Treating Employees Better to Increase Business Productivity:

Labour productivity in British industry is at an all-time low, according to data analysis from the past 10 years. And it should come as no surprise that a lack of productivity has serious knock-on effects, including profit, morale, and staff turnover.

While unfortunately there’s no science behind boosting productivity, research would support the idea that focusing on how employees are treated will increase business productivity. So there’s never been a better time to show your staff you care – here are some ideas for doing just that.  

Be Open to Flexibility

The role of technology in un-tethering us from our desks can not be over-estimated – with the ubiquitous mobile phone we can quite literally work from anywhere, at any time so investing in the best possible technology will ensure an engaged, productive workforce. If you need more convincing: Nearly a third of office workers in the UK report that they are more productive outside of the office.

Look for robust, business-rugged solutions, that will enable your team to work from anywhere – whether that be on-site, or from a kitchen table – and that can stand up to whatever your staff may throw at it. 

Get Personal

If you’re the head of an SME then you have an advantage over your big corporate peers – it’s relatively easy to get to know your employees on an individual basis, and doing so can reap rewards. In a study carried out by a Harvard Business Review, 58 per cent of employees said they trusted strangers more than their boss. – make sure you fall into the other 42 percent. Staff will be more productive if they believe and feel aligned with business goals. 

Know your staff. Know their strengths, their weaknesses, their beliefs, and their values. While you can’t possibly please everyone, what you can do is make sure that they align with their role within the business and future projects. Know what they’re best at and assign them accordingly; they’ll thank you for it – and so will your bottom line as productivity soars.  

Large corporates can mirror this advice by delegating the job of understanding individual team members to departmental heads or team leaders. 

Empower and Develop

All employees have the right to psych-safety in the workplace. Interpersonal trust, respect, and the allowing of social risks – such as admitting failure and asking for help – all build an impenetrable environment. When your team knows that their boss is advocating psychological safety, you’ll find productivity will sky-rocket. Why? People will feel as if they have the intelligence and the right to ask questions about current procedures; you’ll find new solutions left, right, and center. 

Turn to Technology

Mobile phones and tablets mean you have a possible solution to improving productivity in the workplace already – you just need to harness it in the right way. From health analytics to happiness Apps, technology really does have the power to make your team happier, healthier, and a good deal more productive. Stress is a leading cause of sick leave at work – and if your staff are off sick they’re not going to be very productive – and neither does presenteeism (turning up for work when sick) help either. From meditation Apps and health monitoring software, technology has multiple uses for enhancing staff’s well-being and so productivity.

An example of an excellent application that you can use is Monitask. This app is an easy-to-use time-tracking software designed for remote teams of employees that includes automatic timesheets and screenshots of employees’ workstations as proof of work done. Utilizing simple yet powerful applications like this ensures that your team can focus on the most important tasks every day.

At Conker, we like to help businesses with their productivity. We know that even small teams can be highly effective – and we know that connectivity and staying ahead of the digital trends will help them do that. Therefore, we create durable tech to aid mobile workforces. Want to learn more? We’d love to hear from you – speak to a human today.