If you want your business to grow, you want to get the most from your employees because it’s their productivity that will lead to growth.

What stands in the way of generating greater productivity, and what can you do about it?

Employee productivity can be tied to one thing – motivation.  What motivates your employees to work their hardest and work their best?  It’s not the same for everyone.

Each employee is different and may have different barriers to productivity.  For some, their skills may not match the job. Some may be dissatisfied with their job for some reason, while others,  may have difficulty with a manager.  So, clearly, what you must do is identify the cause of the behavior that is affecting productivity.

You need to find what motivates your workers, what gives them satisfaction from their work.  Some are motivated by performance-based bonuses, some by the chance of getting a promotion, some by flexible working conditions, others by additional time off.

Having rewards for productivity will go a long way toward improving performance.  Challenging employees to achieve a certain task with a reward attached will get the best from your workers.  And rewards don’t have to be extravagant – even small rewards will spur motivation.

One way of learning more about your employees is through assessments.  Employee assessments can help you determine what motivates your employees.  These assessments can also be used to better match people with the type of work they do.  By determining what the important factors are that make the difference between success and failure in a certain job, you can make sure you get the right person into the job.

Another productivity killer is not having clear expectations in the first place.  Often without clear goals and targets to shoot for, employees aim for the minimum.

Also, when looking for ways to spur productivity, don’t forget about your training programs.  It has been shown that the better, more thorough the training programs, the higher chance of retaining employees, and of enhancing employee satisfaction and morale.

Ongoing training is important for two reasons – first, it allows you to keep your employees up to date on trends in the industry, and second, it enables you to work in better internal work processes.  These training programs should be done on a quarterly or twice yearly basis and last no longer than two or three days.

If you’re a New York City area business and you need help with your assessing your employees’ skills, contact Winston Resources. We can offer you skills assessment services so that you’ll be able to place the right employee with the right skills in the right job.