Recently, we’ve seen a massive evolution in the roles of an HR department. In modern-day business, HR departments are assigned to handle tasks other than just recruitment, employee management, and policy creation and implementation. Tasks like creating a brand with greater employee engagement, promoting a positive employer brand image, ensuring increased team productivity, and establishing healthy employee-employer relations are now considered part of the job descriptions for HR associates.
A good employee-employer relationship during and after employment can help employees become attractive candidates for other job opportunities through referrals. Another advantage is that companies can easily find quality candidates or business partners through word of mouth. However, with so many responsibilities created and adjusted under the umbrella of HR, it is becoming difficult to handle all the tasks and monitor them simultaneously. The downside of this evolution is that HR professionals often get overlooked regarding improvements in existing productivity and employee engagement.
Incentivize Employees
Current trends have compelled HR leaders to focus more on talent acquisition by designing attractive salary packages and bonuses for potential candidates. Whether it is for a new-hire or the existing employees, offering handsome salary and benefits packages stands as the most impactful way HR professionals can increase employee productivity.
Many multinational corporations (MNCs) have conducted experiments, trying to increase employee productivity using two approaches. The first approach was to use incentives and rewards for employees’ good performances to increase their motivation levels. The second approach was to treat them strictly and promote the consequences of poor performance. Results proved that employees who were rewarded with incentives for their good performance or given space during their bad phases showed increased productivity than those treated differently.
Threatening employees with consequences when they are performing up to the mark is always the wrong approach. The HR department can never improve employee productivity by promoting this approach. It might serve as a short-term solution, but overall motivation levels decrease, resulting in a higher turnover. A person can only perform well under pressure for a short period of time before the pressure could wear on them. This could result in the associate having doubts about the workplace and contemplate finding other employment.
Focus on Tenured Employees
Another way of increasing employee productivity is instead of hiring new employees; the HR department should focus on the productivity of tenured associates. If this focus is maintained, a large portion of the company’s budget spent on recruitment and talent acquisition can be saved. Employees can be encouraged to grow within the organization. Spending money on arranging training sessions or workshops for the existing workforce has proven to be a more cost-effective solution for a company than hiring new associates.
For example, if an employer or HR manager finds that their existing workforce is lacking the productivity level required to take the company up a notch, then they must look forward to arranging training sessions to meet that deficit. Workshops and training sessions are effective options for enhancing employee quality of work. Not only are such sessions are effective in increasing the quality of work coming from current employees, but they also make associates more efficient and marketable when they want to advance their careers.
Employee surveys
Conducting an employee survey is an effective technique that HR managers use to know more about their employees’ morale. It helps them become more familiar with their workforce and work dynamics. Answering questions like ‘Are you happy at work?’ or ‘What obstacles are you facing during daily work?’ can help employees lift their moods and feel good about being at work. Utilizing surveys is an excellent way to increase motivation resulting in employee satisfaction and dedication.
Physical Environment
A workplace’s physical environment can also be a major influence on workforce productivity. HR managers must survey the physical environment and determine if conditions hinder employee productivity. For example, poor lighting is a common hurdle in employees’ productivity. Associates feel down or depressed while working in low light, and it makes them less productive. HR should take note of such conditions and make efforts to address them.
Implementing a productivity plan that ensures 100% productivity can only be an HR fantasy. Indeed, such a productivity level is unachievable; however, a working environment can be created to increase the average employee’s productivity in an organization with these efforts.
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