The call to increase productivity is as high as ever and many leaders have recently been challenged with driving it even higher. At the same time, execs are balancing that need with the knowledge that employee engagement is crucial to a healthy bottom line. It may seem like these two concepts are in conflict with one another, but in reality, they are more connected than they’ve ever been.
- Highly engaged teams show 21% greater profitability.
- Employees who feel their voices are heard are almost 5X more empowered to produce their best work.
- Employee engagement has been shown to boost productivity by 21%.
Engaged Employees = Committed + Focused Employees
When your employees are committed, they’re likely to stay with your company longer AND are more passionate about serving customers. When your employees are focused, they make fewer mistakes and produce at a higher level. This is the sweet spot – designing a culture of employee engagement that drives your business forward. Here are a few key elements we would suggest you factor in…
Establish transparent goals and then specify employees’ roles in achieving those goals.
Communicate early and often when it comes to company/department goals. Devote time at each team meeting to discussing progress against each and how each team member is contributing. You may need to connect the dots for your teams at first, but you’ll quickly create a rhythm. Once your team understands exactly HOW they fit into the bigger picture, their self-image and self-actualization will only increase.
Offer learning and development opportunities.
This is generally one of those things people say they want, but then fail to make time to do. As a leader in your organization, it’s up to you to make space for this. Involve your teams in the design of the program, the offerings, etc. Make sure your employees have a chance to return to work and share their learnings and take-aways with the larger group. Follow up after 30 or 60 days to see how they’ve incorporated their newfound knowledge into their work.
Introduce gamification tactics.
According to a study conducted in 2019, 89% of employees said gamification made them feel more productive, while 88% said it made them feel happier at work. Why? Well, probably because it’s just more FUN! Incorporate games into your product training, budget planning sessions or even your sales programs. Employees can participate in a transparent way, with targets that can be measured, and receive validation from senior management at the same time.
Let your team steer the ship (at least a little).
Ask your employees for feedback – on everything. Daily workflow, the physical office space, the budget process flow, the Q3 priorities, you name it. It can be empowering and encourage your employees to think about the bigger picture. What’s not empowering is asking for this feedback and then never doing anything with it. Yes, there will be some pieces that are non-starters, but make sure to honor those that carry real weight. You’ll inspire more involvement and more buy-in.
Create system of accountability.
Sometimes all it takes to motivate employees to produce is the knowledge that their work is seen. Work gets lost in the shuffle all the time: lack of formal accountability within the workflow, lost email or chat conversations, and projects that grind to a complete halt because of missing information. Better project management means better accountability, so your teams can feel like their efforts are meaningful and worthwhile. Employees who feel that way will continue to produce for you.
There’s no question that employee productivity is important to all businesses. The more productive your employees are, the more successful you’ll be as a business. It’s just that simple. Similarly, engaged employees are innovative, collaborative and enthusiastic about their work, which allows them to achieve goals more effectively. They are more committed, more focused and yes, more productive.
