The success of your business is linked directly to the level of productivity in the workplace. To put it simply, the more productive and efficient your workforce is, the greater the opportunity will be for business growth. Many businesses, however, struggle with maximizing the level of productivity among their workers. While some obstacles hindering workplace productivity, such as lack of training or outdated equipment, may be easy to spot, some issues often go unnoticed. Here’s a look at the top four unseen enemies that may be stealing your team’s productivity.
Social Media and Cell Phones
According to a recent study, the average employee admits to spending nearly one hour per day at work on his or her cell phone. This adds up to five hours of lost productivity per week, per employee. Mobile activities, such as texting, social media, and online games are stealing your worker’s attention and damaging production levels in the workplace. To stop this from happening, take the time to establish a cell phone usage policy and encourage your employees to only use their smartphones during designated breaks or after work hours.
Studies show that the average office worker receives 121 emails every day. It’s easy to see how finding the time to read and respond to this many emails can cut into the productivity level of your team. It’s important to know how to manage your inbox in a way that allows you to remain responsive yet still productive. Implementing an efficient platform that allows for seamless communication between team members can cut down the number of in-house emails significantly. You should also encourage workers to minimize unnecessary messages.
Health
Whether you realize it or not, poor health habits among your workers can destroy workplace productivity. Bad habits such as poor diet, lack of exercise, and addiction can increase your team’s stress level and decrease its production rate. In some cases, these health issues can be hard to detect. For example, you might think you could easily spot a worker with a drug addiction issue. The reality is that most drug addicts don’t start with illegal drugs. In fact, nearly 80 percent of heroin addicts attributed their heroin use to prescription opioid use. The best thing you can do as an employer is encourage your employees to create healthy habits. Educate them about the dangers of addiction and getting help.
Source: https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/heroin-addiction/
Gossip
You’ve heard the phrase, “Gossip spreads like wildfire.” There’s a lot of truth in that statement. Not only does gossip spread quickly, but it also can destroy workplace culture and employee morale along the way. When left unchecked, these unproductive conversations often disrupt productivity and negatively impact team cohesion. Improving transparency and communication with your employees as well as taking a firm stance against workplace gossip can go a long way to stop this problem before it gets out of control.
Source: https://www.hrpayrollsystems.net/workplace-gossip-dangers/
Communication, education and workplace technology can help you tackle these four unseen enemies before they damage your team’s output. Taking action now can help stop the spread of these issues and enable you to strengthen your workforce, promote your company culture and improve productivity throughout the company.
For tips and help in making the most of your team and the time your business has in any given day, let BMOC Group help! We can help train you, your managers, and your workers to work more effectively and to make the most of their workdays.