Employee productivity is down in some sectors of the U.S. economy, and there is no sign it’s going to improve. Before you get wrapped around the statistic though, consider how your company is doing. The figures are the reflection of the collective efforts of individual employees. In other words, these are real people who aren’t producing like they used to, they are employees at companies just like yours.

So, ask yourself, are your employees as productive as they were a year ago? How about five years ago?

Whatever the answer, whatever your feeling, now ask yourself, how do you know? There are a variety of metrics to use, and there are other tell-tale signs to look for that don’t require an extensive study.

Employee Productivity And Engagement Go Hand In Hand

Your most engaged employees are also your most productive. Not surprisingly, they are also the ones you will most likely reward, recognize and promote. So, if you believe your employee engagement is low then you don’t have to worry about your productivity, it’s also low

Correct this problem by taking positive steps towards increasing engagement with your employees. There are a variety of ways you can do this, but they all revolve around the same precept, reminding employees they and the work they do is important.

Feeling sick?

Excessive sick days are a sign of poor employee productivity. Besides, the obvious correlation between people aren’t at work, so they aren’t producing, there are other signs to see. An engaged employee misses about two and a half days of work a year because of sick time. A dissatisfied employee will miss close to eight days a year. Studies from both Germany and Canada show employees who are happy (read: positively engaged) in their jobs have lower absenteeism rates.

Internet Use And Employee Productivity

In most employer’s dreams, their employees would come to work and devote 100% of their time and effort to work. However, that is not, and never has been the case. Your employees are people, and their outside lives will invade their work lives. The internet has only made this more of a problem.

What you shouldn’t do is emphatically tell your employees no internet use while they are at work. This will probably only engender resentment and discontent. Instead, encourage them to only access the internet at appropriate times, such as breaks or their lunch hour.

Encourage Sleeping And Taking Breaks

The U.S. has a problem with sleeping. Not many of us like to do it or do it long enough. While you can’t order people to get eight hours of sleep a night, you can encourage them to get enough sleep. Also, try as much as possible to limit any late night rush jobs at work. If they do occur, allow your employees to take a few hours off in the morning to get some rest.

Employee productivity isn’t something you should only look at during the end-of-the-quarter or year meetings. It is a set of metrics you should regularly measure, even once a week if you are in a highly competitive market.

Equal Parts Consulting consultants are experts in employee productivity and experienced in precisely measuring productivity. If you believe there is room for improvement in your business, or you are seeing a drop, we encourage you to contact us to discuss your situation.