Although no employer wants an unproductive team of employees, it isn't easy to work out how to improve productivity in the workplace. Employee motivation and productivity is a bit of a minefield, but once you get it right, your business can reap the benefits in so many ways.

Not sure where to start? Here are our top tips on how to improve productivity in the workplace and effective ways to motivate employees, with a little consideration to your work environment, flexibility, employee motivation, and more to help your staff perform their very best at work:

1. Create an inspirational workspace

Give your team a great place to work // Engage, Leeds

Environment has a huge impact on workplace productivity, and not providing an inspiring and creative workspace can often be a huge residing factor in an unproductive workforce.

Appropriate and beneficial design features and elements within a workspace vary depending on the nature of the work, but it's incredibly advantageous for employers to offer a space that fulfils the needs of the workforce, going beyond the basics to ensure that employees have a space they enjoy working in and can be productive in. In fact, research shows that strong office design makes employees feel up to 33% happier at work, and happy employees experience 31% higher productivity, so it’s well worth taking the time to consider the design of a workspace.

Knowing just how to utilise a space to its full potential can be difficult to the untrained eye, but luckily folk like us are experts in working alongside a company and its needs to design and fit out a space that is perfectly suited and tailored to them.

Functionality is key to increasing productivity and this can be achieved with the right designing and planning from the professionals. Take our Engage office design and fit out, for example; what started out as an empty floor in Munro House, is now a creative and functional workspace to inspire and motivate employees.

So, as an employer looking to find out how to improve productivity in the workplace, it's important to recognise that giving your team a great place to work, will help them to produce their very best work.

2. Introduce flexible working in an agile workplace

In relation to office design, a flexible and agile working environment has been strongly linked to improved productivity in the workplace. Nothing speaks louder than some shocking statistics, so we can't resist mentioning that a whopping 77% of employees feel that flexible working aids productivity.

We're all too familiar with the loud conversations, phone calls, and other such noises that occur within most open-plan workspaces. It's all part of the working day, but not everyone can work efficiently when surrounded by these distractions and they can significantly impede on workplace productivity. This is particularly the case for some personality types, as we discussed in our previous blog post.

Companies can combat this by offering an agile workspace featuring breakout areas or quiet rooms that allow employees to move around should they need, perhaps to find somewhere quieter to work or to have a change of scenery. Ultimately, this allows employees to perform to the best of their ability and enhance their workplace productivity.

3. Motivate employees with objectives and rewards

Rewarding Employees for Increased Productivity

As an employer and/or manager, motivating employees should be an absolute priority; a motivated workforce is more likely to go above and beyond than a team that feels bored and uninspired. Dedicating time and resources to motivate employees can pay off tenfold when it comes to workplace productivity.

A simple but effective tactic to motivate employees is to set individual objectives for each employee to work towards, with the aim of helping them to develop and grow within their role, which can then be reviewed after a set period of time.

Having something to work towards is a great motivation for employees and to achieve those objectives, productivity needs to be high. Additionally, having a reward system in place can be a great motivation, rewarding employees once an objective or goal is met. Examples of the types of rewards that a business could utilise include the likes of a bonus scheme, offering an extra day's holiday for employees to win by reaching a certain goal, vouchers for employees to use outside of work, and implementing awards, such as 'employee of the year'.

4. Increase accountability and responsibility

There's nothing more empowering and challenging than being given responsibility and independence to carry out certain tasks as an employee.

This is a sure-fire way to improve workplace productivity as accountability is enhanced for each individual, meaning they are held responsible for their assigned tasks and whether they deliver or not.

Additionally, placing trust in an employee can also help to boost staff satisfaction, and challenges within the workplace are a great motivation. Don't be afraid to delegate to your employees!

5. Introduce workplace benefits

It goes without saying that happy employees are productive employees, and an undeniable way to motivate employees and enhance workplace productivity is to have some great employee benefits in place. Anything from a free coffee token to a gym membership can go a long way in increasing employee satisfaction, contributing to the workplace environment as a whole.

More employers are choosing to invest in their workforce's health and wellbeing. Offering solutions to improve mental and physical wellbeing can be greatly appreciated by employees and encourage them to work to the best of their ability. Not to mention that having a healthy team means you'll benefit from a lower rate of illnesses in your office!

6. Provide the right equipment

If you want your employees to be able to work as productively and efficiently as possible, having the right equipment and tools within the workplace is essential.

It's not only about having the right equipment, but also making sure that everything is in good working order. You can't judge your employee's productivity if their computer keeps crashing, and you can't expect all reports to be printed efficiently if the printer keeps jamming!

Give your employees everything they need to perform at their best and deliver amazing results for your business.

Here at Absolute, we're dedicated to office design and creating a workspace that is functional and flexible. Our expert design team know just how to get the most out of a space and how to increase productivity in the workplace through quality design, and our site fitters make sure everything is up to the highest spec for you and your team, just take a look at our portfolio page. Get in touch to find out more about our services and exactly what we're capable of. Let’s improve your workplace productivity!