David Friedland
No business will be at the maximum capacity for their efficiency. Businesses that range from the smallest to mega-corporations will benefit from investigating new ways to improve efficiency at all levels. This guide will go over some small things you can change about your business to reap big rewards.
Offer Incentives
Employees who are motivated and happy to work for your business are going to be more productive than those that aren’t. There will be a few different ways to help motivate them. You could speak to them about their work ethic and what you can do to help them, or you could help them through any issues they’re having in life in general.
Alternatively, you could look into offering certain incentives. These incentives are like rewards for hard work and can come in a few different forms. The most common of these is perhaps money based, with bonuses earned on top of a payslip for reaching certain goals or objectives each month or quarter.
Incentives could also be prize based, awarding tickets to an event for general hard work or the occasional party to show your appreciation. Discuss what your employees would like as an incentive so that you can give them exactly what they want, and assist in them putting harder work in.
Upgrade The Tools They Need
No worker will be able to do work to the best of their ability if they aren’t given the right tools to make it happen. Whilst they may currently have some form of tools within their business, there is likely to be something out there to make things easier for them. Whether that’s new materials or software, it’s worth looking into it. You can hire a specialist or partner with a supplier business to find these yourself, or you can consult the team directly to find what they would like.
Utilise Automated Technology
If you find ways to automate certain business protocols within your business, you will be able to boost the morale of your employees as they find easier ways to do their work. This will also help them to be more engaged with their workload, finding new innovative ways to improve other aspects of the business.
Implementing automated technology should be a priority of your business, as it can improve efficiency across the business in multiple departments. Automated technology will allow your employees to focus on other aspects of their business, and can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.
What sort of automated technology you use will largely be up to you, if you manufacture products then it’s likely there will be something you can implement to speed up construction and assembling of pieces. Some businesses will utilise software that focuses on calculating timesheets quicker for employees, saving HR from having to go through each employee.
Most businesses will benefit from some form of software. From manual labour tasks to driving jobs. Some businesses will utilise transport to take their goods to depots and directly to clients. If your business is one like that, then you could utilise GPS fleet tracking from FleetGo to accurately track your fleet, covering locations, places of interest and current statuses. Gathering as much information as possible helps you answer queries from clients and find new ways to save time in the future without the need to contact drivers yourself.
Cut Back When Needed
Whilst cutting back can seem counter-productive, it could be the solution to all your problems. You may have a department that is either carrying too much on its own or working in an area that isn’t making you much money. You should look at your departments annually and assess how they are all doing on an individual scale.
If you manage to cut back on certain aspects of your business, you could help to propel the other forward and improve the business further. It may be difficult for you to know what areas could do with being cut back, and what areas could do with being completely transformed. This is why you should hold meetings with department heads from time to time, to help you get a more complete picture of what’s going on.
Improve Communication Internally And Externally
Efficiency can often be improved if your team have a better understanding of how they can talk to each other. This will be in regards to their immediate team, as well as other departments that they can work with. Internal communication will refer to general emails, meetings and one on one chatting.
If you have poor internal communication, then you may have unhappy employees who are doing tasks wrong or at least much slower than they could be. Your internal communication will also affect your external communication. This is just as important, as it refers to you speaking to clients and customers outside of your business. The message needs to be clear, with queries responded to accurately and quickly.
