, assignments, and goals as part of the bigger picture. This structure can minimize time wasted on non-essential tasks and boost engagement rates.
Employees can easily see what they need to work on and will not lose time coming up with or finding tasks to do. It will also help people prioritize tasks others rely on for their responsibilities. If one employee needs input, approval, or a specific piece completed, seeing how it connects to the company's bigger responsibilities makes it easier for them to prioritize that task over ones that are either less time-sensitive or don't need to be passed on to someone else to complete.
Empower People to Work Independently
Micromanagement is the biggest sign of a toxic workplace. It reduces efficiency and hurts retention. To eliminate micromanagement and increase productivity, you must empower your workforce to work independently. Encourage your staff to take ownership of their tasks, give them the suitable instruments, and allow flexible working hours to accommodate work-life balance preferences.
When you hire people who are invested and care about their work output, you bring on people who can work autonomously. Giving them the space and trust to do their work as it feels natural to them will make them even more willing and engaged to do their best. That's not to say you shouldn't monitor employee output. If your employees need constant oversight to do their primary job functions, it's a sign you've hired the wrong people, and keeping them on the team can damage the morale of your hard-working personnel.
Invest in People's Skills
Your top talent may be losing productivity points simply because they require extra training or are having trouble adjusting to new tech or industry changes. Look for opportunities to give your workforce new skills and knowledge to help them work effectively with their new parameters.
It won't just increase productivity in the workplace but also improve retention rates by showing your staff that you care about their futures at the company. Additionally, you'll be able to promote internally instead of investing more money in recruitment, which helps improve your internal culture by keeping people who fit within it and demonstrating to everyone that there's room to grow.
Encourage Collaboration
It's impossible to nurture a productive work culture without open communication because it helps employees get real-time feedback and encourages people to ask questions and share ideas. Encouraging communication, providing proper collaboration channels, and acting on feedback allows employees to improve their work and work together as a cohesive team.
Leadership and HR's job is to make it easy for people to communicate with each other and seek advice from the management through setting up accessible channels (like chat or brainstorming time) or by setting a good example with your own open-door policy. It can speed up the work process, prevent errors that stem from misunderstandings, and leave room for great ideas and innovation to pop up.
Cultivate a Healthy Work Culture
According to a Glassdoor survey, 77% of workers review company culture before accepting an offer. The appeal to top talent isn't the only way a healthy culture boosts productivity. It can also:
- Ensure open communication
- Foster a growth mindset
- Empower employees
Employees who feel valued and safe at work are more likely to work efficiently. These steps will help instill a great culture, but the company can take further steps by hosting team-building activities and recognizing employees for how well they adhere to your culture or values goals.
Take Regular Breaks
Research shows that taking regular breaks increases productivity. However, in the rush to finish the job, many employees neglect to rest. It leads to frustration, burnout, and lower efficiency by decreasing your capacity to think critically and creatively.
It's up to the employer to encourage the workforce to take regular breaks during the workday. That includes short screen breaks. Rested workers are more productive – and less likely to make errors.
Set Reasonable Goals
Today, only 36% of the U.S. workforce is engaged. One of the reasons why the numbers are so low is the lack of effective goal-setting. Employers often either set unreasonable goals or fail to explain the final goal of the workers' efforts, which leads to disengagement and loss of productivity.
Make sure to set achievable goals for your workforce. Provide metrics and KPIs so they can measure personal progress.
Outsource or Automate Tasks
If your employees are still spending most of their time on repetitive manual tasks, the level of productivity can't increase regardless of your other efforts. Outsourcing administrative activities to a third party or investing in automation software can free up time for complex work.
For example, if you partner with a professional employer organization (PEO), you can outsource your HR team's time-consuming administrative tasks and give them more time to focus on creating a healthy workplace. In giving your employees the attention they need and deserve, you can implement positive changes by creating more conducive work environments.
Give Consistent Feedback and Recognition
They must receive constructive feedback to understand how your employees can improve their productivity. Schedule one-on-one sessions with employees regularly. Your feedback will give them direction and reassurance, helping you gain more insight into how your employees feel. That's why asking for their feedback during these sessions is crucial. Feedback and recognition go both ways; asking for employee input helps them feel valued and heard.
It's crucial to show how much you value each team member. By implementing robust recognition tactics, you can boost engagement and productivity.
Increase Efficiency through PEO Partnerships
A partnership with a PEO can significantly contribute to helping your workplace efficiency ideas come to life. Besides outsourcing manual, time-consuming tasks to a team of HR experts, you can rely on their expertise to implement other strategies.
A reliable PEO can help arrange employee training, share access to high-quality HR tools, assist with implementing recognition programs, and much more. Working with this organization can give your HR team time and tools to streamline workplace productivity and improve retention.
