Workplace Productivity

Our Workforce Productivity Report revealed that more than two-thirds (68 per cent) of employees in the UK admitted to getting many distractions and message notifications during work hours. A further 22 per cent confirmed they have so many distractions that their working day is never spent fully on work.

Contrary to popular belief, being productive doesn’t mean instantly answering every notification that pops up, working overtime and attempting to spin many plates all at once.

To achieve productivity, employees and businesses must be both highly organised and focused. Ensuring employees have the tools at their disposal to organise their working day and to focus on critical tasks is key to achieving workplace productivity.

Productivity is an aspect of the business world that many organisations struggle with. However, it is critical to growth and success. By creating a productive workplace, employees will feel they are having an impact and morale will improve.

It has been difficult to maximise productivity with working practices completely shifting due to the pandemic. Our whitepaper, Maximising productivity in the New Normal, examines how and why this is so important, as well as offering practical hints and tips.

Productivity software is any kind of business software which makes it easier for your employees to organise their working day, be more efficient and focus on key tasks and initiatives.

It can include finance software, employee management software, CRM software, procurement software and much more.

Many businesses will use multiple different types of software to run their operation, which can be inefficient in itself. The silver bullet for many organisations achieving productivity is a platform which can bring all their systems together in one place.

Our MyWorkplace platform is designed to enhance workplace productivity by ensuring you can easily access the tools you need with one single sign-on. It brings together all your solutions in one place, making it easy for your teams to focus on the big priorities. Raise a PO, book annual leave, request travel, buy stationery – all at the click of a button.

Ensuring that simple, routine tasks are easy to complete is a huge step forward in achieving workplace productivity. Many employees struggle trying to multitask at work, navigating between multiple systems every day. Our recent report revealed that 22 per cent have so many distractions that their working day is never spent fully on work.

Now more than ever managers need to be listening to employees and understanding what is impacting their productivity at work, as well as knowing that people work in different ways and one size does not fit all.

Providing employees with the appropriate tools and practical solutions to manage tasks gives them the best possible chance of success. Our workforce planning guide shares a range of considerations for managers in ensuring their teams are able to succeed and add business value.

There are a range of applications that are designed to automate manual tasks and enhance productivity for businesses and their employees.

These include CRM systems, task management software, file sharing tools, invoice management, finance and HR management, email management and automation. What’s even better is if organisations can centralise and integrate applications to make the user experience as simple as possible.

Businesses should implement practical strategies to enable employees to manage tasks. Examples of these strategies include:

• Encouraging employees to switch off email for one hour a day to focus
• Setting strict deadlines for tasks by using closing down messaging and time-tracking application settings
• Implementing more daily reminders and software which automates manual tasks

Having a clear strategy to support business productivity is very important. Businesses should remove barriers to employee productivity which are caused by lengthy admin tasks and ensure employees have the right technology and tools in place so they can work in the most efficient way possible. Forming a relationship with a software provider who has employee productivity and user experience front of mind is key.

There are many ways to measure productivity amongst your employees. Routine admin tasks should be automated where possible to make up a small portion of an employee’s day and not distract their focus from value-adding tasks. Additionally, getting your employees into the habit of switching off chat and email notifications to gain better focus on the task in front of them could also contribute to improved productivity.

When it comes to using metrics to measure employee productivity, a platform like Clear Review can help to individually keep track of each employee’s level of productivity and progression. Understanding what helps and what hinders employee productivity should be of paramount importance to employers.

Clear Review enables regular feedback and reinforces the positive impact of work and completed projects to help employees recognise that their time and effort is valued. Set and track clear and short-term goals, schedule ongoing conversations to discuss individual targets, raise any concerns around tasks and use the time to discuss motivations for career growth.

By eliminating the once-a-year performance and development review session with each employee in exchange for regular catchups and setting monthly / quarterly goals, managers can keep track of employee productivity while driving success through clear purpose and direction.