7 Clever Ways Businesses Are Boosting Employee Productivity

Is having a highly-productive workforce ever a happy accident? I don’t think so.

Employers who want their staff to achieve more can’t sit back and wait for it to happen: they need to be actively engaged in creating the right conditions for their people to thrive.

This will look different for different companies, depending on the sector you work in, the size of the business, and the type of work you do.

So I asked companies to tell me about the winning initiatives or policies they’ve introduced that are helping to boost employee productivity.

Some common themes emerged, from slashing working hours, to encouraging more varied work patterns, to creating a culture of appreciation and recognition.

But how these policies operate in practice is particular to the organization and the preferences of its workers. Here are seven of the most interesting examples:

1. The four-day work week

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you will have heard of the four-day work week by now: a model being adopted by a growing number of companies to improve their staff’s work-life balance.

Among them is the fintech startup Streeva, which introduced the set-up two years ago following a six-week trial.

Co-founder Beth Michael says: "The results were surprisingly positive, so we decided to implement it fully within our business.

“Despite having one less workday, our technical velocity remained the same, and the team were in higher spirits. We found that having that extra time to switch off and spend quality time with loved ones increased productivity and happiness across the whole business.”

The team of eight, who all work remotely, are also encouraged to work flexible hours, she added.

Employees report feeling less tired, less stressed and more productive. Some occasionally do small bits of work on Fridays, but at their own leisure.

2. The six-hour work day

Finnish mobile game studio Fingersoft has experimented with the four-day week, too. But they also tested an alternative model where its 110 employees worked shorter days, five days a week.

CEO Jaakko Kylmäoja says people were as efficient in six-hours as they had been in eight hours, so the company adopted the model permanently.

Employee Julianna Kähtävä, a UI artist, says: “Working days feel lighter and there is more time for hobbies and recovery every day.”

Kähtävä prefers the arrangement to the four-day week trialled, and adds: “If I had an extra day off every week, I wouldn’t be able to activate myself in the same way. I like to stay involved with what goes on in our working community and be at the office every day.”

3. 7 a.m. starts

Having more of the afternoon to yourself would likely be welcomed by many. But would it be worth starting work at 7 a.m. everyday?

That’s what workers at iHelios, an eco infrared heating company, do. Morning meetings are all wrapped up by 8.30 a.m.–or 9.30 a.m. at the very latest–and staff can be ready to leave for the day at 3.30 p.m..

Sylwester Raczynski, founder and CEO, says: “The early bird catches the worm. By starting early and finishing earlier, my staff are far more productive and focused at work, and they enjoy a much better work-life balance, too, so it’s a win-win.”

4. Meeting-free Fridays

It’s no secret that meetings eat up hours of productive time every week. It’s not just the meetings themselves that consume minutes, there’s also the preparation, the preamble, and refocusing once you’re back at your desk. And all too often they’re completely unnecessary, stealing employees away from deep work.

For Nick Valentino, vice president of market operations at moving services company Bellhop Movers, the solution has been to designate an official ‘no-meeting day’ once a week.

He explains: “Meeting-free Fridays allow all of us to spend a quiet day finalizing the week's tasks or catching up on items that may have slipped under the radar during the busier parts of the work week.“We strategically selected Fridays because it enables everyone to fully complete everything on their agenda without interruption, which makes for a smoother and more relaxed transition into the weekend.”

5. Carded meetings

For those unavoidable meetings, what if there was an easy way to keep the discussion focused and on track?

Pinar Akiskalioglu, founder of beauty care business TAKK, believes she’s found one. Her company uses coloured cards to call people out when they are wasting time during meetings, so they’re only talking about what really matters and so no one goes off on a tangent.

A yellow card is held up to call out people who are missing the big picture by becoming too obsessed over minute details, and a blue ‘essentials only’ card is brandished if someone goes off topic.

It might sound a bit harsh, but Akiskalioglu says the process has helped streamline decision making, making sure the company operates in a simpler and more efficient way.

6. Project checklists

Making sure everyone is on the same page and prioritizing the right tasks is key to being productive. For the 10-strong team at wellness and CBD brand Goodrays, compiling a weekly project checklist is the best way to achieve this.

Eoin Keenan, founder and CEO, says: “On Monday mornings, everyone drops their weekly tasks into a checklist that they need to complete by the end of Friday. We wrap up on Friday evening to make sure everything has been ticked off and we share our highlights, challenges and learnings from the week.

“It ensures we’re all on the same page about the main priorities on a weekly basis.”

7. Employee achievements

There’s nothing like being recognized for your hard work to spur you on to achieve more.

That’s why Josh Snead, CEO of Rainwalk Pet Insurance, sends out a weekly email that lists employee achievements, whether big or small.

He says: “This might seem tedious, but we found that it not only shows that we acknowledge our employees, it incentivizes others to complete their tasks.

“This has helped boost productivity by some small margins, so it's been worth it.”