Reduced productivity in the workplace can be costly for businesses. In some business areas, time really is money, and yours could be losing it if you aren’t getting the most out of your employees’ time. This isn’t to say that your staff are to blame, in fact, it could be your work practices and conditions that could be hampering their productivity. Consider different incentives as a way to boost the morale of your staff, increasing productivity and profits for your business.

Incentives help employees to feel valued

Employees want more from their employers than simply being paid for their work. They want to show that they are appreciated by employees and that they are more than just workers, but a part of the business. Incentives don’t even need to be large to have the desired effect, certain benefits such as healthcare, subsidized canteens or gym memberships offer a lot of value to employees, who will feel appreciated and looked after. Satisfied employees are less likely to leave their employers, and will develop loyalty towards the company they work for.

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Incentives can offer motivation

Higher value incentives such as bonuses, gift tokens, paid vacations and similar incentives offered for reaching targets or performance milestones are excellent ways to drive motivation. Giving employees a target to work towards will make them work harder, as well as show that hard work is rewarded. Choosing the right incentives will be essential to giving employees the motivation they need. If incentives fail to inspire motivation, then you may need to review different business areas to identify the causes.

Incentives can reduce staff turnover

Staff turnover can sometimes affect businesses more than low productivity. If employees feel that they are undervalued or that they aren’t being compensated the way they should, they’re more likely to seek employment elsewhere. Improved staff turnover will reduce your recruitment costs, as well as the time lost through actioning the recruitment and training someone to do the job effectively.

Flexible working - an alternative to employee incentives?

If you’re not entirely convinced by employee incentives, you may wish to consider flexible working instead. Flexible working allows employees to work from home, work alternative hours and make it easier to establish a good work/home balance. If you’re concerned about what flexible working would mean for your business, you can adopt time and attendance tracking solutions to help ensure that the flexible working policy isn’t being abused and is fair to all employees.

As well as considering incentives to make your employees more productive, you should also assess training needs to see if there is something that is holding them back from reaching their full potential. Explore different incentive options to help boost your workplace productivity. Consulting with your employees will help to make the process more effective and will show that you value their opinions as well want to offer better benefits. With a wide choice of incentives available depending on your company’s budget, it’s a consideration worth taking if it could enhance productivity.

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