Revealing 6 methods to increase productivity in business – 95% of businesses have successfully applied

Did you know that 30% of employees admit they only work at 80% productivity? Often, this figure says more about managers—the employers—than about the employees. 1Office will show you the factors that affect employee work performance and reveal 6 methods to increase productivity in a business in today’s article.

1. Factors Affecting Employee Productivity

You always see your employees buried in work, but the results are not high, revenue is stagnant, and the growth rate is low. So, where does this situation stem from? Are your employees truly productive, or are they simply too busy? In reality, work productivity is influenced by many factors, including both internal and external ones.

1.1. Limitations in Professional Competence

The first factor to consider is the employee’s own professional competence. In some cases, employees are less productive because they lack the professional knowledge and skills required for the job. Some employees are assigned tasks by their managers that do not match their skills and experience, leading to an inability to perform the work effectively.

1.2. Work Environment

The work environment greatly affects the state, morale, and motivation of employees. The work environment includes physical factors like lighting and office space, and non-physical factors like the work atmosphere and cooperation from colleagues. If any of these factors fail to create a favorable and positive environment for employees, their ability to perform their jobs will decline.

1.3. Lack of Motivation

Motivation is a key factor that determines employee performance. It is the internal energy that drives employees to strive and give their all to their work. If the motivation is strong enough, work productivity will also increase. No matter how talented an employee is, without motivation, they cannot perform their job to the best of their ability. The reason is that they feel discouraged, disoriented, and lack the enthusiasm to achieve their goals.

1.4. Non-Standardized Processes

To solve the productivity puzzle, you must start with the process. For a business to operate smoothly, efficiently, and achieve high productivity, it needs an automated, standardized process. This is because employees work and interact directly within the stages of the process to create the final product. Therefore, if a business does not invest in its processes, it will lead to wasted time and costs on repetitive tasks, employees will not know what the next step is, and managers will be unable to track the progress and performance of their staff.

1.5. Lack of resources and supporting tools

Having skills and motivation is necessary, but not enough. Employees can only maximize their productivity when they are equipped with the necessary tools to perform their jobs. Being provided with adequate resources helps employees not only work better but also faster.

Additionally, technology is crucial for efficiency and productivity – 75% of global organizations are projected to increase their use of technological tools to improve productivity because they save a lot of time and money.

2. How to measure employee productivity

Now that you know the most important factors affecting job performance, you next need to know how to measure employee performance to have a basis for implementing appropriate productivity improvement measures for your business.

2.1. Using labor productivity indicators

Labor productivity is defined as the number of products (GDP) created per unit of labor (or per labor hour).

Formula

Productivity = Value of goods and services produced / Input labor hours

Where:

• Value of goods and services produced is the output cost of that labor product = (Total number of products made in that period x Unit price of the finished product)

• Input labor hours: the total time taken to produce the equivalent value of goods and services.

Example: A worker produces 80 products in 8 hours, and the cost of each output product is $10. That worker’s labor productivity would be calculated as follows:

Productivity = (80 products x $10) / 8 = $100

2.2. Evaluation via KPIs

KPIs are one of the most common indicators used by most businesses to evaluate employee performance and productivity. KPIs are expressed as specific numbers that employees need to achieve during a company’s business cycle. Examples include the number of products produced, product sales revenue for the month, etc.

3. Methods to increase productivity in a business

3.1. Employee training and development

Employees can only work effectively and productively when they clearly understand what they need to do and how to do it. Therefore, never skip the training stage if you want to improve business productivity. Training not only helps improve employees’ qualifications and professional skills to perform tasks effectively but also helps them connect with the organization’s vision and mission, thereby striving to create more value.

To train and develop employees effectively, a professional training process with a specific plan is needed. Managers can refer here: 5 steps to build an effective internal training process for businesses

3.2. Assigning the right person to the right job

To increase work productivity, managers must assign tasks reasonably, in line with the employee’s ability to perform the job. Assigning a new employee tasks beyond their capabilities or assigning one person too many tasks at once are both inefficient uses of human resources. To assign the right person to the right job, you need to evaluate the following aspects:

• Capability: Does the employee have enough knowledge and skills to handle this task?
• Responsibility: Is the employee responsible for the work and able to adhere to deadlines?
• Motivation: Is the employee willing to learn and strive for the best results?

See more: How to categorize tasks to 5x your work productivity

3.3. Standardize processes

Standardizing processes can help boost work productivity by up to 35% and reduce operating costs by up to 40% for a business. To standardize processes, a business needs to perform the following steps:

Step 1. Design a standard work execution sequence

These are the mandatory operations and stages that employees must follow in a predefined sequence to complete a task. A clear description of the execution sequence ensures that all employees perform the work in the same way.

Step 2. Calculate the standard time for task completion

This is the necessary execution time to create a product. This will serve as a reference frame for managers to coordinate and monitor stages, helping the process stay on schedule.

Step 3. Determine the standard inventory level

This is the minimum quantity of raw materials needed to ensure the process runs smoothly, without causing delays due to a lack of input resources.

After designing a standard process, managers need to communicate it to employees, ensuring they understand the necessary elements to optimize process productivity. In addition, continuous process improvement should be implemented in parallel with operational activities. This helps mitigate risks and enhance the operational efficiency of the business.

3.4. Create a positive work environment

Among all the ways to increase employee productivity, improving the work environment is an essential activity. One tool that businesses can use to enhance the employee work experience is the 5S method. 5S is a Japanese management method that is simple, easy to apply, and cost-effective. The 5S principles include:

• Sort: Sort and eliminate unnecessary items.
• Set in Order: Arrange everything neatly, in order, with clear numbering and labels.
• Shine: Keep the workplace clean.
• Standardize: Consistently maintain the first three activities.
• Sustain: Turn the above tasks into habits.

By organizing and arranging the workspace scientifically, 5S provides the most favorable work environment for employees to maximize their labor efficiency.

3.5. Recognition & rewards

To improve productivity, it is necessary to influence employee motivation by recognizing and rewarding their efforts. When employees feel their contributions are properly valued, they will put more effort and investment into their work.

3.6. Use supporting tools and software

Using supporting tools and software is one of the most effective ways to increase work productivity for businesses. Work management software is a powerful support tool for both managers and employees, from assigning personnel, tracking work progress, and evaluating employees to managing necessary documents and materials during the work process.

4. Methods to increase business productivity with the 1Office WORKPLACE module

With the desire to help businesses solve the productivity problem, 1Office has launched WORKPLACE – a feature set that provides basic tools for employees to work & communicate internally.

• Planning support: create specific, realistic work plans, assign tasks to the right person or group, and automatically update personal schedules.
• Closely monitor work progress with automatic alerts and smart reminders to help individuals proactively complete tasks by the deadline.
• Supports direct discussion: instead of group chats where messages get lost, employees can discuss directly under each work plan and process.
• Report and evaluate work performance. Visual reports in the form of Dashboards and dynamic reports help evaluate work efficiency.
• Motivate employees with reward decisions on the software

Employee productivity is a key factor in the success of any company. No business can go far without an effective and solid workforce. That is why you should take the time to invest in labor productivity by applying the methods to increase business productivity and the 1Office WORKPLACE business management solution that we have introduced above.