An Overview of the Factors of Productivity
Poor workplace productivity and employee engagement are issues so many organizations face, and the problem often stems from the employer rather than the employees.
A company’s success depends significantly on its employees’ productivity levels, and there are many factors that affect workplace productivity.
This article covers everything you need to note about the various factors of productivity and which strategies you can utilize to boost your organization’s labor productivity and improve job satisfaction among your employees.
What is Employee Productivity?
Employee productivity is essentially the comparison between an organization’s output (goods and services produced) and the input that was required to yield the output.
Several factors affect employee productivity and play a significant role in the work environment and the success of your business.
9 Pivotal Factors That Affect Workplace productivity
#1 The Work Environment
Anyone would be reluctant to give their all when they’re stuck in a toxic or hostile work environment. Creating a positive atmosphere throughout your entire workplace is essential to ensuring a productive work environment.
Cooperation and honesty should be at the top of your priority list. Your employees should feel valued and rewarded for their efforts, and they must work in an environment where they can compete and collaborate with their co-workers.
Employees need to feel they are trusted to do their best when you assign tasks to them, so they can develop healthy and productive work habits that contribute to a productive workforce.
#2 Development Opportunities and Training
An employee spends most of their day at work, so it is crucial to make them feel like they have the opportunity to grow and develop their skills and advance their career.
Employee productivity depends on an individual’s sense of achievement, so it makes sense to expend time and money investing in their growth in the company.
An untrained employee would be less inclined to do their best, as they may feel distorted or underappreciated, and that will affect productivity to a great extent. Therefore, adequate training programs will go a long way in achieving a healthy and productive workforce and advancing business success.
Microlearning is a sure way to facilitate training programs, as it provides new employees with all the tools and resources they need to thrive in the workplace.
If every team member feels like the company is investing in their personal growth, they will be less inclined to feel stuck in a position and explore other options.
#3 Invest in the Process
Establishing sound processes in the workplace is an excellent way of assuring your employees that they will have a positive experience right from the start.
From the onboarding process, employee compensation, and management, every phase of the employee journey must reassure employees that their efforts are not being overlooked and that they are valuable to the company.
Although some of these processes may be time-consuming, it is certainly worth it, as it contributes to an efficient and organized work system and promotes team productivity.
Companies with high productivity levels are known to invest a lot of time into developing processes for all projects and recurring tasks.
For instance, many businesses underestimate the value of employee surveys. A diligent survey prevents employees from feeling unseen and neglected, which leads to lower employee productivity.
An effective project management tool greatly benefits human resources managers and sheds some light on the level of job satisfaction in the workplace.
A project management tool also promotes ease in the offboarding process. When employees leave the company, managers often forget to revoke their access to specific platforms, which may cause some privacy issues.
Using the appropriate tool will increase the productivity levels of HR team members, as they can focus their efforts on the particular tasks at hand instead of worrying about the activities of a former employee.
#4 Employee Compensation
A common issue among employees is that they feel they are not regarded as humans that also have children to feed and bills to pay. The primary purpose of any job is to provide employees with the financial capacity to reach their goals.
The monetary benefits of a job must be used as a motivational tool to increase an employee’s productivity. Reward your employees with well-deserved promotions and raises so they don’t feel like their efforts are in vain.
Dissatisfaction regarding employee compensation is usually the result of poor communication. Many workers are reluctant to bring up the matter of their salary due to the fear of rejection or judgment.
Therefore, every employer must ensure they present themselves as accepting and approachable, so their employees feel free to raise their concerns should there be any underlying issues.
#5 Health and Wellness
The wellness of employees in the workplace has become a significant topic over the past few years. Employee wellness refers to team members’ physical and mental health.
Employees must be provided with all the tools they need to feel healthy and happy at all times, and it is the employer’s responsibility to ensure they get it.
A healthy employee is a productive employee, and minor issues may develop into significant problems if they aren’t acknowledged and addressed appropriately.
Small adjustments like offering a wellness program and equipping the office cafeteria with healthy food options can help every individual to become a healthy and happy employee, which encourages them to be more productive.
A company can have a significant positive impact on its employees and their productivity levels by promoting an overall healthier lifestyle.
A company can do this by allowing its employees to partake in physical activities so they can move around instead of sitting in the same chair the whole day.
Employers can even encourage workers to walk to work and provide them with enough storage space for their office equipment so moving around isn’t too much of an effort.
Making your employees’ health a priority humanizes your business and makes it clear to workers that they are regarded as human beings instead of just parts of a whole.
#6 Workplace Diversity
A multicultural workplace has become an essential factor regarding employee engagement. Including a great deal of diversity at work is a key factor when it comes to boosting employee productivity.
Your employees will get a unique sense of culture and belonging when they are surrounded by diverse cultures, religions, and customs.
Employees will also appreciate the opportunity to learn more about various perspectives when they are immersed in workplace diversity and develop a stronger team dynamic as a result.
Every employee and team member must get the same opportunities, regardless of their religion, culture, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality, and if they experience this to be the case, employee satisfaction and respect for the employer will increase.
Workplace diversity is not meant to apply only to physical locations. Diversity among remote teams will also affect productivity and job satisfaction to a great extent.
Diversity will help stressed employees to feel like they belong, which will combat low productivity.
Happy and healthy employees that have the mental resources and physical energy are more likely to thrive.
#7 Production Factors & Technology
In our day and age, technology plays an integral part in the success of a business. Modern technology is a tool to make a business more profitable by supporting employees in their daily tasks, especially when technical factors come into play.
Technology opens the door to a more fluent system in the workplace, and it is an effective means of managing time wisely and allowing employees to focus on more important tasks. Useful technology greatly increases the value of human capital in a company.
Some companies refuse to implement technology into their workflow, and they tend to burn out as a result because they can’t keep up with the pace of modern business dealings.
When employees don’t have the tools they need to approach their workload in a more practical way, it can affect productivity to a large extent.
#8 Tools
Whether your employees have the right tools to function optimally can impact productivity significantly. When employees aren’t adequately trained, they may misuse their resources and delay the particular task of the day, which costs the company a lot of money.
Access to practical tools in the workplace can increase your employees’ efficiency levels and improve their overall productivity more than most realize.
Having the correct tools is interconnected with the management techniques in the work environment and allows those in management positions to support all their team members more practically, which will, in turn, increase productivity.
#9 Workplace Ergonomics
Beyond the importance of the organizational factor in the work environment, many factors of productivity are less obvious than others but make a big difference in individual productivity and the company’s overall performance.
Low productivity levels may be the result of any of the following:
- The air quality in the workplace
- The average temperate of the work environment
- Poor lighting and lack of natural light
- The design and layout of the workplace
The Effects of Disengaged Employees
When several employees in a company don’t feel involved and engaged in the company, productivity levels suffer. Once a company recognizes the significance of employee engagement, it will realize the immense value of a motivated and involved team.
Employee engagement is one of the most pivotal factors affecting productivity and promotes dedication and commitment to the goals and missions of a company.
Neglecting this important factor results in major losses, which many businesses are unable to justify.
The Importance of Employee Productivity
Generally speaking, productivity is the core of the development of a company, and the lack thereof can be detrimental to the success of any business.
Beyond delivering products or services in a short amount of time, productivity also affects the quality of the workplace and the value of human capital.
High productivity is achieved by various methods, but the end goal is usually to increase the output of the company by increasing the work capacity of employees.
Employee productivity results in higher profits while still using the same or fewer resources. If your want any company to thrive and grow, optimizing workplace productivity is a key factor that shouldn’t be overlooked.
Conclusion
Employee productivity is an essential aspect of achieving business success, as the workforce is the life of the company.
It makes sense to invest in the productivity of your employees in every way possible to further advance the growth of the business.
Without a productive and strong team that feels involved and essential to reaching the goals of the company, it would be a lot more difficult, if not impossible, to ensure continuous development.
It is the responsibility of the employer to provide employees with everything they need to thrive and stay motivated to work at their highest capacity.
