Posts

Getting the Best out of Your Employees

/in , /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Getting the Best out of Your EmployeesAlthough everyone faces stress in their jobs from one time or another, for the most part, they should love what they do. As an employer, you need a reliable and positive team of staff that does their best every day; however, occasionally it can be hard to keep employees motivated. Here are some ideas to help you get the best out of your employees and keep them happy at work.

Recruitment

It all starts with hiring the right people for the job. The reality is that you can’t always predict how well an individual is going to work based purely on a resume and interview. Sometimes they can appear to be the perfect candidate, only to be less than impressive when they start the job. It’s worth looking at your recruitment techniques and seeing if there are any ways you can test candidates further before offering them a position. Use recruitment agencies to narrow down the applicants before you set up interviews.

Training

Every office tends to do things a little differently to others. Therefore take the time to train your staff on how you want things done. It could be that you need them to learn how to use a new computer program or a new compliance policy. Your staff won’t feel confident if they haven’t been trained efficiently and this will have an effect on their standards of work.

The Right Environment

Creating a positive working environment is also very important. If the office looks drab and gray, think about adding some color or plant life to make it feel less cold. Make sure that the staff break room is comfortable and stocked with a range of snacks and beverages. Perhaps consider introducing a work sports team that they can take part in recreationally? All of these little touches help your staff feel more comfortable at work and encouraging them to become friends means they can look forward to coming into work each day.

Communication

If you want to get the best from your staff, you need to be engaging in regular conversations with them about their progress. Hold appraisals where you can discuss with them how well they’re doing and in which areas they need to improve. This will also allow them to share any concerns they might have with you.

Also look at how the communication works in the office overall. Make sure your staff can communicate with each other quickly over the networks to complete work tasks faster. Contact IT support experts like Capstone IT Services (Florida) to help improve your business network.

Rewards

Finally, consider implementing a rewards system at work to motivate your staff to hit their targets and work to their best ability every day. This will let them know their hard work is appreciated and they will be recognized for their efforts.

It’s important to keep your staff happy at work. Consider using some of the ideas above to help boost morale in your office.

What staff can do to help boost agency profits

/in /by

StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article | What staff can do to help boost agency profitsWorking in an agency can be a fantastic experience, but unless you work in sales or account management it can feel like there isn’t much you can do to help the company achieve better profits. Actually this doesn’t have to be the case at all, and there is plenty that you can do help your company be more of a success financially.

Make yourself accountable

There can be a problem at all levels of agencies where members of staff do not feel like they are accountable for the success of the company. In fact, everyone at the business has a role to play in ensuring the success of the organisation, and it is up to individuals to make themselves accountable to this fact.

For managers, the issue may be that there is no one to check to make sure they are accountable to the things they say they are going to do. For other members of staff, they may not feel that what they do can have a financial impact. However, as we will see, this is not true.

Find cost savings

There is a misconception around company profits with members of staff, and this is that the easiest way to boost them is by making more money. Of course, no-one is doubting this as a concept, but it hides the fact that there are other opportunities. One of the most important ways that you, as an employee, can improve your company profits is by spending less money.

If you can find cost savings in your department or your role, those savings act as pure profit for the company. That is money that was being spent before and is now no longer being spent. Consider where you and your department spends its money and look for ways you can reduce it.

Provide management with ideas and information

Don’t lose sight of the fact that you are the person who does your job every day, which means that you understand it better than anyone else in the company. That means those things that might seem completely obvious to you, may also be completely obscured to those in management. This puts the onus on you to provide your management with any ideas and information that could help you do your job, or help the business succeed.

Often it is the day-to-day activities that actually make the biggest difference to a business’ bottom line. So don’t be afraid to voice your opinion on matters, good management will find it extremely valuable.

Be dedicated and go the extra mile

No matter what your job entails you have options with how you perform it. You can go through the day doing the bare minimum, or you can actually show hard work and dedication. Businesses love engaged staff and it is not just because this means more productive employees – when you show your dedication to the business you are showing your potential for the future.

This means that being that person who goes the extra is not only a great benefit to the company, it also provides you with far better career prospects.

Request training that you’ll actually benefit from

Ask yourself: how many times have you been on a training course where there really doesn’t seem to be much point at all to it? Too often when businesses provide training, they are have actually just followed the ideas of someone who doesn’t really understand what will be a benefit to your team.

Instead you should be proactive. Talk to your manager about the kind of training that you would actually benefit from. Once again this will pay dividends in that you will get the training that can help the business, but it will also provide you with valuable tools and skills to make it easier for you to advance your career.

“One of the biggest issues I see in owner-managed agencies is the gulf in understanding between top managers and their employees/managers. If you hope to bridge this gap, you have to invest in training your future leaders.”

Da Costa Coaching

Stop overservicing

Interesting details from the State of Agency Workflow Management report revealed that nearly half of all agencies revealed a loss of 11% due to overservicing. Overservicing is a term that means that those agencies were delivering work for clients that they were not getting paid for – and that is a major problem.

The old adage ‘time is money’ is never more appropriate than when talking about agencies, and if you are spending your time doing work that no-one is paying you for, then you are wasting both your time and your money.

How To Create A Productive Office

/in , /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management ArticleSometimes it’s hard to stay focused when you’re at work, especially if you’re inside a stifling office space on a warm day. Of course, you’d always rather be somewhere else than at work, but what you can do is make your working environment more appealing, more fun, and a productive place to be. If you’re an office manager and you’re considering making changes to the place in order to boost productivity, then your first port of call should be to ask your staff members. Once you’ve got a good idea of what needs changing, and you’ve assessed the suggestions, you can then get to work.

Refurbish

If your office space is looking outdated and is showing signs of wear and tear, then now is the time to consider a complete refurbishment. As long as your budget permits it, gut the entire office in favor of new flooring, freshly painted walls throughout, new and improved desks and chairs, and a reworking of the oppressive overhead lights. Pile the accumulated waste into a dumpster provided by a Dumpster rental Phoenix, so that it can be disposed of responsibly. Clean out your office and strip it back to basics to rebuild an attractive and productive environment.

Encourage Socialization

When it comes to decorating, try and create communal spaces that encourage your team to talk to each other and build relationships. When designing the staffroom, opt for large long couches so that the team has to be convivial and sit next to one another. Prepare group work, and ask that small teams work together to create a final result. Praise the teams for their effort and consideration of others.

Improve Air Quality

Without proper air ventilation, it’s very easy to become unfocused, tired, and to overheat – all of which aren’t going to help your team in trying to be as productive as possible. So, install new ventilation units if the current ones are somewhat lackluster, and keep plants in every available space throughout the premises. After all, not many people object to flowers, fresh greens, and other plants that keep the air clean. Having said this, always makes sure to ask about allergies before adding foliage around the office.

Offer Tea And Coffee

If you work in an office, you’ll understand the importance of caffeinated beverages to power you through the morning. Recognize that your team work hard to achieve their targets and reach their goals, so help them along the way and offer free coffee and tea whenever they might be in need of a pick-me-up. Create an inclusive, friendly environment for your employees, and you might just find that productivity increases tenfold.

Have An Open Door Policy

Your employees need to know that they can approach you whenever they need to discuss something. So, with this in mind, consider operating an open door policy whereby you’re on hand whenever the need arises. Tell your staff that you care about their welfare, their opinion, and possible suggestions about how the office is run and how the company performs. If your team know that you’re there to offer assistance and help them, then they should feel more relaxed, understood, and willing to work hard.

6 Fast and Easy Ways to Improve Work Performance

/in /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Improve Work Performance|6 Fast and Easy Ways to Improve Work PerformanceHow productive is your business?

A common way to measure organizational productivity is to look at your bottom line. If revenues are growing year over year, you can conclude that your company is productive.

However, that’s a simplistic way of measuring productivity. You need to evaluate the rate of output per unit. In this context, a unit is an employee.

Are your employees putting out more quality work within a defined timeframe? Is it taking them longer to complete a task that should be taking a few minutes?

If yes, you need to know how to improve work performance. Continue reading for more insight.

1. Find Out Why Performance Is Low

To fix something that’s broken, you must start by finding out the broken part, right?

Similarly, to improve the performance of your employees, you need to begin by establishing why they aren’t performing to your company’s expectations. Once you have this information, it’s easy to implement effective performance improvement measures.

So, how do you gather this information?

If yours is a medium-sized or large organization with several employees, it can be difficult to pinpoint the problem, right?

In this case, what you need to do is to run a survey. Issue questionnaires that enable employees to provide anonymous feedback on the challenges they’re facing. You can also ask them to provide suggestions on what the organization can do to improve their productivity.

2. Assess the Workload Per Employee

Sometimes productivity suffers not becomes an employee is incompetent, but because they simply have too much work to do within a short time.

This is why you need to evaluate the workload of each of your employees and determine whether it’s within their capabilities. If it’s too much for them to handle, an obvious solution is to reduce it.

Another option is to hire more employees and split the workload among them. Of course, a larger team is be suited to complete the work faster and improve the overall productivity of your company.

3. Create Organizational Policies That Boost Employee Productivity

Did you know your organizational policies could be harming your employees’ productivity levels?

For example, let’s say your company doesn’t prohibit employees from using social media during work hours. This isn’t a bad thing, especially if your organizational culture is “fun and hippy.”

However, this policy could be doing more harm than good. Social media is a major distractor for anyone, so if your employees are working while chatting with their friends on social media, their productivity will certainly take a hit.

The gist of this is you need to develop organization policies that boost employee productivity. Banning or minimizing access to things that distract your employees is a good place to start.

You can also allow them to take frequent breaks. Studies show a strong correlation between more breaks and improved productivity.

4. Ensure Office Environment Promotes Productivity

Ever walked into an office that looked so cluttered you wondered how anybody gets anything done? You definitely wouldn’t fancy working there.

Now that you’re an employer, it’s your responsibility to provide an office environment that promotes employee wellness and boosts productivity.

There’s a lot you can do to create an office space your employees will love.

To start with, there should be plenty of natural light. This means windows should be large and exposed to sunlight.

According to neuroscience research, people who work in an office that receives 173 percent more exposure to sunlight enjoy at least 46 more minutes of sleep every night. A well-rested employee will come to work energized and ready to crush the day’s goals.

Ergonomic workstations also play an important role in improving employee productivity. Other office design ideas to implement include creating collaboration spaces and bringing in office plants.

Tweaking office design might not look like a fast and easy way to improve work performance, but it is. All you need to do is hire an office designer to implement these changes.

5. Provide Efficient Work Tools and Equipment

Do you use a legacy computer in your office? Certainly not.

Therefore, you have no reason to let your workers use legacy or outdated tools and systems to do their work. These will only slow them down, no matter how hard they try to get things done faster.

If your company still has old computers and other pieces of office devices that look like they belong in a museum, you ought to invest in more advanced and efficient technology.

While at it, be sure to automate as many functions as you can. With a good enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, automating business functions with an aim to improve productivity is now an easy job. Try it!

6. Train Your Employees

You can provide your employees with the latest tools and equipment and base them in fancy offices, but if they don’t have the right occupation skills, their work performance will suffer.

To solve this problem, train your employees regularly.

A mistake some employers make is assuming that just because they hired qualified employees, they don’t need to invest in additional training programs. Don’t make this mistake.

As technology changes, so do your employees’ roles and responsibilities. They need to continually update their skills and knowledge in order to remain competitive.

Take the initiative and enroll them in occupational training programs.

Improve Work Performance the Easy Way

As an employer, no one cares about the performance of your company more than you do. And to achieve higher organizational productivity, your employees need to step up. With this guide on how to improve work performance, you now have the information you need to implement changes that will yield fast, positive results.

Stay tuned to our blog for business and workplace tips and insights.

5 Tips to Improve Productivity in the Workplace

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article | 5 Tips to Improve Productivity in the WorkplaceAccording to experts, inefficiency can cost you between 20% to 30% of your business profits. Have you taken a hard look at your current operations? If you haven’t done so, you should get on it as soon as possible.

You may think it’s difficult to improve productivity in the workplace, but that’s far from the truth. It can be as easy as finding ways to motivate your employees and streamlining your operations. Don’t know where to start?

We’ve got you covered. Here are our top 5 tips to increase productivity in the workplace today.

1. Create a Positive Work Environment

As a business owner and leader, it’s vital to create a positive environment where your employees feel comfortable. Aim to motivate them through monthly events such as leadership workshops. You should also consider setting up a breakfast bar and other facilities to make your office space more comfortable.

2. Promote Employee Wellness

Healthy and happy employees make the dream work. You should always promote and prioritize your employees’ wellbeing. You can do this by scheduling wellness clinics at your offices or creating a fitness challenge to motivate employees to take care of themselves.

You should also promote talking about mental health as well. Try to make your employees feel comfortable enough to ask for a day off to prevent any burnouts.

3. Harness the Power of Technology

Believe it or not, using the most advanced technology can help you increase employee productivity. It’s important to take a look at your operations at an organizational and departmental level. Remember every department is a piece of the puzzle.

An example is how many businesses miss the mark when designing their accounting operations. When companies don’t streamline processes such as paystub generation, employees may be spending too much time completing these tasks. If this situation sounds familiar, you should consider a paystub maker such as Paystubs.net.

4. Set Up an Employee Development Program

Academic degrees and experience provide employees the knowledge needed to meet their job requirements. However, the best employers promote employee growth.

Establishing an employee development program or academy can help your employees grow. Focus on providing in-house seminars and courses to improve their skills and efficiency.

5. Empower Your Employees

You can empower employees by delegating tasks and guiding them. Make sure to monitor your employees’ performance to ensure they’re making the right choices. An empowered employee will contribute to your company’s success.

A great way to empower employees is by establishing a mentorship program. Under this program, company leaders will mentor your employees. This empowerment program will help you develop in-house talent for any need that arises in your organization.

Can You Improve Productivity in the Workplace?

As a business owner, you can improve productivity in the workplace. It will come down to implementing the best measures to motivate your employees. The first step is analyzing your operations and pinpointing where there’s room for improvement.

Focus on providing your employees with the best tools and creating a positive work environment. A good practice is asking your employees how you can help them. It may seem difficult to increase employee productivity, but we’re confident our tips will help you take your business to the next level.

Did you find this article interesting? Check out the rest of our site for more insightful articles.