5 Ways of Measuring Employee Productivity
It’s no secret that stakes are high in today’s marketplace, and companies of all sizes are working to find an edge over the competition. From doing more with less to maximizing existing resources, productivity is the name of the game when it comes to outhinking — or rather, out-producing — rivals.
But before increasing productivity, HR managers first need to know where their team members currently stand as it relates to reaching company goals. Implementing these best practices will help in measuring employee productivity and providing key data to improve company output.
1. Set the Baseline
To accurately measure productivity, start with creating baseline metrics to measure future productivity against. The baseline will serve as a starting point to determine how your employees are adding value to their team or department in reaching company goals. Establish the baseline by taking the achieved output for a normal workday and dividing it by the number of employees within a specific team, department, or the organization as a whole. Once you have your starting baseline, be sure to clearly communicate it to each team member along with the new goals and strategies to reach them.
2. Measure Tasks, Not Hours
In a perfect world, the time spent on a task would directly impact the outcome. But that’s not always the case when it comes to a fluid workplace that combines tangible and intangible tasks. That’s why managers should measure specific tasks and not necessarily hours worked. Keep specific employee functions and tasks in mind when evaluating productivity, knowing that measuring an assembly line’s output will look different from measuring that of a customer service department.
3. Focus on Individual Performance
Get a bird’s eye view of productivity by tracking the performance of individual employees. Performance management data like annual evaluations will help in determining the high-performers along with the under-achievers, and empower managers to address issues as they relate to improving productivity.
4. Plan for Extenuating Circumstances
While measuring productivity, unique circumstances can skew the metrics. Mechanical failures, organizational crises, and even implementing new processes or systems can turn productivity on its head. Unfortunately, not much can be done to avoid these situations and it may be best to pause productivity measurements to allow employees to catch up and recover.
5. Motivate Your Team
The best way to measure productivity? Make it a team effort! Get employees involved in measuring productivity by clearly outlining new goals and allowing team members to provide feedback. Giving employees a voice and offering motivation to boost productivity will not only help achieve company goals, but also prevent turnover.
