How to Improve Workforce Management Efficiency

As the pressure mounts to boost revenue while remaining competitive among the growing landscape of startups, organizations are working tirelessly to improve workforce productivity and efficiency.

There are many barriers that prevent large and small businesses from achieving workplace efficiency, including neglecting to delegate, poor communication, a lack of clear objectives, and utilizing inefficient technologies.

Luckily, many of these barriers can be removed by following a few simple best practices. Here is how to improve workplace management efficiency.

Empower Employee Engagement & Foster a Culture of Communication

Empowering employees to think outside the box and collaborate to solve problems can help improve workforce management efficiency. Some managers mistakenly micromanage day-to-day business activities to ensure everything is operating smoothly.

A better approach is to delegate important tasks to department managers or reliable, high-performing employees. This can also help employees develop a sense of responsibility and leadership experience.

Fostering a culture of communication is important to improve operational efficiency. Delegating tasks to department managers or top-performing employees is useless if they aren't properly informed on how to perform those tasks.

Make sure to utilize new technologies that encourage collaboration and productivity. Many consider emails to be the primary method for communicating, but studies also claim that reading and responding to emails can take up 28% of employees' time at the workplace.

Newer platforms and management tools such as Slack (an employee instant messaging system) may be more beneficial for communicating. Organizing company meetings can be time-consuming and difficult, especially if employees from several different office locations need to attend. Consider utilizing video messaging systems such as Skype or Zoom to save valuable time and resources.

Owners often expect staff and personnel to complete tasks and meet key objectives on a regular basis. But employees, not owners, are the ones who have to complete those tasks every day. Therefore, it's important to ask for regular feedback from all employees to see their perspective on the day-to-day business operations and assignments.

Is completing a task taking too long because of factors outside the employees' control? Do they have suggestions that would help improve operational efficiency? Engaging with employees and department managers on a regular basis can help correct inefficiencies, which also helps employees feel more confident about their work.

Set Goals to Boost Productivity

Employees need a set of clear goals and key objectives in order to remain productive. If a goal is not clearly defined, or if there are not measures in place to ensure employee accountability, then employees will probably not complete as much work.

For example, a retailer wants their employees to approach every customer that comes in the store. However, the employees receive no commission if the customer decides to make a purchase. Because there is no reward system for hard work, there is a decrease in operational efficiency and employee satisfaction.

The lesson is, clearly outline to employees what is expected of them and work with them to set some achievable goals. Utilize goals that are SMART, or-

• Specific A narrow task rather than a broad set of objectives
• Measurable Find a way to measure their performance and stick to that system
• Attainable Goals must be attainable or employees won't find motivation to try
• Realistic Goals must be attainable for all team members
• Timely Breaking up tasks to perform by day or week can help employees stay motivated and productive. Giving too much time or leeway can encourage procrastination

Utilize a Reliable Clock-In System for Workforce Management

The way in which Human Resource departments track employee hours heavily influences productivity and workplace management efficiency. Biometric timeclocks, or devices that scan fingerprints or other physical identifiers, are one example of a reliable timekeeping device.

Some benefits of biometric time clocks include-

• Track meals/breaks
• Sends overtime alerts
• Tracks paid time off and sick days
• Tracks missed clock ins/outs
• Ensures labor law compliance
• Ability to integrate with mobile devices
• Controls workplace access
• Eliminates time theft
• Improves workplace security

These benefits help to increase workplace management efficiency because employers spend much less time verifying time card punches and hours worked.

There is also less opportunity for human error because the clock in/out data is immediately uploaded into the software, available for everyone to see.

Institute Ongoing Education & Training

Challenging employees to perform tasks outside their comfort zone can help increase their confidence and skillset. But assigning tasks without properly educating and training employees on how to go about completing each responsibility will leave many feeling frustrated.

Employees will waste time and resources trying to accomplish something they don't know how to do, and the final product might not be up to par.

Instead, incorporate detailed employee training programs that are specific to their particular job, and keep them updated when there is any sort of change in standard business operations. When employees know how to approach a challenging task, they will do a better job at completing it.