Productivity is the white whale that every business seems to be chasing. It’s a straightforward concept, but in practice, there are many variables that can make it difficult to achieve – what worked for one business might not work for another.
Some might argue that it’s more about cultivation than something that occurs when certain requirements are met. To that end, you might think of some ways that you can support a productive environment in your own workplace, and how exactly those actions might help your employees to offer their best work.
Flexible Working
The topic of flexible working is a popular one in modern business discourse, with everyone having their own opinion on it one way or the other. To many employees, it’s seen as a way of providing a more optimal work/life balance, allowing them a greater degree of control over the presence of work in their lives. For business owners, they might see it as a relinquishment of control, which can lead some to fight against it – preferring to keep their workers in the office at all costs.
While this might be your first impulse, it might also be a mistake. Flexible working options can do a great deal for employee comfort, and if employees feel as though they’re in a job with perks like this that they enjoy, they might feel more inclined to be productive. This might be especially true if the working structure that they’ve created is one that supports their mental health. People who are struggling with their mental health are likely also going to struggle to be as productive at work, meaning that it’s in your best interest to create a healthy environment that can help people to flourish. Exploring flexible working also allows you to realize that it doesn’t mean any one thing in particular, instead encompassing an array of different working styles and structures.
An Emphasis on Trust
If you want your employees to give their best work, you have to develop a sense of trust between you. Obviously, you have to be able to trust that they’re going to put their best foot forward and work for you as hard as they can, but they also need to trust that you’re worth working hard for. A lot of the time, this might be in what you’re providing (salary, benefits, a positive working atmosphere that makes them feel valued), but there are also unspoken ways of building trust. After all, with all of the data that you get from employees, they are effectively in your care, and that means that your staff will trust you to have a robust enough security system to keep them protected.
This is something that can also be relevant to how your audiences feel about the trustworthiness of your brand. Regular breaches or unreliability might make them look to take their business elsewhere. Therefore, adopting approaches like a managed detection and response strategy can allow you to consistently monitor your own defenses for weaknesses – letting you patch them up as you work with the help of leading security experts.
Opportunities Galore
If you put a person into a job and tell them that this is all they can expect from the rest of their career, their motivation is understandably going to drop. What’s the point in working hard if you’ve already got everything that you’re ever going to get? You need to instead create targets for your employees, meaning both opportunities for things like salary increases, but also training that can further their professional development — as well as positions higher up in your company for them to work into. If you develop a business where you’re cultivating talent and hiring from within, you might find that you don’t need to immediately hire people who are the best in the business – you’ll have the best in business eventually, and when you do, they’ll want to work for you.
This can also help to boost the reputation of your brand to prospective hires. If someone is thinking about applying for a job with your business, understanding that you provide a lot of mileage in terms of career progression is going to be a big sell. Having to change jobs over and over again can be stressful in itself, and finding a workplace where you can be comfortable is something that a lot of people value, meaning that you have a lot to gain by making that place your own business.
A Communicative Atmosphere
If your employees feel as though they’re on their own, unable to communicate with the wider team around them, they’re going to feel stuck when they come up against something that’s unfamiliar to them. You might think that teamwork is something that businesses love to support – with yours being no different. However, you can’t distinguish teamwork from a purely cooperative working perspective from friendship and general conversation. As much as you might prefer for every conversation at work to be focused on the work itself, that’s not realistic, and enforcing that could lead to an uncomfortable atmosphere that leaves employees feeling as though they’re being encouraged not to make friends.
On the other hand, if they do feel as though they can make friends with the people around them, they might then be more inclined to lean on these people for help when it comes to something work-related. The same is true for the other way around. Allowing and encouraging friendships can mean that people feel more comfortable around each other, making casual conversations about their work feel more natural as well. To an extent, the same is true of your dynamic with your staff. While you might not ever be able to be ‘friends’ with them in the same way due to the power dynamic and the inherent difficulties that come with that, you can be friendly towards them and let them know that they can speak to you about difficulties that they’re having. If you respond fairly, openly, and transparently, you can create an atmosphere of understanding where everyone works to support each other.
Conclusion
Supporting productivity in the workplace involves a multi-faceted approach that includes flexible working options, fostering trust, providing growth opportunities, and encouraging open communication. By prioritizing these aspects, you can create an environment where employees feel valued, motivated, and empowered to do their best work. Investing in your employees’ well-being and professional development not only boosts productivity but also enhances your brand’s reputation, making your business an attractive place to work.
