Productivity – Consultancy

Want more productivity from your employees? Read this…

Multiple things influence productivity on the work floor. While there are external factors that are beyond the company’s control, there are many internal factors that can be manipulated on the personal and organizational levels. It is often thought that the internal factors affecting productivity rest solely on the shoulders of the employees. In fact, management has a more significant impact due to their influence on their teams.

Employee Health

Investing in employee health results in staff that come to work mentally and physically prepared with an increased stamina and focus. Regular exercise gets the blood pumping, increases oxygenation to the brain, and helps clear the mind. Employees who exercise regularly will be healthier, more efficient, and in the end, more productive. Investing in an employee wellness program is something every organization should aspire to.

Environment

In addition to encouraging personal health, the organization needs to provide a healthy environment. Having a workspace with proper ergonomics will keep attitudes more positive, and people focused on work instead of aches and pains from a poorly arranged environment. The short-term investment of a proper ergonomic assessment will pay off in the long run with decreased time away from work to manage neck, back or shoulder problems, fewer WCB claims, and overall healthier employees.

Temperature is a factor that contributes significantly to productivity. If the staff is too cold, they will spend time trying to get warm. Conversely, if the staff is too warm, they are sluggish. Either way, temperature affects productivity. The perfect temperature for the office environment is between 60-70 Fahrenheit or 15.5-21 Celsius. Something to keep in mind, but out of our control, is the outdoor environment. Employees are likely to be more productive on bright, sunny days versus dreary, dull days.

Listening to music may also have a profound effect on productivity. Music has been shown to improve mood, focus, and endurance. Playing music in the background may significantly improve productivity. Beware, however, if someone doesn’t usually listen to music, it may hinder their productivity.

Training, Equipment, and Systems

Regardless of their position within the company, all staff will benefit from training of some sort. Whether it is initial training to ensure they can do their job or ongoing training, employees must be encouraged to continue their professional and personal development.

A major factor in productivity is ensuring that the employee has the proper training and tools for the job. Nothing is more frustrating than performing a task with the wrong tool. Whatever the business, there are tools customized to the organization to reduce waste and increase productivity. Even when trying to cut costs and maintain overhead, there is a point that some investment is necessary. The cost of equipment upgrades will outweigh the loss of productivity due to substandard equipment.

Even with the right equipment in place, productivity can be stifled by inefficient workflow processes. It’s important to review processes from time to time and change them as needed. Ask for and reward employee input on a regular basis. They often will have creative ways to improve workflow and productivity.

Employee Satisfaction

When employees are no longer engaged at work, their productivity declines. Likewise, employees that are passionate about their job will work to their full potential. Therefore, organizations that want to optimize productivity need to focus on employee satisfaction. This is truly the core of Oteos. Happy employees equal increased productivity resulting in happy customers, regardless of the nature of the organization. Developing relationships, providing an ideal work environment, encouraging professional and personal growth, autonomy and empowerment and open, two-way communication are all methods of improving employee engagement.

In summary, if productivity remains the goal, then it is necessary to identify the factors that are affecting it. It starts at the hiring process, and the expectations remain for the term of employment. That said, it is the organization’s responsibility to provide the right tools and environment to facilitate a continually improving rate of productivity and efficiency.

I challenge you to identify areas of improvement in your organization. What can you do to boost productivity?

What do you do when you identify slack?

The other day I was listening to Craig Groeschel’s podcast about slack amongst leaders in the workplace. He defined slack as anything that doesn’t move us towards our goal. I was surprised by the amount of slack time that the typical leader engages in during an average work week. Now slack can come in multiple forms, including excessively long breaks or lunch hours or excessive visiting or chatting on the work floor. Note that I said excessivevisiting. We know that strong teams are developed more by the connections made out of the workplace than those made at work. That is why some visiting about kids, husbands and lives outside of work is actually good for the team. I have many more thoughts on team building that I will share in later articles.

The stat that really resonated with me was the 3.8 hours a week that leaders spend engaging in mindless activities like scrolling Facebook and Instagram or streaming YouTube. According to Groeschel, this is done to give them a mental break. Think about that – 3.8 hours per week for mental breaks at work. I am in no way saying that mental breaks are not necessary during a workday but what happening that this is adding to the average 20 hours of slack in a week? Or is this a practice that should actually be encouraged?

The Tork poll done in spring of 2018 showed a large disconnect between the management and employee perception of breaks, specifically lunch breaks. Tork showed that management often considered the lunch break when evaluating job performance or view staff that took a regular lunch break as less productive. This despite the evidence that regular breaks, including lunch breaks increase creativity, productivity and focus. A common trend is the 30 minute lunch break. While 30 minutes is enough to inhale a sandwich, is it really long enough to give someone a true break? The hour long lunch not only gives your staff room to breathe but it can discourage poor habits like getting fast food or encourage positive health habits like exercise, meditation or other forms of self-care.

There are many ways that organizations can encourage regular breaks. Yes, you read that correctly – organizations should encourage regular breaks. Mutually important is the body’s need for regular fuel throughout the day and the minds need for intermittent rest. Healthy snacks in a comfortable environment can help decrease the mid-afternoon slump and help your team continue strong until the end of the day.

One easy way to encourage regular breaks is to take a break yourself. I am a firm believer in leading by example. This is something I practiced as a parent and as a leader on the team. Just as we cannot expect our kids to be healthy eaters as we are eating a Big Mac, we cannot expect our staff to take breaks if we don’t practice it ourselves.

Don’t confuse busyness with productivity. When I first started nursing many years ago, we were encouraged by older nurses to look busy. That way the head nurse would not think you were slacking. Of course, today this practice is obsolete – in nursing anyway. Just because staff is not scrolling on their phone does not mean they are being productive. If you notice their focus is absent or weak, it may be time for a break – scheduled or not.

Aside from encouraging regular breaks to encourage mental and physical health, leaders should view slack in the workplace as an opportunity for improvement. Perhaps something has changed within the team, a staff is facing something difficult on the home front or is experiencing poor job satisfaction. Either way, identifying the why behind the slack can be an opportunity to provide support to your team and identify ways to encourage growth.

Even amongst your best employee slack is always going to be present to some degree, it’s how we utilize it that matters. Encourage your team to practice good self-care, take their breaks and lead by example. Do you take your breaks? How do you lead your staff to decrease slack and increase productivity?