Whether you’re running a sustainable denim company, a local restaurant, or a financial planning and accounting business, there’s one common goal that’s always on your mind: how do you improve your company’s efficiency? The answer depends on your business goals and team, but there are some basic strategies you can use to boost your business’ productivity goals.
In this post, we’ll discuss these strategies and recommend some tools you can use to get the best results from these tactics.
Hire a great team
This might seem like an obvious suggestion, but not everyone hits the mark here. Having a strong team on your side can really be a game changer in taking your team from proficient to excellent. But how do you predict how an applicant will perform before you actually hire them? The truth is, you can never really know for sure, but if you use the following tips you can increase your chances of hiring a superstar team.
- Take employee screening seriously
- Don’t rush the interview process
- Give them a pre-hire test to help you evaluate the caliber of their work
- Check references
Going through with these steps will help you collect more valuable insight on your potential team members than just accepting applications and hiring on the spot. If you run a financial planning company, you’ll want to take these steps even more seriously as your staff members will be dealing with sensitive client information and subjects. Take your hiring process a step further by considering the applicant’s credentials and education.
Set your team up with helpful tools
One of the easiest ways to improve productivity in your workplace is to set your team up with tools that make their lives easier. As a business owner sometimes you end up becoming a little disconnected from your employees and their day to day job functions, so it’s not always easy to determine what’s lacking in your process.
Before you invest in any new software or new devices, start by conducting an online survey or hosting a forum where your staff members can give their feedback and help you figure out their major pain points. This information will help you determine which tools are worth investing in and which ones don’t really solve any major issues.
If employees say their biggest problem is organizing paperwork and information when helping clients file taxes, ProSeries tax software hosting might be a good tool to keep all of their information updated and in one place.
Or perhaps they say that scheduling with their clients has become a problem during the busy season. TimeTap small business booking software could be just the thing to help them stay organized while maximizing their schedule.
Offer remote work options
In this day and age, most of our work can be done online. Studies have shown that offering employees remote work time can not only cut operational costs, but it can also save them time, which means better productivity and more revenue for the business!
If your advisors are able to take appointments over Skype video chat or via conference call, this might be worth considering! Plus, offering scheduled remote work days is a major perk your business can leverage when looking for new recruits. Finally, remote work options can help improve your employees’ focus which could translate to higher productivity.
Incentivize your staff
While every business owner hopes their staff is intrinsically motivated to perform well and be super productive, that’s not always the case. One way you can help encourage your staff to work hard to meet business goals is to provide them with some incentive.
Here are some ways you can do this:
- Implement a rewards program
- Start a competition for employees to meet certain goals
- Offer bonuses or extra time off for employees who go above and beyond
- Reward your team with a company trip if you meet your quarterly or annual goals
- Recognize hard work by starting an employee of the month program
- Listen to employee feedback and take it seriously
- Take your team out to a hosted lunch once a month to discuss things that worked well and things that you could improve on
Final notes
Using these four tools, you and your team will be on the fast track toward a more seamless and efficient business operation!