10 practical ways to improve productivity in your workplace

Australian businesses are obsessed with productivity.

The current debate over potential industrial relations reform is framed by SMEs with the accusation current Fair Work laws won’t allow them to be. Even the Productivity Commission recently pointed out in its report on the retail sector the industry suffers from low productivity levels.

It’s certainly true that productivity has slowed down. According to data from the Grattan Institute, productivity increased by far less in the past decade than it did in the 1990s, and fell behind other countries as well.

But despite all the talk of how changes to Government policy could improve productivity, Grattan Institute economist Saul Eslake says it’s really up to the individual.

“The work we do is about how public policy could improve productivity, yet I am very conscious that productivity improvements only ever happens as a result of the decisions that are made and executed by managers and business owners at various levels.”

“The way in which these things happen is not going to be prescribed by public policy, but rather the workers and managers in firms, with the advice of others, doing things organically.”

While productivity experts say it can be hard to prescribe common solutions for improving productivity, as each business is so different, many say there are a few principles businesses can try in order to really make the most of what they have.

Here are 10 ways businesses can get their productivity up and running again.

Don’t cut staff numbers

One of the biggest temptations when overhauling productivity in the workplace is to eliminate some workers – fewer workers doing the same job should logically mean higher productivity, shouldn’t it?

But Jason White, Deloitte Consulting partner, says this isn’t the case. While he says there may genuinely be people you need to let go, overall businesses should instead reallocate resources rather than just getting rid of people, which can affect morale.

“The easiest thing to do is just reduce headcount. And we saw this during the GFC. It’s difficult, because there is a lot of pressure from analysts and shareholders and so on to ensure your organisation is achieving its goals.”

“But we saw innovative responses then. There are ways of reducing costs without reducing the ability to grow and your productivity. If you do downsize, you lose efficiency in the process.”

Manage your sick leave

Sick leave is a big drag on productivity. According to research from Paul Dundon’s firm Direct Health Solutions, the cost of absenteeism is draining up to $30 billion from the economy each year. And even more people are taking sick days due to rising stress levels.

Dundon says while staff taking sick leave is unavoidable, there are ways to increase efficiency. One of those is to determine why people are taking sick leave, and try and stop it at the source.

“The two main reasons people don’t go to work are sick leave and carer’s leave. You need to manage it better. Look at what is causing people to take time off and put the right strategies in place.”

Dundon says issues such as stress are able to be avoided, and so businesses should make sure they ensure employees aren’t being forced to take time off.

“Most companies don’t have the right processes in place. They need to find out what’s going on, put management processes in place, and make steps to ensure it’s being managed.”

But Dundon also says businesses need to avoid the issue of presenteeism, where employees come to work while sick and aren’t able to perform to their full capacity.

“Corporate health checks and so on are good ideas to reduce the issue of presenteeism. Being at work but not efficient is a detriment to the business.”

Count your steps

Businesses have been using Six Sigma principles for years to maximise the efficiencies within manufacturing lines, and more recently, in offices as well. There are a number of these principles that apply to businesses of all types, but Six Sigma Consultants chief Rod Howes says one is critically important – keeping your tools close by.

Howes explains that too many businesses don’t provide their employees the tools to do their job within a close vicinity to their workplace. So they end up having to walk across the room to get them one at a time, which ends up wasting time.

“You need to bring the tools to you, to your employees, rather than just walking backwards and forwards all the time.”

“Various manufacturers use this, where for workers they have parts there waiting for them when the next job is ready. It’s very easy to say, but not so easy to do as you need to make sure you have all the tools available at all times.”

Efficiency expert Matt LeBlanc earlier this year told American radio program Planet Money that in order to cut down on waste, he examines even how far workers have to walk to maximise profits.

“I was just in Mexico, one of our customers is we ship MP3 players, we distribute them throughout the Mexico City area. I’m looking at the warehouse, and watching what’s happening. I see the truck back up, and they take boxes out, move them and put them down. They move it to another spot, then they’ll break it open.”