Employee productivity is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. When you’re getting it right, you don’t even have to think about it because things run so smoothly that, why would you? However, when your employees are not being as productive as they could be, you notice it pretty quickly in the smaller profits and bigger problems in the workplace.

So employee productivity is really vital, but how do you improve it? By implementing these proven strategies, that’s how!

Recruit Right

It’s pretty obvious that your business will be more productive if you have the right staff working for you. So, start at the recruitment stage by hiring the employees who have the best cultural fit, the best qualifications and the most suitable working history. Do this and you’re already halfway there.

Engage Your Employees

Employees who are engaged, show up, work hard, work longer and produce more than employees who are disengaged and not really bothered. So, it’s unfortunate that only 34 percent of employees in the US feel engaged. If you want to boost productivity, you need to ensure your employees are amongst the 34 percent. How do you do that? You give them the right tools for the job, work that is meaningful and perk that they’ll truly love.

Install a Surveillance System

You don’t need to be draconian and monitor their every move, and actually, doing so may prove counterproductive, but there is no denying that installing a decent surveillance system can help to improve productivity. Employees who know they are being watched are less likely to spend all of their time fooling around than those who feel they are free to do so, which means more work will actually be undertaken during the day, naturally boosting productivity as a result.

Offer Training

Skilling-up your employees by offering continuous training on the job is a measure that will almost certainly bear fruit. Not only will it help with employee engagement and retention, but it will ensure that each and every employee knows exactly what to do and how to do it well. Employees who don’t fully grasp what they’re doing are never going to be as efficient as those who do.

Allow for Autonomy

Many business owners think that micromanaging their employees is the way to boost productivity, but in actual fact, they are just wasting time – their employees’ time and their own. Allowing employees to take ownership of their own work enables them to use their creativity and their own unique skills to get things done in the most efficient way possible. They are the ones doing the work every day and sometimes they really do know better.

Make Self-Care a Priority

Offering lunchtime yoga classes, encouraging employees to eat healthy (perhaps by subsidizing healthy lunches) and offering counseling sessions are just some of the ways you can encourage self-care amongst employees, and doing so is a really good idea to help cut stress and lower the number of sick days taken. Happy healthy employees are always going to be more productive, so help them with that.

Implement the above and see productivity soar!