Business

9 Simple Ways to Increase Productivity in the Workplace

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Personal issues and family health concerns are huge productivity drainers&period; In fact&comma; these problems cost US employers a whopping <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;cdc&period;gov&sol;workplacehealthpromotion&sol;model&sol;evaluation&sol;productivity&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">&dollar;225&period;8 billion<&sol;a> a year in productivity losses&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Now&comma; keep in mind that those are issues outside of an employer&&num;8217&semi;s scope&period; It doesn&&num;8217&semi;t even include occupational stress&period; Job-related stress&comma; in turn&comma; is a direct cause of lost productivity in the workplace&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Fortunately&comma; there are plenty of ways to make everyone at work more productive&period; We rounded up some of the best ones in this guide&comma; so be sure to keep reading&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Enhance Your Workplace&&num;8217&semi;s Indoor Air Quality<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Poor indoor air quality &lpar;IAQ&rpar; can give rise to sick building syndrome &lpar;SBS&rpar;&period; Experts estimate that SBS costs the US economy <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;sciencedirect&period;com&sol;science&sol;article&sol;pii&sol;S0360132319306304" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">&dollar;20 to &dollar;70<&sol;a> billion&period; These costs result from productivity losses&comma; days away from work&comma; and medical bills&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">SBS can affect your workers&&num;8217&semi; health as it can give rise to respiratory symptoms&period; It can even trigger headaches&comma; nausea&comma; and even skin itchiness or rashes&period; All these health consequences&comma; in turn&comma; can have adverse effects on employee productivity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Regular heating&comma; ventilation&comma; and air conditioning &lpar;HVAC&rpar; maintenance is key to optimal IAQ&period; After all&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s the HVAC system that circulates conditioned air throughout the office&period; If you let it get too filthy&comma; it will blow dirty air all over the workplace&comma; too&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Besides&comma; commercial HVAC maintenance can lower your heating and cooling costs <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;pge&period;com&sol;en&lowbar;US&sol;small-medium-business&sol;business-resource-center&sol;energy-management-articles&sol;energy-management-articles&sol;past-articles&sol;6-sustainability-tips-for-commercial-hvac-that-also-save-money&period;page" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">by up to 40&percnt;<&sol;a>&period; You can then use those savings to roll out employee perks or even treat your workers to lunch&period; These small tokens of appreciation can then help heighten employee productivity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Keep the Workplace Organized at All Times<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Researchers say that clutter can reduce a person&&num;8217&semi;s <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;tips-boost-concentration&sol;"><u>ability to concentrate<&sol;u><&sol;a>&period; It can also increase stress levels and even make people feel anxious&period; Anyone who experiences all these is likely to be unable to give their best performance&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">That&&num;8217&semi;s why your office should have a clutter-free policy&period; Have your employees get rid of unnecessary documents at the end of each workday&period; Give them the freedom to decorate their desks&comma; but in exchange&comma; they should keep them tidy at all times&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Invest in Professional Commercial Cleaning Services<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In 2019&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;bls&period;gov&sol;news&period;release&sol;pdf&sol;osh&period;pdf" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">2&period;8 million<&sol;a> nonfatal work injuries and illnesses occurred in the private US work sector&period; These occupational health hazards resulted in 32&comma;470 days away from work&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Some of the most common workplace illnesses include skin diseases and respiratory infections&period; Many of these are a result of unsanitary work environments&period; Pathogens&comma; like bacteria and viruses&comma; are quick to spread in a dirty&comma; unkempt workplace&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Regular office cleaning services can help prevent productivity-draining illnesses from befalling your employees&period; For starters&comma; commercial cleaners will brush&comma; sweep&comma; and vacuum the entire workplace&period; They will also disinfect surfaces&comma; which can help mitigate infectious diseases&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Having a clean and disinfected office also raises morale in the workplace&period; After all&comma; no one would want to work in a place they think could make them sick&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Create a Safety Policy and Have Everyone Adhere To It<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Every worker&comma; under federal and state laws&comma; has a right to a safe work environment&period; These laws make unsafe workplace conditions illegal throughout the US&period; Employers who breach these laws violate the Occupational Safety and Health Act&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">However&comma; employers aren&&num;8217&semi;t always at fault for all job accidents&semi; in many cases&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s the workers&period; For example&comma; employees may sustain injuries for not following safety protocols&period; As mentioned above&comma; work injuries lead to absenteeism&comma; which then hurts productivity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">As such&comma; you need to have a strict safety policy to help reduce accidents at the workplace&period; Have your employees undergo training specific to their line of work&period; Don&&num;8217&semi;t forget to post printed copies of your policy in places where everyone can easily see them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The fewer the hazards at work&comma; the lower your workplace injury or illness rate&period; This will then result in lower absenteeism rates&comma; too&period; Ultimately&comma; the safer your workplace&comma; the healthier and more productive your people&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Reduce IT Troubles With Computers Made for Business<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">According to one study&comma; employees waste up to <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;helpnetsecurity&period;com&sol;2020&sol;04&sol;24&sol;technology-downtime&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">28 minutes<&sol;a> of their time when they encounter an IT issue&period; The researchers also found that&comma; on average&comma; workers run into at least two of these issues every week&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">That translates to almost 45 hours of wasted time each year&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">You can counter these productivity-draining IT woes by investing in reliable business computers&period; These include enterprise workstations&comma; such as those that you can find over at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;lenovo&period;com&sol;us&sol;en&sol;d&sol;deals&sol;workstations" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">www&period;Lenovo&period;com<&sol;a>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Workstations are best for businesses since they come with ISV Certifications&period; ISV stands for independent software vendors&period; ISV-certified computers&comma; in turn&comma; are devices proven reliable for enterprise-level use&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In short&comma; ISV-certified devices can withstand heavier use&comma; which is common in businesses&period; They&&num;8217&semi;re also much faster and durable than traditional desktops&period; All these features make them less prone to IT problems and equipment breakdown&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Plus&comma; most of today&&num;8217&semi;s workstations come with at least three years of warranty&period; That means you won&&num;8217&semi;t have to worry about paying for parts and labor for the next three years&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Automate Repetitive Tasks<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Using automation software and tools for redundant tasks can free up a good chunk of your time&period; For one&comma; these are smart applications that require little human intervention&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s also for this reason that they help reduce costly human mistakes&comma; such as data entry errors&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Here are a few examples of activities you can automate&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ul style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">&NewLine;<li>Appointment scheduling<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Invoicing and billing<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Payments for utilities<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Data back-up<&sol;li>&NewLine;<li>Rolling out weekend or month-end reminders<&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ul>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">For instance&comma; if you use an appointment scheduling system like <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;supersaas&period;com&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">SuperSaas<&sol;a>&comma; you will save everyone time by allowing the customer to go online&comma; at a time that is convenient for them&comma; to book an appointment&period; Systems like this also send out automatic reminders to customers and options to reschedule so you can avoid no-shows&period; You can then use the time you save for more productive work&comma; such as essential business tasks&period; Your employees can use the same strategy so that they can use their time more efficiently&comma; too&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Don&&num;8217&semi;t Be Afraid To Delegate<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">A previous study found that almost a third of business owners clock in more than 50 work hours a week&period; Nearly nine in 10 of them also reported working during the weekends&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">That&&num;8217&semi;s impressive and all&comma; but if you keep doing that&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s going to compromise your health&period; Falling ill&comma; in turn&comma; is counterproductive to your goals of being more productive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">What you should do instead is to delegate some of your tasks to one or two of your best employees&period; Make sure&comma; however&comma; that these activities are still in line with their job description&period; Otherwise&comma; you risk burning them out&comma; as well&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Praise Your Deserving Talents<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In one survey&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;cnbc&period;com&sol;2019&sol;06&sol;18&sol;disengaged-workers-need-to-be-recognized-by-their-bosses&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">65&percnt; of employees<&sol;a> said they weren&&num;8217&semi;t recognized by their boss even once&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Unfortunately&comma; this lack of appreciation has pushed many workers to say&comma; &&num;8220&semi;I quit&period;&&num;8221&semi; The same study revealed that a staggering 79&percnt; of employees quit for this reason&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">That&&num;8217&semi;s why&comma; as early as now&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s best that you start practicing positive reinforcement at work&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Don&&num;8217&semi;t wait until it&&num;8217&semi;s too late before you give recognition where it&&num;8217&semi;s due&period; Otherwise&comma; your business would be at risk of losing talents&period; Not only will this lead to productivity losses&comma; but it will also cost you in terms of employee turnover&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Besides&comma; positive reinforcement doesn&&num;8217&semi;t always have to be monetary&period; It can be as simple as telling them they did an awesome job&period; That can be enough to make them repeat that desirable act or even do much better the next time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Of course&comma; you&&num;8217&semi;d also want to reward talents who&&num;8217&semi;ve shown time and time again that they do incredible work&period; You don&&num;8217&semi;t have to give them a salary raise right away&comma; but you should at least give them a token of appreciation&period; These can include gift cards to their favorite restaurant&comma; shop&comma; or spa&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The most important thing is to acknowledge and praise those who deserve recognition&period; This can also help motivate others to do a better job&comma; as they&&num;8217&semi;d also want to be that person you congratulate&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Listen To Your Employees<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Another common reason folks leave their jobs is because of a boss who doesn&&num;8217&semi;t listen&period; That&&num;8217&semi;s just as bad as a manager who doesn&&num;8217&semi;t know how to provide positive reinforcement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">In any case&comma; some employees who think of quitting may become less productive&period; Others may even call in sick&comma; not because they no longer care but likely because they&&num;8217&semi;re out looking for a new job&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">All that can hurt your office productivity&comma; so before they happen&comma; learn how to listen to your people&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The results may be even better if you proactively encourage them to give feedback&period; Ask them if there&&num;8217&semi;s anything they think can help them become better at what they do&period; If it&&num;8217&semi;s attainable&comma; give it a shot&comma; as it may be the only thing they need to stay productive&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;"><strong>Follow These Tips To Improve Productivity in the Workplace<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">There you have it&comma; your complete guide on how to boost productivity in the workplace&period; As you can see&comma; there are many things you can do&comma; from improving IAQ to using the right business computers&period; So&comma; as early as today&comma; follow as many of the tips we&&num;8217&semi;ve shared so that you can start raising your bottom line&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Interested in more business&comma; tech&comma; or even health and lifestyle guides&quest; Then feel free to check out the rest of our site for more informative resources&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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