Last Updated on Mar 12, 2020 by James W
Companies that do well generally have one thing in common: their workers are extremely productive. How they go about it however, is an entirely different story. There are schools of thought that suggest the use of fear as a motivator and there are others that suggest the use of encouragement alongside other perks.
The point is, having a happy and loyal workforce is the key to achieving company goals and targets, generating more revenue and totally killing it sales wise. And to build a workforce that is very productive, you should adopt and apply the following tips:
Offer Competitive Economic Incentives
Even though some people love what they do for a living, the same cannot be said for everyone. Many people wake up and go to work every day just to earn a living. The good thing is that you can actually help them become even more invested in your firm if you help minimize their money worries.
You see, having reasonable and competitive financial incentive among other perks, can often help determine how well your staff will work and deliver on set goals and milestones. A well fed and well clothed employee is generally a happy one. You cannot pay someone minimum wage or below industry standard salary and expect them to perform exceptionally well.
Provide Constructive Feedback Regularly
There is a difference between suggesting how someone can do something better and berating them for a poor job. Constructive criticism is the bedrock of successful companies. Your workers are human, they could be distracted, genuinely have no idea how to do a particular assignment or have issues with deliveries.
Whatever the case, insulting and talking down at them isn’t going to make them want to go the extra mile for the company. If anything, it’ll actually undermine their productivity. This is one of the main reasons why some large companies have issues keeping their staff loyal.
Engender and Foster Mutual Respect
This is particularly important among management. It is not often uncommon to find bosses insulting and demeaning their subordinates. They call it “motivation???, we think it’s just plain lack of civility and professionalism. No matter how irate or livid you get, never ever insult your subordinates or emasculate them.
Disrespecting an employee is completely unprofessional and uncouth –even if you think the employee deserves it. Instead, wait until you’ve simmered down and then speak to them about the issue. Make sure to address the issue and not make it personal. As much as possible, promote and enforce mutual regard within all strata of the organization. When people know they are respected and valued in an organization, they would go to almost any length for that organization.
Provide Adequate Training for all Personnel
All staff should go for periodic training in new technologies and upgrade their knowledge base and skillset. Please note that this would work even better when you take a company wide approach to this instead of the usual top-down arrangement.
Most companies tend to just send their management on training courses, seminars and workshops whilst leaving out supervisors, lower level managers and other staff. This could be counterproductive as the top managers may be disconnected from their subordinates, thus essentially causing a knowledge gap that inhibits any knowledge transference.
Provide Adequate and Standard Equipment
All businesses need to periodically upgrade their equipment. With rapidly advancing technology, it is counterproductive to not do this. For instance, instead of using the old clunky fax machine, you should upgrade to online faxing systems which have far more advantages than the old faxing machine you own. Before upgrading however, be sure to compare available online faxing services such as FindAFax.com.
The same goes for desktop PCs. Use more flat screen monitors instead of the clunky tube-like monitors. Be consistently on the lookout for how new technologies can help your business and your staff do their jobs faster, easier and more effectively.
Author Bio:
The writer, Oscar King, is something of an efficiency expert who writes on the side to help other businesses maximize the productivity of their workforce. You can learn more about Oscar on Google+.
