Klinsheet Consulting Limited

As an entrepreneur, the onus rests on you to inspire your employees to get the best out of them. If you succeed at this, your employees would be happier with their jobs. As a result, there would be higher levels of employee productivity and efficiency. As a manager, striking a balance between helping other people be at their best while getting your own work done could be a very big challenge. However, the art of pushing employees to become more productive is a skill that can be learned.

Apparently, there is no single assured method of becoming the best leader or manager in the world. However, there are proven actionable steps that can be done to ascertain that your employees remain productive in line with your organizational goals. In this article, we have highlighted 7 simple but effective strategies that can help increase the productivity of your employees.

1. Allow for transparency and feedback

   While it is an uncommon phenomenon in the workplace, admitting when you’re wrong is essential to building a culture of transparency. This way, everyone can act and express themselves freely at work. As a leader, there comes the frequent urge to demonstrate control. However, admitting a lack of adequate knowledge or admitting a mistake shows more courage on the part of the leader. Furthermore, it would help to foster a culture of learning and transparency, while reassuring employees that they can express their concerns without fear.

2. Encourage autonomy
   

   One of the most effective ways of increasing the productivity of any team is by having managers take a step back and giving more autonomy to the team. To foster productivity, individuals must be given the free will to determine how to manage their time and resources. Availing employees the freewill over how they work helps to boost productivity in a way that forcing control cannot. As awkward as it sounds, autonomy motivates most individuals way better than financial rewards will.

3. Provide the right tools
   

   The performance of your business is directly proportional to the skills and resources available to your employees. Having access to the right tools will make work easier and create a seamless flow of work. There are various tools that can help to foster productivity in the workplace. For instance, having applications that can help employees to communicate, collaborate, and keep track of time at work would have a positive effect on productivity.

4. Provide training for employees

   If you want to get the best results from your employees, it is imperative that you pay attention to helping them build capacity within the scope of their responsibilities. Research has proven that training employees is as advantageous to an employer, as it is to the employee who was trained. There is a wide range of skills that can help employees to increase productivity. These skills could be as subtle as learning how to work with a spreadsheet; learning how to do business presentations; or as serious as developing business plans and developing go-to-market strategies.

5. Know your employees
   

   In truth, it is not easy to keep in mind the personal issues your employees have told you about – especially when those things were said on days they needed to be excused from work. However, following up on these personal issues demonstrates that you genuinely care about the well-being of your employees. Frequently asking about something your employee has been struggling with or checking on them when they appear to be down would help to build a bond between you and them. This bond would make it easier for you to understand what motivates your employees and makes them tick. And when employees are aware that you genuinely care about them, they subconsciously feel the urge to do more.

6. Get everyone to key into your vision
   

   One of the biggest challenges organizations face is ensuring that employees remain happy about their job. For employees to remain happy all year round; they must have the feeling that what they are doing is the best possible endeavour to be engaged in at this point in their life. Once employees have this mindset, they would put in their very best and be proud of it. But to achieve this feat, employees must have clarity about the vision of your organization. Furthermore, they need to know exactly where they fit in within the scheme of things.

7. Appreciate results
   

   As a leader, it beckons on you to pay attention to the efforts and outputs of your employees. This way, you are able to show appreciation to employees who deliver high levels of productivity. Applauding good work and giving employees the recognition they crave can help to keep motivation levels high. Letting employees know that you’re aware that they have done a great job can spell the difference between productive employees and non-productive ones.

 

Dipo Umoru

+234 703 719 5924

Verification Consultant

Klinsheet Consulting