7 Effective Ways to Dramatically Increase Employee Efficiency

Elena Velikova

August 10, 2017

	Not rated
	Rate:

Employee efficiency can make or break a business which is why it’s something that should always be reviewed to help come up with better ways to increase it. Whether you run a small business or you’re the CEO of a large company, increasing employee efficiency should be at the top of your list of things to do, just so your business doesn’t waste time and money on the same day to day tasks.

Increasing employee efficiency is far from easy, though, as there is much to consider and there could be many reasons why multiple employees don’t share the same enthusiasm for work as others do. Consider the following tips that are sure to help increase efficiency to better the working environment for everyone.

1. Make Sure Your Employees Understand Company Standards

It’s important for any business to establish standards with their employees, otherwise, they’re not going to know what you expect as an employer. This can lead them off track on occasion and they will often come up with excuses as to why deadlines weren’t met or why the work wasn’t to a high standard. Setting standards will give employees something to work towards and, hopefully, it will better their overall performance.

2. Provide Employee Development Benefits

Some employees are happy with where they are in life, and they won’t show too much ambition when it comes to new employment opportunities and a better salary. However, there are those out there that want to get to the top of the career ladder and if those employees don’t see any career progression benefits, they’re either going to leave or they’re not going to perform to the best of their ability.

There’s always something you can do in this instance, even if it means opening new job opportunities that offer better salaries. Team leaders, supervisors and managers are always job opportunities you can open without having to spend huge sums of money.

As stated above, providing career progression opportunities is an effective way to get employees motivated. Also, offering courses to help develop their own personal skills could help them get back on track and improve their working appetite overall.

3. Communicate Effectively

Without effective communication in place, your employees are going to suffer and will ultimately not produce the high performance you’re looking for. Look to invest in tools to make communication easier between employees, and always make sure they’re aware they can contact you should they have anything to get off their chests.

Ensure your employees can communicate with each other effectively, but also efficiently, and ensure they’re not having to walk from one side of the building to the other just to get some information on something they could have had via email or phone.

4. Get Rid of Deadwood

Many motivation killers linger around the workplace, so it’s up to you to stamp these out or get rid of them completely if you just don’t feel it’s working. Motivation killers can range from employees who cause nothing but trouble to brain-killing repetitive jobs that can be better completed another way.

Try to get rid of any motivation killers so your employees are happy with what they’re doing throughout the day. Just because they are at work, it doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy it, so do your utmost to ensure working practices are not mentally draining (where possible).

5. Provide Employees with the Right Tools

The tools you supply to your employees will depend on the industry you serve. However, the right tools can truly make the difference between an employee working at a higher efficiency level or doing the bare minimum. If, for example, you manage an office in the financial sector, you’ll want to provide the best computers and communication equipment so employees can properly undertake their jobs.

Other smaller items are also key to improving employee efficiency. A simple online tool such as a paystub generator could be the difference in increasing efficiency. Always look at the working environment and see where you could improve by investing in new tools and other items. The chances are, your employees aren’t working as efficiently as you would like because they’re using slow computers or outdated processes.

6. Always Provide Your Employees with the Necessary Feedback

Your employees wouldn’t mind hearing how they’re working from time to time, so it’s your job to provide them with the feedback they crave. Some workers obviously prefer to be appreciated, whereas many others want to get better at what they do, and they’ll not be able to do that without your feedback.

Whether your feedback is positive or negative, consider letting them know, in the right tone, about how they’re working and what they can do to improve their work. Usually, this will help them understand what’s needed from them and they will always work harder to try and ensure their efforts are well compensated.

7. Motivate by Money

Just because employees already get a good salary for the jobs they undertake doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be compensated further. The fact is, some employees do more work than others and often lose motivation because they still get the same pay packet. Consider increasing rates for the good employees who do more, and always make sure the pay increases or “prizes” are available to all who set a certain high-level standard of work or performance.

The same can be done with the use of rewards such as “employee of the month” and the like. Employees who know they’re going to get rewarded for more work are likely to work even harder and set an example for other employees to follow.

What you do to motivate your employees all boils down to what you’re willing to do to get them in the right frame of mind. Sometimes, employees can’t be helped and they will always lack motivation in the workplace regardless of the rewards and other benefits you throw at them. However, there are many other employee’s worth spending money and time on to get them motivated again, and these are the employees you should try and use the above tips with.