6 HR Suggestions for Boosting Productivity

HR plays a wide variety of roles within an organization and can help shape company culture, reduce costs of employee turnover and help make the business a pleasant place to work. Due to their varied role, HR also has an impact on employee productivity, and one thing that every company would like to see is an increase in production from staff. Take a look at these six tips for helping to increase productivity and boost profits.

1. Create reward and incentive programs

Setting goals is crucial to getting employees to reach higher and boost productivity. One way to make goal-setting worth it is to develop a reward and incentive program.

Every time a team member meets a benchmark, make sure they’re recognized accordingly. Reward and incentivize with things like bonuses, gift cards or even a trip.

Employees will feel like going above and beyond if they know they get rewarded.

2. Encourage team work

Getting staff to become more productive may be as easy as getting them to work together.

When left to do tasks alone all the time, people get bored and feel the need to do more than the bare minimum. Perhaps some employees thrive in a group setting? Part of this may be the ability to interact and shared ideas, or it could be due to the accountability teams often create.

When one employee feels like three others are counting on them to get a job done correctly, they’re more likely to go above and beyond.

3. Plan outings and activities

Employees don't always want to be stuck behind a desk or forced to attend stiff staff meetings in the conference room.

Mix it up by planning company outings and activities. You may choose to do this in waves, taking teams out one by one, or you may want to put together one or two out-of-office events annually. You may decide that one outing will be completely autonomous, such as a trip to a theme park.

However, you may find activities - like escape rooms - serve a dual purpose. They let employees have time away from their desks and encourage positive team interaction.

4. Take employee suggestions to heart

If you believe people hate HR, you may have to step back and reevaluate what the department is doing wrong.

Instead of guessing, publish an anonymous employee survey to find and solve problems with the company culture.

The first step in mending any discord that exists between workers and the HR department, and company as a whole, is by getting feedback on the areas that need improving. Then, after careful consideration, develop strategies on rectifying anything you and the management teams deem valid. Make sure issues are prioritized and addressed in an appropriate order.

5. Get management to support employee flex time

The company you work for is chock full of different personalities. Some people are more productive in the morning, while others don't get ramped up until after the lunch hour. What if you could capitalize on these personal productivity spurts and get people to go above and beyond?

Create a flex schedule for those departments that may best be suited for it. For example, morning people may be willing to come in at the crack of dawn if they can leave that much earlier in the afternoon. When it comes time for the first shift to go, the night owls can step in and take up the reigns. Advocate for more remote hours as well. When employees feel like their schedule is not as rigid, they’re more likely to get more done.

6. Develop seminars and training sessions

Providing people with better tools may be paramount to getting them to be more productive. Look for areas where the company is falling short. For example:

• Are people not adequately trained on the new computer system?
• Are they failing to take advantage of certain software that’s aimed to help them improve work output?

Take note of the areas employees need help and put together interactive training sessions. Day-long seminars off-site may also be a great alternative to keeping people locked up in a conference room.