As an employer, one of your main jobs is to make sure that everyone works productively when they are in the office. This can be a huge challenge, because different people require different things to improve their productivity. But when you can help your team to feel supported and empowered in the workplace, you can create an environment where productivity is much easier to maintain.
Meet Their Needs
One of the most important things you can do to improve productivity at your business is to make sure that your employees’ needs are met. When your employees are taken care of, they have more energy and focus to apply to their work. This means making sure that they have everything they need to do their job properly. But it also means making sure that their income, insurance, and other benefits all help your employees to take care of themselves when they are out of the office.
Encourage More Cooperation
When your team works together, they will be much better at keeping productivity up. They can accomplish tasks as a team more quickly than they can on their own. Your employees will also be able to get things done when others are out of the office if they work together and understand each other’s work. Kaizen can help your employees come together to work in a more cohesive unit.
Make Time for Breaks
Sometimes employers make the mistake of thinking that productivity means having employees working all the time. However, taking time for breaks can improve productivity and help your employees to really focus on their work. This means encouraging breaks during the workday so that your employees can decompress from time to time. It is also a good idea to encourage taking vacations and using sick time when needed. When your employees are able to enjoy their time at home, they can return to the office with more devotion for the work and ability to focus. It is not enough to offer PTO, you also need to make sure that the company culture encourages using it.
Every business will experience ups and downs as far as productivity is concerned. However, when you are able to create an environment that promotes productivity, you can make the highs and lows a little higher. That will allow you to use funds wisely and maximize profits along the way.
The increase of remote work within the last several years has changed a lot of the ways business is handled. One of the more difficult things about remote workers can be trying to connect with them and keep up their morale from a distance. However, by utilizing these steps, you can keep morale up in your remote workforce and help your remote employees feel satisfied at your company.
Stay Connected
Because there’s so much less opportunity for you to see your employees face to face, it’s more vital than ever to make staying connected a priority. Whenever possible, try to use video conferencing instead of a voice call when talking with your employees. Seeing them as close to face to face as possible can help you both feel connected to each other. One of the best ways to boost employee morale is for them to feel appreciated. If you take the time to let your employees know that you are still willing and able to help them with any issues they may have, they’ll feel more connected to you. It’s common to have some issues and adjustments when working remotely, so it will help their morale to know they can come to you with anything that is posing a difficulty for them.
Encourage Self-Care
Working remotely can be the cause of some common pains since it may be more difficult to create an ergonomic workspace. First, they will likely spend significantly more time on their computer than employees who work in the office. To do any sort of communication, they’ll have to do it via a screen. This can cause headaches and lower energy levels. Encourage them to regularly set aside time where they are offline. This helps them not only feel like you care about their well-being, but also helps with their productivity on the job. Prioritizing employee wellness helps all of your employees have higher morale, but especially remote employees. It could also be a good idea to give them a small fund set aside for wellness. This can help them get a gym membership, or even just a more ergonomic office chair for their home office.
Show Employees You Care
All of these points really just boil down to showing your employees that you care about them and their well-being in and out of the office. With remote employees, showing them you care can be a bit more difficult. You may need to put forth extra effort to reach out to them and develop that strong working relationship. However, doing so will boost their morale, help them be more productive, and help you retain them for much longer.
As many more companies embrace hiring remote employees, managers need to rethink how to engage with their employees. Because you don’t see them at the office, you need to choose different tactics to keep up morale. These are a few of the best ways to connect with your remote employees.
In all of the economic turmoil in which we find ourselves within the post-pandemic world of hiring crises and labor shortages, nothing can seem more tenuous than our national employer-employee relationship. An environment that has historically rewarded exploitation has created a culture of mistrust. But the numbers are clear: if you can create a work environment where the employees feel safe and valued, they will be far more productive and trustworthy.
Keep Them Updated About Important Matters
Communication really is the key to any good relationship. If employees are being kept in the dark during times of difficult transition, at best they feel forgotten. At worst, they feel that missing a piece of crucial information has put them at bodily risk. Of course, you can’t always give all information to all employees; common sense and data privacy must always be maintained. But at the end of the day, you only really stand to gain from employees being informed of important goings-on that affect them, whether directly or indirectly.
Protect Employees From Harm
This one won’t just tear down trust between you and your employees, but it will leave you open to lawsuits that can devastate you financially! Never make a shortcut to save time or costs when training hires on safety or when providing safety measures. That really should be your priority as an employer. Obviously, the details of what that looks like will vary wildly depending on what your business is and what your employees need to do. Carefully evaluate the risks and think of what you can do to preemptively protect your workers, even if it’s a low-risk position. With high-risk positions, be thorough. PPE is the last line of defense, so you should still take measures to eliminate risks entirely.
Listening and Communication
Just as it is important for you to communicate with your employees about important developments, it is essential that you become the kind of employer people can feel comfortable being honest with. Look for opportunities to listen. If needed, ask employees to meet individually in order to gauge their genuine state of being. Ask their opinions on the work environment and what they would change if they could. Be adaptable; if an employee sees that you took their complaint or suggestion seriously, they will become infinitely more likely to trust you.
Achieving a work environment like the one described here would be a feat. But it would undoubtedly put your business on a level far above the standard! Cultivating trust between you and your employees, though difficult, is always worth the time and effort. Always remember, doing the right thing for your employees will always be doing the right thing for your business.
The current work environment is bringing many challenges. There have been so many changes and the workplace looks different with more remote work being available. Struggles companies continue facing in the current environment are burnout, keeping remote employees connected, and supply chain issues.
Burnout
Burnout is something that has been around for many years. Burnout is of particular concern in the current as many employees are experiencing it at once. The current state of the world has increased this with many people’s lives being changed. People are trying to adapt to the differences and accept new ways of doing things, but it is not easy. Burnout can lead to decreased productivity and exhaustion. It is important for employers and employees to focus on preventing burnout, so productivity is maintained, and the business continues to be successful. Employees need to prioritize their health and well and strive to do their best instead of perfect. Exercise, relaxation time, and proper nutrition can also help.
Keeping Remote Employees Connected
Keeping remote employees connected is important for productivity and employee well-being. To keep them involved you can stay connected through technology by scheduling regular time to meet. You can utilize video conferencing technology to see each other’s faces and engage in activities. Utilize messaging technologies for troubleshooting and daily communication. You can ask for feedback and give them tools they need to help them be successful. There are some incentives that can help your remote employees stay connected.
Supply Chain Issues
Supply chain issues can cause frustration and dissatisfaction in your customers. Businesses try to stay lean, but they need enough people to work. Many places are having a hard time finding enough employees to meet demands. Operation costs are rising due to increased costs of fuel, transportation, and energy. Regulations can also cause another barrier to the supply chain. Working relationships are important with vendors to ensure the smoothest operation possible. Create a plan for when there are problems in the supply chain so you can work through disruptions and service your customers.
The current work environment is something many have not experienced before. Employees and employers are working to learn how to navigate a new normal and keep businesses running smoothly. Struggles companies continue facing include burnout, keeping remote employees connected and supply chain issues. A high focus of companies needs to be to prioritize the health and well-being of every employee.
It’s never too early to think about that impending goal of retirement. But now that you’ve gotten to that point – what is going to happen to your business? There are many routes that you could take, but you’ve got to be sure that it’s the right one for you.
Hand Over the Reins to a Family Member
According to Exit Advisor, this one is the most traditional option, and for good reason. If you have a business that you are passionate about, where you have poured years or decades into providing the best service or product possible, you may want to see a family member be the one to take care of it when you go. That would mean that the accompanying profits and assets would indirectly benefit you (since it would stay within the family). It would also be more likely that the new owner would have the same values, passion, and standard of quality that you had maintained.
Sell Your Business
Sometimes, it’s just time to cut your company loose. While you won’t have any more control or any sort of relationship with your business after selling, you will have a respectable pile of money to invest and enjoy in retirement. The process of finding a buyer, however, will be something you have complete control over. The standard and commonality of buyers will vary widely depending on your location and kind of business – but more often than not there will be at least a few who are willing to take it off your hands, whether that be other companies or entrepreneurial individuals. According to Franchise Gator, private equity buyouts are a growing trend in the business world.
Have a Trusted Employee or Associate Take Over
Every situation and business will be different, so this option may or may not be available to you. But if you want to see the business thrive after your departure, it just might be the safest option. Deeding or selling the business to someone who already has experience in your market and (most likely) with your specific business comes with clear advantages. It also provides for a smooth transition of power, both legally and socially. The details of such a transaction will be up to you and your situation – so make sure that it’s a fair and over-the-counter process.
This should be cause for celebration! Retirement is an accomplishment that far too often creeps more and more out of reach for the younger generation of entrepreneurs. But it should always be the long-term goal, regardless of where you are financially. Have a plan early, and you won’t be caught by surprise.
