There is a lot out there about how to increase labor productivity, how to make a company stand out, and what’s the secret to gaining efficiency. The answer is simple: there isn’t just one solution or a simple answer that can solve this problem. Each company has to find its techniques to increase productivity.
Labor productivity depends on many factors. Some are company-specific: depending on what product or service it offers, whether or not it has adequate material resources, if it’s properly managed… Other factors to increase labor productivity are external and are not in the company’s hands: how their competition is evolving, what is the economic situation, or to what extent legislation favors the growth of that particular company.
Putting these external factors aside, a company can only deal directly with what depends on itself if it wants to help its employees improve their labor productivity.
How to increase labor productivity
Depending on the company, many things can be done to increase labor productivity. However, there is something all companies should do: improve their employees’ productivity. If you want to know how to increase labor productivity in your company and improve performance, follow these steps:
1. Organize your tasks in order of importance
Organize your tasks based on the order of importance. You can start with the ones you least like to get them out of the way. You can start with the easiest, so you start activating yourself slowly. You could also start with the most urgent ones so you can then focus on the rest in a relaxed manner.
2. Make sure your surroundings are clean and tidy
Make sure your desk and computer are tidy, without any elements to distract you. Make sure there aren’t pieces of paper or notebooks all over the place, generating visual disturbance. Close all the unnecessary windows on your desktop.
3. Distribute your schedule in a concrete way
Divide your time and fit in tasks that need to be done on the day, depending on the order of importance. If you distribute your time orderly and with time limits, it will help you increase your labor productivity, especially if you are working from home.
4. Have only the essential tasks in place
Whenever it’s possible, try to do one task at a time. Put your phone away, so you aren’t tempted to look at it. Put both your phone and computer on silent. Dedicate a certain amount of time in your day (when it begins, during a break) to look at your email, social media, and press. This way, you won’t need to look at it later in the day when you should focus on work-related tasks. Having a fixed amount of time for these distractions is important and then continuing with your prioritized tasks.
5. Spend some time with your colleagues but don’t distract them
If you are working from home, schedule some time in the day to speak to your colleagues about things that aren’t necessarily related to work. However, it is important not to interrupt each other constantly through internal channels with personal chats unless it is an urgent matter you need help with. If you are at the office, agree on a certain time to take a break with your favorite colleagues.
Increasing labor productivity in a company implies supporting employees’ psychological well-being as good mental health is a key factor when fostering performance.
Improving emotional well-being in companies
At ifeel, we are committed to improving employee and company well-being. That is why we strive to help them in the challenge of generating stimulating and healthy work environments for their employees.
For this purpose, our psychologists have created an emotional well-being program for companies. Through this collaboration, your company’s HR managers will be able to receive personalized, data-driven advice on how to improve their teams’ psychological well-being. In addition, this program provides employees with a complete mental health care service structured at different levels according to their needs. Try our program now to see how it can help you.
Visit our Resources section, where you will find podcasts, guides for Human Resources, or interviews with leading HR professionals. In addition, you will have access to a Psychosocial Risk Factors Template, which will help you comply with the Labor Inspection requirements.
We hope this post about how to increase labor productivity has given you some good ideas to make it easier for you to fulfill your tasks. If you want additional information about our company’s emotional well-being program, get in touch with our team.