Maximizing Productivity in the Workplace

As a business owner or manager, you know better than anyone how important it is to have a competent, productive workforce. With it, you’re well on your way to success. But without it, your business can flounder over time. In the 21st century, when the vast majority of employees require Internet access to perform their jobs, finding a way to increase employee productivity is a greater challenge than ever before. “Cyberloafing,” or wasting time on the Internet during business hours, has become a serious problem for companies throughout the world. That should come as no surprise since online access provides workers with the ability to do a variety of personal tasks all day long every day: shopping, banking, checking local news and weather reports, staying in contact with family and friends via social media and an unlimited number of other options are literally at their fingertips all day long every day. Some employers have chosen employee monitoring software to keep track of their workers online activities. While it can certainly provide you with information regarding which sites are being visited and how often, it’s typically seen as a serious invasion of employees’ privacy. Not only that, but employee monitoring software isn’t nearly as effective as it might have been years ago because of smart phone technology. Chances are that the vast majority of your employees carry smart phones or tablet computers with them every day, which means that they’ll always have unlimited Internet access through their own devices anyway.

The only effective way to maximize employee productivity is to ensure that your workers are interested in their jobs and motivated to want to do their best each and every day. Finding positive ways to motivate your employees isn’t nearly as hard as it may seem, and it doesn’t necessarily have to involve money. Consider, for example, setting aside a special parking place for the most productive employee of the month. Offer a particularly hard-working staff member the opportunity to work at home one day a week. Or allow your most productive employees to work flexible hours that enable them to spend more time with their families.

Cyberloafing is really just a symptom of a much bigger problem, which is a lack of motivation. Rather than treating the symptom, go straight to the heart of the matter by finding inventive, effective ways to motivate your employees to do their very best. Not only will you be helping each individual, you’ll also be building a strong working team – something that is essential for any company to thrive. Make it clear to your employees that their success will, ultimately, lead to the company’s success as well. And that’s a win-win situation for everyone!