Productivity Improvement | Increasing Employee Effectiveness

February 11, 2011 – The standard productivity improvement techniques for increasing employee effectiveness fall into three key areas. This article shows you what they are and suggests some areas where improvements can be made.

Begin with your employee training and know-how. Establish first if there are any gaps in their knowledge where training could help make them work more effectively and efficiently. This could even involve improving their own personal time management skills as well as technical skills (required for them to do their job). This should also be factored into any product innovation strategy you are considering as any future plans to use new technologies may also require additional training for staff.

Following this, you should consider what processes and programs you have in place for operational day-to-day business. Do you have the right tools in place for employees to use? Simply by changing processes and providing more effective tools to workers you can actually see productivity improvement gains quite rapidly. Some process changes will however have bedding in periods and may require some training.

Work environment also plays a part in productivity. It is essential to keep work areas uncluttered and safe so that employees are not in danger of being harmed. A clean and bright workspace can also help improve productivity as there is less ‘visual noise’ in the work environment. The use of natural daylight is also preferred to fluorescent cathode lighting which can strain the eyes.

Finally, look at what the motivations are for your employees. Each individual will differ so you have to understand what types of rewards they will be interested in. For some it is the ability to learn more skills and the opportunity of additional training or external courses. For others it is simply the salary they receive at the end of the week. Rewards are best offered to entire team for any productivity improvement gains they make rather than singling out individuals as this nurtures a team spirit.

 

 

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