Your employees’ productive output is the engine behind your business’s growth. While getting all employees to synchronize and become as productive as possible is difficult, it’s not unachievable.
In the modern era, businesses rely on technology to improve their overall business operations. As a result, tools such as automated payroll and email automation systems have become popular, enabling companies to complete time-consuming tasks in seconds.
Recently, the need to monitor employees’ productivity has occurred as more individuals commit time theft. This is a serious problem that businesses want to avoid altogether as paying for time spent unproductively is financially unfeasible.
Let’s see how you can effectively track, measure, and increase employee productivity.
Use time-tracking software
Businesses strive to achieve perfection, and without the relevant data, that is not possible. For this reason, businesses use software that helps them track every facet of each operation. This way, they know exactly how long it takes an employee to complete a certain task and can better organize teams for projects.
Using software for monitoring employees will give you a clear picture of your team’s productivity. In addition, you will be able to identify key performers and sanction those that commit time theft repeatedly.
While you cannot expect all your employees to give 100% for your business day in and day out, what you can do is eliminate instances that stand in your way of success. Talk with your employees about using social media and personal devices at work. While they should be allowed during breaks, there’s no need for them to be used during working hours except in the case of an emergency.
Hold daily meetings
Communication is vital for a productive workflow. Your employees must report to you what they have been working on and how much progress they have achieved. Your daily meetings are the best place to initiate this kind of communication.
Besides that, your employees can report on potential bottlenecks and provide you with valuable feedback on how you can optimize the entire business workflow. Through conversation, you can discover what drives your business forward and is holding it back.
Set clear goals and expectations
To measure the performance of your employees, you will need to set goals for them. Employees that are presented with monthly or quarterly goals are more likely to deliver solid performance and exceed expectations.
If you set clear goals, you don’t really have to rely on tools to measure performance. Your employees are productive if the goals are achieved, and the work is delivered promptly. On the other hand, if they fail to deliver on time, they are slacking off.
Stop paying by the hour
As mentioned previously, time theft has become a severe problem for businesses. Even if employees fail to complete any substantial work during their 8-hour shift, they still expect to be fully compensated for their time.
Nowadays, businesses opt to compensate employees based on their completed work rather than hours spent in the office to move away from this trend. This can be a significant change that will motivate your employees to work harder and have a greater output.
But, in some cases, this can be a problem. Rather than focusing on quality, employees will start pushing for quantity.
Reward progress
Sometimes, it’s a good idea to take a step back and allow your employees to work their way. By observing them, you can discover who is the team’s leader and who is struggling to perform their daily tasks.
Rewarding the top performers will set standards for all employees in the team. As a result, the other team members will be motivated to work more and produce better quality work to earn rewards and praise. In addition, you can showcase the work of your top performers during your monthly or weekly meetings to help each team member understand what you are looking for.
Bottom line
Every business wants to achieve greatness, and in order to do that, your team must be on board with your vision. Late starts, use of social media, and time theft are serious problems businesses encounter. However, with the help of time-tracking software, you can rest assured that all of your employees will be productive during their work shifts.
And lastly, don’t forget to actively communicate with your employees, as transparency can uncover many work-related issues you might not be aware of.