How to increase efficiency in the workplace?

Improving workplace efficiency and productiveness is about helping employees work smarter, not harder. Better efficiency also ensures that you are taking the necessary measures to meet your company’s goals, make more money, provide much better customer services, have better employee work satisfaction, and the list goes on. 

In essence, an efficient workplace will lead to better quality, happy employees which will lead to increase in company revenue and higher employee retention.

In this article, I will share the key points on what you need to do to start taking the necessary measures to make your workplace more efficient. 

1. Stay engaged with your employees and be kind to them

It is important to always be in the know of what is happening on the ground and not to simply just see your employees as ‘Resources’ or ‘Robots’ Your employees have lives outside of work and have their own dreams, desires, aims and personal baggage. They will likely be able to tell if you simply shrug them off as ‘Resources’ or ‘Robots’. This will lead to them feeling that you view their role in your company as just a job and easily replaceable and they will likely drag their feet to work everyday.

Your employees want to feel valued and want to know what is going on in the company. According to the Mercer Singapore Employee Engagement Index, 95% of employees in Singapore want to be recognized and rewarded for a wider range of contributions. They want to know that what they are doing matters and want to grow together with the company.

Here are some great articles on employee engagement that share the various common issues that you face when it comes to employee engagement and how you can tackle these issues:

2. Be up to date with workplace and digital trends

It is inevitable that every industry, including your industry, will need to adapt to the technological advancements that have been sped up by the Pandemic. These days, in order for your business to have a competitive edge and attract the right people, you need to be clear about what sets your company apart and also show that your company is forward thinking and has a competitive edge. A way to ensure that your company is up to the industry standard is to always be in the know and adaptive to the latest technological trends.

A big part of what has evolved in the work change is the switch to making remote working a norm. In fact, according to a study conducted by Harvard Business Review  88% of knowledge workers say that when searching for a new position, they will look for one that offers complete flexibility in their hours and location. This is something that small business owners and HR professionals need to keep in mind for your employee retention and hiring processes.

The first step you can take to ensure that your employees are working productively at home is to provide them with a ‘Working from home’ checklist where you can check that they have the necessary items and space to be able to work from home effectively. This checklist will help you plan better on who can stay at home and how you need to come back to the office to work. 

Of course, Working From Home is just one of the many changes that are happening in this digital transformation age. 

Other potential changes that you will experience in this digital transformation age is the need to hire contract workers and also the switch of your entire operations to be fully digital.

Here are some great articles that share what changes you will face in this digital age and how your company can adapt quickly.

3. Know your company’s values and have a clear company direction

To attract the type of employees that you want to attract, you need to be clear about your company’s value proposition and unique selling points.. A good way to showcase this is to create a deck that shares what your company is about with case studies that support the claim.

With a solid company direction, all your employees will be clear about your company’s purpose and this will also in turn attract the type of employees you want to attract.

In addition to having a solid company plan and direction, here are 4 strategies that you will need to take note of to attract talent.

4. Take measures to improve productivity

If you are a business owner, you may be fearful that your employees will not be as productive at home as they are in the office.

Or even if they are coming to the office, somehow you feel that your employees’ productivity can be improved. 

It is a common misconception that working longer hours means that the employee is being extra productive. This is sometimes not as the employee may have been dilly dallying during the day and only decide to do some work after their dinner (claimed from the company). This sort of culture that rewards such employees that do not work much during the day and always work overtime can become quite toxic. 

Here are 2 articles that share how you can improve the productivity of your workplace and how you can help your employees achieve work life balance while still being productive.

5. Have a proficient internal operations system

The great thing about this digital age is that there are plenty of tools online that can help you out with your business. Here is a list of recommended tools that you can utilise to make your internal operations better. 

Here are also some great articles that can help you improve your current HR and internal operations processes.

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It might seem daunting and perhaps overwhelming to start taking the necessary measures to make your workplace more efficient. However, with proper planning and taking baby steps everyday to reach this desired goal, your workplace will be so much more efficient in no time. All the very best!