Productivity means the amount of achievement with the resources you put into your work. It is the measurement of an employee’s performance in relation to the “cost” of that employee to the company, and the objective is to receive more value from an employee’s work than what they cost your company. This is important for HR managers to know, since understanding employee productivity is directly linked to company performance: more productivity means better performance. Here are seven strategies for increasing employee productivity in your company.

1. Define productivity in your company

Before jumping in and starting to brainstorm how to increase productivity in your organization, take a moment and think what productivity means in your company. Think about what is an individual employee’s expected work outcome and what are the costs (salary, training etc.) of that said employee, and you start to get a quite good view about productivity in your company.

2. Pay attention to productivity when hiring

Keeping productivity in mind already in the hiring process can help you a long way. By focusing on candidates that can increase your productivity you not only save time and effort but also secure productivity in the future. You can also ask specialized organizations for help in finding your company the most productive candidates.

3. Create a caring atmosphere

Making your employees feel safe and cared for is key to employee satisfaction and, through that, to productivity. Employees who feel supported and who enjoy being in the workplace don’t have to worry about themselves and can focus on their work. Simon Sinek has an amazing TED Talk about this subject that I highly recommend.

4. Cut unnecessary meetings

Before planning a meeting, ask yourself a couple of questions. What is the goal of this meeting? Is this meeting necessary? Unproductive meetings not only disrupt the workflow of the employees, but also makes them unmotivated. Unneeded meetings also take time which the employees could use in something more productive. Don’t forget that time is the most valuable resource you have!

5. Time tracking system

For today’s employees, flexibility and work-life-balance is important, and for millennials even more so. Having employees clock in and out when they feel like can sound scary, but it can actually boost productivity by giving employees themselves the opportunity to work whenever they feel most productive. An online clocking system can help you in this.

6. Bring your own device

BYOD (bring your own device) is a trend where employees use their own devices for work. For productivity this has a couple of benefits. First, employees are familiar with their own devices, and don’t have to learn how to use new ones. Secondly, they are more mobile since they are not confined to one desktop at the workplace.

7. Encourage independence

Tracking individual employees can actually be counterproductive, as they might feel micromanaged. Instead, go for freedom. Encouraging productivity means encouraging to take ownership of work, and for this to work is too much managing is the wrong way to go.

Increasing productivity is important, and these seven strategies can help you achieve better productivity in your company. Keep also in mind increasing productivity requires a lot of commitment, both from the employee as well as the managerial side.