These Tips to Make Employees Waste Less Time Can Increase Productivity By 3x

Saajan Sharma — December 26, 2019 Follow @saajansharma3

Employers, managers and HRs, aren’t all of you quite aware of the fact that all your employees do waste time intentionally & unintentionally?

Certainly, you do.

60% of the time or less at work is spent productively.

Imagine the impact it has on your business productivity. Nevertheless, instead of discussing how they waste time and how wasting time harms your business adversely, let us get straight to the root cause;

Why do employees waste time?

Identifying the root cause can help you find the best cure to the ailment. When you will know what exactly drifts them away from their work, you will devise a better solution. So, here they are-

Some feel not challenged enough(35%), some feel bored(23%). Moreover, some are unsatisfied(30%), some say their works hours are too long(34%) and some say they lack the motivation to work harder as there is no incentive(32%). Furthermore, there are 18% who feel underpayment makes them waste time at work. (Easy distraction and mobile addiction are more vital)

What to do about it?

Going by the Rudy Karsan saying, you must focus on providing a work-life blend and not balance. Also, the feeling to not to waste time has to come from within the employees, you cannot stand at their heads to get the work done.

1. Healthy competition- This is the general tip that can work on every employee wasting time. So, you set the goals for your team to achieve and a reward before-hand to boost their productivity even more. Whether you are measuring the performance in term of quantity or quality, the reward will make them invest more of their time and thus waste less and less of their time.
2. Creative tasks- Assigning creative tasks once in a while is worthwhile, especially for those who find their jobs boring, not challenged enough or feel their work hours are too long. For instance, assign them something off their daily tasks. For instance, you can ask the recruitment team members to come up with some creative job posting ideas. Whoever writes the best gets a movie or dinner voucher.
3. Re- engagement– Some employees are quite disengaged already and that becomes a major reason for their unproductive behavior. That is why it is really important for the business to re-engage such employees. The best thing to do is to ask them what is wrong and start making them feel worthful. Employee recognition plays a crucial role in this regard. Try using an HR software, it can immensely help you with the process of re-engagement.
4. Clear Motivation– For those who feel they are underpaid or are given no incentives, this works. To motivate your team, you should always be energetic and motivated yourself. Send them good thoughts, notes of appreciation, and how much you expect from them. Now, different employees will feel motivated due to different things. For some it can be appreciation, for some, it can be money, and for some, it can be a higher position. Bait each employee accordingly. Give them a goal to accomplish, and some autonomy to see their productivity boost.
5. Management Workshop- Organise a workshop to let employees understand the basics of organisation and time management. Let your workforce know how they can increase their productivity. Sometimes, they just don’t know the right path.
6. Short Breaks- There are downtimes for each employee working. So, the short breaks should not be a problem. That way, employees will be able to focus better on their work and do the same work in less time. Almost every employee feels his work hours are too long.
   What would you prefer- A workforce giving 7 productive hours or a workforce ideally sitting and doing the work as a burden to them?

What not to do about it, EVER…

1. Don’t fix the break timings. Understand that each employee has a different hunger and saturation point. By fixing the long and short break times, you are imposing yet another rule on them. (which invites opposition naturally)
2. Don’t block social media sites. This clearly shows how dishonest you think of them being. Even if you don’t trust your employees, never let them know. Find your own ways to keep a tab on them like using an HR software. And anyway, your employees are mindful enough to use their mobiles.
3. Don’t hold too many meetings. In order to make them waste less time, you may use HR and attendance management software or hold a meeting or two in a week to the most. Micromanaging this way will just become yet another time-wasting culprit.
4. Don’t ask them to mail EOD reports. Be sure they have enough work to do and that they aren’t compromising on the quality. Learn to trust them. However, if an employee is taking undue advantage, discuss. EODs add on to the list of tasks especially when the resource is already quite occupied in meetings, and work.

Here is the #Masterstroke!

Tell your employees to let you know why they waste their time at work. You can ask them to tell you why do they waste time. If in case, the employees are not comfortable in revealing their names, leave a box and ask them to put slips anonymously.
Doing so will help you in identifying which of the aforementioned tip will work the most in your favor.

Wait no more, try the tips we shared, and comment below which one worked in your favor the most.

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