For any business to be successful today, a happy and productive workforce is a prerogative. Although a robust business strategy and efficient processes are important, nothing comes close to the impact workforce productivity has on a business.
A productive workforce is a sign of happy and healthy employees, who are motivated and inspired to do their best – so they can work towards a common goal – growth. A productive workforce is something we all want. But a large factor halting productivity is often technology: from system processing to user error – there’s a lot that can go wrong.
Wondering how you can increase the productivity of your workforce with the use of a strategic IT plan? Let’s find out!
What is Workforce Productivity?
Workforce productivity is “an assessment of the efficiency of a worker (or group of workers) that is evaluated in terms of the output in a specific period of time,” according to Tech Target.
Because much of the success of any organization is largely dependent upon the productivity of its employees, ensuring workforce productivity is an important consideration. A productive workforce is not only motivated and empowered, it often translates into good customer service and thus quicker achievement of organizational goals.
Major Benefits IT Has on Workforce Productivity
Irrespective of where employees work from – office, remote locations, or home – organizations are constantly planning ways to improve productivity, so they can grow and thrive easily. Technology has a major role to play in ensuring a productive workforce.
Using technology, employees can:
- Seamlessly carry out tasks from anywhere, at any time – and enjoy the control and access they need to efficiently do their jobs
- Collaborate with geographically dispersed team members, share ideas, work together on issues, execute projects, and track individual contributions with ease
- Automate many of the day-to-day tasks to reduce the chances of error, prioritize work, and reach milestones more quickly
- Build a strong network of like-minded peers, build relationships with customers, develop sales opportunities, and drive revenue
- Attend to customer queries in real-time, monitor the status of issues, and work on feedback to improve products
Common Challenges with Workforce Productivity
Strategically planning how to increase the productivity of your workforce is important to drive business results. But it is easier said than done. With employees spending only 60% of their workday on productive work, there are many roadblocks that have to be overcome to drive productivity and ensure every employee is giving his/her best.
Here are some common frustrations and barriers that are faced when it comes to productivity and technology:
- Every employee needs access to tools and technologies that aid them in doing their job; rigid, siloed systems that do not integrate well with others can lead to frustration and disengagement – which can cost businesses as much as $550 billion each year.
- Given how tech-savvy modern employees have become, they expect the same tech experience at their workplace as well; outdated and poor UI-based portals and chat applications are often the reason for their low morale – and thus low productivity.
- For organizations looking to get products to the market faster, un-integrated and conventional technology means data from across the organization cannot be brought together in an efficient manner; this greatly impacts time to market, and affects not just workforce productivity but also the business as a whole.
4 Proven Strategies to Increase Workforce Productivity
Since employee productivity builds the foundation of every successful business, it is extremely crucial to drive efforts to ensure employees are engaged, happy, motivated, and empowered – every single day.
Here are some proven strategies that can help you increase workforce productivity:
Provide the Right Tools
When employees have the right tools to complete their work, the result is enhanced efficiency and productivity. Make sure you provide them with the right tools to do their jobs – tools that are modern, periodically updated, and offer an easy-to-use UI – so they can perform their duties efficiently and on time. High-quality, modern systems and applications like collaboration tools and communication apps have a massive impact – not only on the workforce but also on how your company is perceived. Your team’s skills are essential to business performance; empower them to use their skills to the maximum through the right tools – to make their work easier, and to translate to a streamlined workflow.
Simplify Daily Tasks
There are tons of tasks your employees do every day that might just take a few seconds of their time, but add up – when you look at the bigger picture. Logging into their computers, typing in the password, filling time sheets, checking emails, communicating with team members, tracking project status, reaching out to customers – all these take up a lot of precious time that actually could be diverted to more value-add tasks. Make use of technology to automate mundane or error-prone tasks, minimize the time employees spend on everyday tasks, and maintain a high level of productivity along the way.
Empower Self-Service
Today’s employees are extremely smart and tech-savvy and can do a lot of things on their own – you only must trust them. Use tools that empower self-service, so employees do not have to go through a cumbersome process to get an approval. For example, instead of having your workforce contact the finance department to understand how to send in a funding request for a project, allow them to access the required information – from their workstation. Allow them to accomplish certain tasks on their own, and improve their day-to-day efficiency.
Encourage Remote Working
Although organizations have not been open to the idea of remote working, they are slowly embracing the concept. With 65% of full-time employees believing that remote work schedules can increase their productivity, using tools that encourage remote working is a great way to boost throughput. Investing in mobile strategies can allow employees to work anywhere, at any time, using any device. Allowing employee to work remotely is a great way to make the most of their skills – without wasting the time they have available.
Constantly Measure and Monitor
In any organization, happy, engaged employees are known to be far more efficient and productive than the ones that are detached and demotivated. Statistics suggest that engaged teams achieve 17% higher productivity, 21% greater profitability, and 10% higher customer ratings.
Improving workforce productivity is a constant endeavor; the good news is, you only need to invest in the right tools to boost productivity, and follow it up by measuring and monitoring productivity to improve performance through analysis and adjustment. Only what can be measured, can be managed; so, make sure you have the right tactics in place to understand how and when employees are working.
Looking for ways to improve workforce productivity and keep your employees engaged and efficient – around the clock? Contact one of our IT specialists today.