Workforce Watch List: Increasing Employee Productivity

When morale is high, employees feel healthier, more alert, and more sociable. In this collective state of mind, employee productivity can increase by as much as 22%.

Additionally, these employees show increased creativity, a heightened sense of ownership in their work, and “good vibrations” that spread to other coworkers and nurture a more competitive and active workplace.

High morale can also help combat worker disengagement – which is an increasingly relevant workplace phenomenon that is costing U.S. companies more than $450 billion annually.  High morale also a key factor in keeping your best talent with the company, and in avoiding the high costs of employee turnover.

Where productivity and job satisfaction meet

Effective managers are encouraging employees to take a more intuitive approach to organizing their workday – one that includes ordering tasks by time, importance, and when an employee’s personal “rhythms” will enable them to tackle projects more effectively.

Encouraging employees to take short breaks during the workday is also key to helping them to get the most out of their career.  Build a culture where your employees are comfortable taking short breaks to get outside and exercise.  Using a break in the action productively, such as putting a tedious task on hold for a few minutes to do some brainstorming on an unrelated project, can recharge an employee and help them get back on track.

Reduce burnout in the workplace by communicating the importance of using vacation time is also key to workplace happiness. Our research has found that 26% of workers do not use all of their vacation time, and approximately 75% wait until the final weeks of the year to use it. However, 45% of workers report feeling rested and rejuvenated after a vacation, and 35% return the office feeling better about their jobs and with increased morale.

 Three habits of happy, successful workers:

You can’t buy love. But that being said, happy workers will naturally build their skills, bring extra positive energy to the table, and be willing to go that extra mile for the company.  The takeaway from this is that, more often than not, being happy and well paid go hand in hand.

The happiest and most successful employees tend to share these three key traits:

1. They’re focused: What could your company do if it increased its workforce by 30%?  The average employee works 6 hours a day and wastes the other 2 – leaving them with enormous potential for increased productivity. Start to recover this lost time by cutting back on employee visits to social networks and non-work-related websites – a bad habit that takes up more than 6 hours of an average employee’s work week. When possible, it’s also a good idea to encourage your team to avoid unnecessary multitasking. While, theoretically, multitasking seems like a great idea, Psychology Today states that only 2% of people can multitask successfully. The rest can expect a 40% drop in their productivity.
2. They write things down: Successful workers take a structured, problem-solving approach to optimizing their performance. They make time to write down obstacles and distractions in their workplace, and decide on a solution. Similarly, they write down the small tasks they need to take on, and use their small breaks throughout the day to accomplish them.Finally, they record their accomplishments, extra work, and milestones, and share them when it comes time to ask for a promotion.
3. They’re proactive about personal development: The top performers in a company are continually seeking to align their workday with expectations, while also developing and broadening their skills. This makes employees more proficient in their current roles, while adding the versatility they’ll need to step upwards and take on new responsibilities in the workplace.