Strategies to make your employees as effective as possible

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Strategies to make your employees as effective as possible

Read about key effective strategies for your employees to make the most out of their working day…

These days, employees are spending more and more time at the office–certainly exceeding the typical 40-hour workweek. However, increasing hours worked does not necessarily translate to increased efficiency.  So, how can leaders and managers improve employee productivity while still saving time?

Here are some top tips of things you can do to increase employee efficiency in your business:

Enable flexible work

In order to balance the rising demands on both work and personal time, where possible, businesses need to allow employees to work flexible hours and possibly off-site. The underlying force behind flexible schedules is an inherent trust from employers of the employee.  Employers need to know their staff will get the job done even if it’s not in the traditional 9 to 5 hours. This means that employees can collect children from school or duck out for a doctor’s appointment and know they can finish work from home later in the day. This allows people to not only juggle the increase in demands in their work life, but their personal life as well.

Don’t be afraid to delegate

While this tip might seem obvious, it is often the most difficult to put into practice. Many managers find it hard to delegate- often thinking it will save time if they just do it, in turn making sure they have a direct hand in everything that goes on. While there is nothing wrong with ensuring quality work, checking over every small detail yourself rather than delegating can waste everyone’s time.
Instead, give responsibilities to qualified employees, and trust that they will perform the tasks well. This gives your employees the opportunity to gain skills and leadership experience that will ultimately benefit your company.

Keep goals clear and focused

You can’t expect employees to be efficient if they don’t have a focused goal to aim for.  If a goal is not clearly defined and actually achievable, employees will be less productive. So, try to make sure employees’ assignments are as clear and specific as possible. Let them know exactly what you expect of them, and tell them specifically what impact this assignment will have and the timeframe required.

Communicate effectively

Every manager knows that communication is the key to a productive workforce. Technology has allowed us to contact each other with the mere click of a button or tap of a screen; this naturally means that current communication methods are as efficient as possible, right? Not necessarily. A recent study has found that emails can take up nearly 28% of an employee’s time. Email are the second most time-consuming activity for workers (after their job-specific tasks).  Instead of relying solely on email, try having a quick meeting or phone call to settle a matter that might have taken hours of back-and-forth emails.

Make meetings actionable

Businesses can sometimes be overwhelmed with meetings, and most of these meetings are viewed as ineffective. While small-business employees spend less time in meetings than the general worker population, more than a quarter say meetings are inefficient. Instead of having meetings, for the sake of having meetings, have one meeting a week that is structured and actionable. This way, employees have more time to think things through and meetings serve a purpose.

Sync office space and culture

Studies say that employees agree across the board that loud coworkers are their top distraction. For some company cultures, employees might thrive in open plan offices where collaboration and open communication are prominent.  Whereas others may need a bit more quiet, personal space. There is no one size fits all approach. Survey your own employees and ask what their preferences are and ensure feedback aligns with your business goals, whether that is productivity, engagement, collaboration or creativity. Remember that your aim is to create the right environment for your culture; so all employees can work as efficiently as possible.

Olivia Bates

Olivia is an HR professional with over 14 years industry experience. She brings a great wealth of experience to the HR Central team and focuses mainly on supporting our vastly growing Regional Victoria client base. Olivia dedicates most of her time helping clients with: * Organisational development and change management * Employee engagement and coaching including work with Leadership teams from Geelong Football Club * Employee relations and dispute resolution * Leadership development and youth empowerment. This program is aimed at disengaged people and provides skills in job seeking, well-being, finances, personal presentation and career planning * HR Products developed include The Ops Box – a highly visual HR risk management tool housing essential policies and procedures for any workplace * Project and Grant management experience * Contract and Tender development & management * Permanent and executive recruitment. Olivia has placed candidates across a multitude of industries with a strong focus on the mining sector Australia wide.

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