How to Improve Employee Productivity with Workplace Innovation
Your businesses’ success depends almost entirely on employee productivity. Here we discuss some tips to implement and improve workforce innovation.
According to a recent study, employees who feel engaged are 3.5 times more likely to give their best. Moreover, they have an intense belief in their company that it will do more to introduce innovative services and products to the market (5 times more). Interestingly, 6 times more employees are in favor of setting challenging goals that may enhance their performance. 7 times more employees also agreed that their leadership encourages creative ideas and innovation.
This is only the tip of the iceberg – there are many field specific benefits, too. This is the foremost reason why you should offer more in terms of purpose, vision, and goal setting. It might be that what you need to accomplish is already in there to some extent. You can tweak it even more with better ways to tap into the potential, brilliance, and creativity of your employees.
In a competitive industry, lack of innovation will cost you money and expose your business to greater risks. Therefore, today there is no alternative to being more exclusive and competitive. So, let’s have a look at the options at hand.
So, what is workplace innovation?
The current organizational model of your business has to be such that it focuses on effective methods of developing a cohesive environment. It will help your employees to work at their best while maintaining a well balance between life and work.
Some key areas of focus are: performance, motivation, and engagement. Your office should have an energized vibe. All these factors are integral to the job itself. Thus, you can never afford to overlook them.
What workplace innovations are there to explore?
Flexible working options are a step to start with. Often an employee may offer more productivity when they work from home, at least for some time. A flexible work program can increase employee productivity by 35%. The reason is no other than the fact that there is a sharp decline in things like impromptu meetings.
Flexible work options also mean that your employees are happier and a drop in overhead costs. When planning a flexible workspace outline, you should pay special attention to chances of lower engagement and productivity. Some of the considerations that you need to think about seriously are:
Establish clear policies and procedures.
- Besides email, setting up other mediums of communication could be a viable option. For instance, a cloud-based phone system is very effective in keeping your office employees in touch with those working remotely.
- Training sessions for team leaders and managers on how to hold remote employees accountable is another option.
- Occasional adjustment and reassessment of the whole program is necessary, too.
- Improving physical environment should be on your top priority list.
Sometimes you will find that your office environment is the reason why your business is lagging behind in productivity. But more importantly, there are many ways to solve this issue. For example, if your employees are constantly complaining about eye strain or migraine, there should be arrangement for more natural lighting. Remember, such little adjustments can make a big difference and increase overall productivity.
A chaotic atmosphere and not so suitable temperature affect productivity negatively. Research found that a 64 degree drop in temperature is responsible for 50% productivity loss. The same factor may increase the occurrences of error by 44%.
Show them that you really care.
When you do this, your employees naturally feel engaged. Although most employees may be discreet in expressing their wishes, they expect certain rewards and rights in return for fulfilling their obligations. They consciously or unconsciously believe that since they are working hard for you, you owe them something. Perhaps that is why they will not trust you if they feel that you have broken this unofficial contract. Thus, before implementing any major changes you must sincerely consider the consequences as well.
How to implement such strategies in your business?
There are different aspects of workplace innovation you want to implement. Some of them are as below:
- There should also be changes in term of suppliers and clients relationship. The area of focus should contain a more demand-oriented, more customer-oriented but less supply-oriented approach.
- Whether you require a multi-disciplinary approach, a flat organization, or organized teams.
- Flexibility when it comes to office layouts and remote working can bring the best out of your employees.
- An autonomous state of affair that would enable your employees to perform according to their talents and skills. An accelerated learning program can be suitable for them to improve their memory; to get adapted to new methods fast; and to ensure optimal brain performance.
Final Words
It is not uncommon for some organizations to spend thousands of dollars on introducing products and services, operations, and processes. However, your workforce is the primary determiner driving growth.
This is why organizations which are more into workplace innovation enjoy both sustainable growth and increasing productivity.
