Productivity is a key buzzword in any business and industry. It’s something on which many people, products and services are measured and marketed. How many times have you heard or read a line like ‘freeing up your time and boosting productivity’? How many CVs rave about their prolific nature?It can sound vague, but productivity can also be immensely specific. In a digitised time of metrics and data analytics, religiously counted clicks, likes and pageviews, online advertising and search engine optimisation, how much stuff you produce can directly impact results.
At all levels in all industries, the amount you produce can be reflected in your market value as an employee; in how much you are paid.Workplace productivity is important. Businesses and the broader UK economy needs to produce and evidence how and what it is producing. On the smaller scale, so do large, medium and small businesses. If it’s not producing, it’s not working.Everything can be tracked, monitored and measured these days. So many businesses can do it obsessively, sometimes even to the detriment of workplace productivity, just for the sake of doing it.But what is it that fuels workplace productivity, what keeps it going or makes it even stronger? These are questions to which business leaders are seeking constantly answers.
Increasing Workplace Productivity By Empowering Staff
One recent report, Employee Outlook produced in partnership with Halogen, revealed a need for businesses to consider increasing the amount of autonomy employees have at work. By using skills and ideas through empowering leadership, line management, and better job design, it was said that staff would be more productive.‘When asked what things help employees to be productive, top of the list is work that they find interesting (40%) and being able to use their initiative (39%).’Employee Outlook, in partnership with HalogenThis appears to be a common sense matter of basic trust. If staff and workers feel trusted with independence and their own initiative, they are likely to be invested more fully in an overall mission, feel greater ownership and therefore enjoy more productivity.
[Read our blog: Flexible working: is your business getting it right?]Another study claims the workplace productivity answer lies in having more playtime.
Increasing Productivity With More Playtime
BrightHR teamed up with psychologist Professor Sir Cary Cooper to show how young employees who have fun in the workplace work harder and are more productive. Having fun is described thus: “from belly laughs and birthday celebrations to Xboxes and massages”. You might sort of have one of those in your workplace. This blogger’s hunch is that you probably don’t have anything else.The It Pays to Play report says that as today’s young workers are the future and will comprise most of tomorrow’s workforce, they should be listened to. It appears to discount any ideas of change, getting older and maturing.Professor Sir Cary Cooper who worked on the study with BrightHR said: “Work is no longer about getting the job done and then going home for your fun – younger generations want to enjoy their work too. It could be because we work longer hours, have to wait longer for retirement and have less financial security from work, meaning we need to get some other return for our time investment.”The study revealed 79 per cent of school leavers and graduates believe fun at work is important, with 44 per cent believing it encourages harder work ethic. On the flipside 56 per cent of 55 to 60 year olds said it was important to them, with 14 per cent believing it would make them more productive. A cynical view would be that ‘fun’ is a nice thing for young people that gradually gets squeezed out of workers throughout life, and doesn’t really have much of a bearing on workplace productivity.
Increase Productivity By Not Being Obsessive
Workplace productivity will go on being the subject of reports, theories and general conjecture for as long as there are workplaces. Ensuring key staff are invested in a company, mission or project with a respectable amount of initiative and independence: this appears to favour greater productivity. If the bulk of your staff are skewed towards a younger age range, ensuring there are appropriate activities and incentives to keep them focused and productive may also be a valid priority.Monitoring the productivity output itself is necessary too, but excessive attention and constant reactive operational changes is likely to only impede progress.If you’re seeking new and highly productive workers in construction, catering, office administration or care, please get in touch.
