Business leaders are always searching for new ways to increase the productivity of their employees so that more, and more effective, work can be done in the same amount of time. Outside of many of the normal motivations used by employers, there are some more unusual methods you can use to help boost productivity while at the same time increasing the morale of your employees.
1. Keep Your Promises
Regularly keeping the promises you make to your employees will demonstrate to them that management can be trusted and deserves their loyalty, which will greatly increase productivity.
2. Make Your Managers Happy
One of the leading sources of employee unhappiness is unhappy managers. Work with your management team and be sure their needs are being met so they will in turn work to be sure that the needs of the workers they supervise are also being met.
3. Redecorate
Investing in comfortable furniture and redesigning the layout of your offices can go a long way to helping improve the happiness and productivity of your workers. Studies have shown that offices where effective use is made of space and which have great looking and comfortable furniture house employees who are much happier, even when they are asked to work harder and longer.
4. Add Life to the Office
Who would have thought adding a little green to the office could boost productivity? Studies have shown that an office which is well decorated with plant life has happier and more productivity employees. So invest in a few plants and keep them thriving to ensure the best work from your staff.
5. Throw a Party
Every now and then it's a good idea to stop the normal workday and hour or so early and relax with your employees by simply throwing a party. You can easily find a reason – it’s your birthday, or you had a good month – it doesn’t need to be earth shattering. Bring in some food and drink and allow everyone to laugh and have a bit of fun. You can play games or simply put on some music and enjoy the time together. Just one simple party can really go a long way towards making your employees happy in their jobs, increasing their productivity in the process.
6. Laugh with Your Workers
There are times when work is a very serious place. However, that doesn't mean that you have to be serious all the time. Laughter is, truly, the best medicine and laughing with your employees can foster a sense of camaraderie between you and the team.
7. Let them work
Probably the easiest thing you can do to increase productivity is simply getting out of your employees way and letting them do their work. Stop micromanaging! This is one of the best ways to empower your employees and show that you trust them.
8. Allow Social Media Use
While your initial instinct may be to ban the use of social media sites such as Facebook, you might want to reconsider this decision. Studies have shown that workers who are allowed short breaks away from the business at hand are actually more productive over the course of the day when compared to other workers who aren't allowed the minor distractions of social media.
9. Start Clubs
Believe it or not, allowing your employees to start clubs during business hours can go a long way to fostering a sense of community within your company. This community will then come together to get the work done faster by simply helping one another accomplish the tasks at hand. These clubs could be book clubs or exercise clubs or virtually any other type of club you can imagine. Allow these clubs to meet during business hours giving the club members a much deserved break from the work. For example, you can end work half an hour early on club nights, or allow an extended lunch break once a week.
10. Be accessible
This last one may not seem unusual, but in many offices the owners or leaders are often times unavailable to many workers. Regardless of how busy you are, make yourself available to each and every employee if they need an ear. This will go a long way to fostering goodwill between you and your workers which will in turn go a long way towards increasing their productivity.
Many of these methods may seem unusual, but they are effective ways of increasing productivity without needing to invest large sums of money. With just a few simply policy changes and a little bit of relaxation you can drastically increase the productivity in your company so that you can accomplish all the goals you have set out for your company.
