Employee productivity is the heartbeat of any business. In order to keep your business thriving, you want to have employees who are meeting business goals and striving to do better each day.
In a world where we tend to spend more time at work than we do at home, it’s important to know how to keep your employees motivated. Unproductivity employees can be demoralizing and destructive and can impact the entire workforce.
So what can you do to keep employees motivated, interested, and most importantly, productive? Here are 6 simple tips to follow to enforce and maintain a happy and productive work environment for each of your employees.
1. Recruit Better
Having a productive workforce begins all the way back at the recruiting process. Instead of solely focusing on an employee’s skills and experience, it’s just as important to consider how well they fit into your company’s core values.
By focusing on how well the recruit fits into the company’s culture, you can save the company a lot of time and money down the road.
The bottom line is that a possible employee meets all of the skills and experience needed for a position, but may not be the right fit for your company. Cultural fit is crucial, as that person is more likely to collaborate and cooperate well with existing employees, which energizes everyone and increases motivation and productivity.
2. Create the Right Atmosphere
Employees want to feel valued and important. No one wants to work for a company that makes them feel like a number or a dollar sign. If you want to create a team of thriving and productive employees, you need to create the right work environment.
Think of your employees like extended family members. You should always have their best interests in mind and be willing to listen to their concerns or opinions. By creating a caring and family-like environment, employees are more likely to feel safe and happy in their position.
To create a productive atmosphere, be open to employees concerns. Let their voices be heard at company town halls or “ask me anything” events. Schedule one-on-one sessions where employees can speak freely. Send happy birthday emails and congratulate employees who are going above and beyond to make the company a success.
3. Equip Employees with the Proper Tools
The skills that each employee brings to the table are important, but the tools available to them also play a vital role in business performance. With the right hardware and software, you can make getting work done easier and efficient for employees. This results in a streamlined workflow which means increased productivity.
There are many tools that your employees will benefit from in order to keep them productive. One tool is a point of sale (POS) system. With a retail POS system, employees can more quickly complete transactions and returns for customers. Using a POS system eliminates frustrating errors that occur because of manual input. These systems also simplify checkouts for larger customer orders.
Other tools that should be available to your employees include:
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Time tracking
- Performance tracking
With the right tools, each of your employees will be motivated to come to work and put forth their best effort.
4. Recognize & Incentivize
Acknowledging the hard work that your employees are doing goes a long way in keeping them motivated and productive. Highlight employees who have made the most sales or those who have been promoted. By announcing these employees at a company meeting, you show that you value them.
It also never hurts to offer small incentives to employees who are exceeding expectations. Even something as small as a $15 gift card can have a huge impact on morale and productivity. While the monetary value is nice, the award serves as a goal that all employees can work to obtain.
5. Don’t Micromanage
The fact of the matter is that no one really enjoys being micromanaged. One of the simplest ways to help employees to flourish is to back off and manage them a lot less. To encourage productivity, allow employees to take control of how they manage their resources and time.
This builds a culture of self-starters who are self-correcting and highly independent. By giving employees the freedom over how, when, and where they work shows their work ethic.
Bottom line: manage less and watch employees work harder, smarter, and better.
6. Communicate Effectively
Clear communication is critical to the success of your business. Your company needs to offer effective two-way communication that’s positive and engaging.
Shift the focus of work-related conversations to be more geared towards the future versus dwelling on what’s happened in the past. Focus on what’s happening now and discuss solutions along with future possibilities.
Conclusion
Using these 6 simple tips, you can maintain a workforce that is highly motivated and productive. From making employees feel like family to offering incentives for hard work, you can reap the benefits of having employees who are goal and mission-focused.
