Tag: employee productivity

Relax the Rules and Increase Employee Productivity. Yes, It’s Possible!

When you think about employee productivity, chances are good that you think about driving home the message that the faster and better you can get people to work, the more productive they’ll become.

Yet such employee productivity messages often backfire. Employees are adults, and hearing messages about working harder, smarter, and better often have the opposite effect. Instead of saying, “Yes, Boss!” and forging ahead, they slack off. It’s as if you’ve issued them a challenge instead of a request.

If you’re tired of giving workers the same message about employee productivity, we’ve got good news for you. Relaxing, instead of tightening, the rules at work may boost productivity.

Three Low-Risk Rules to Relax for Productivity

Although most of the evidence about relaxing to boost productivity is anecdotal, you can still try a few simple ways to lighten up and get more done. These three low-risk, high-potential-benefit changes can be tested in most nonprofit workplaces.

  1. Extend casual Fridays to casual summers: Casual Fridays offer even the most conservative offices to relax the dress code once a week. Casual summers take this a bit further, offering employees the chance to ditch the neckties or high heels in favor of casual, professional attire. Speak with your organization’s human resources department on how to craft a policy about casual attire to make sure people understand that ‘casual’ doesn’t mean ‘ready for the beach.’ You may also want to specify exceptions, such as meetings with clients, donors, directors, and the public that require a more polished, professional appearance.
  2. Relaxed working hours: While it’s necessary to have enough staff to handle routine business during your regular working hours, allowing people to come to work early and leave early on a beautiful summer’s day may help productivity. Instead of feeling trapped at work, they may work harder and faster to get their work done and get out the door. Relaxed hours, flex time, or even working from home may help people focus so they can obtain the reward of more free time.
  3. More breaks: Frequent breaks, even if they’re just to walk around the block, help boost productivity by giving people a change of scenery and a chance to clear their head. Banish the stigma of taking a break. Allow your employees a chance to actually have a lunch break, and give them a space away from their desks to eat. Breaks are part of work, and the less you hassle people about taking a few breaks here and there, the more productive they can become.

So which one of these ideas will you try? Choose one or try them all. The more you can reward, encourage, and inspire people, the better they will perform. Gone are the days of the Industrial Revolution when a mean supervisor was the way to get more work done. Instead of being the stick, offer a carrot. It’s the 21st century way to increase employee productivity.

Survival Guide for Nonprofit Finance Teams

Looking for more ways to enhance productivity of your team? Join us for this free webinar on Wednesday, August 31, at 2:00 PM ET. Survival Guide for Nonprofit Finance Teams will discuss ways you can increase productivity while facing the challenges facing nonprofit finance teams. Register here.

At Beck & Company, we can help you increase productivity when it comes to your accounting by taking the weight off your shoulders. Our experienced CPAS understand the nuances of nonprofit accounting and love helping great nonprofits succeed. We offer auditing services, tax and accounting services, and more. Contact us today or call 703-834-0776.

To Telecommute or Not to Telecommute? Telecommuting May Drive Productivity for Non-Profits

Telecommuting may call to mind images of pajama-clad workers surfing the net, but new information indicates that offering telecommuting as an option for non-profit workers increases employee productivity.

BizTech magazine reports that remote employees tend to work 20 percent more than on-site employees. They typically clock more than 40 hours per workweek, too.

Mobile technology has revolutionized how many companies view their workforce. Onsite workers clocking an average 40-hour workweek seem to be a remnant of our country’s industrial past, when workers punched a timecard and were paid hourly. Today’s workforce is more likely to seek flexibility in working hours and a better work-life balance, but are willing to work longer hours in exchange for that flexibility.

Currently, 45 percent of nonprofits offer some type of telecommuting policy. The benefit to employee productivity is enormous. Telecommuting employees are 20 percent more likely to work longer hours when engaged in projects from home, and will easily clock more than 40 hours when working on creative projects.

Nonprofits seeking to enact telecommuting-friendly policies need to understand the potential technology and budgetary ramifications. The technology needed to support a mobile workforce includes cloud-based applications, which can be easily accessed from any Internet browser, mobile phones, and laptops.

Some nonprofits have a ‘bring your own device’ policy, allowing workers to use their own smartphones, tablets and laptops to access company data, but with that policy comes a price. Nonprofits who allow workers to use their own devices to work on company systems must have higher security protocols in place to prevent accidental data breaches, viruses and malware from corrupting important systems and inadvertently sharing sensitive donor information, such as credit card numbers.

Telecommuting Employees Are Happier

Studies show that telecommuting employees are generally happier and more satisfied with their jobs than their onsite coworkers.  Satisfied employees tend to stay in their jobs longer, leading to reduced turnover and greater productivity.

TinyPulse, an employment survey startup, assessed 509 full time remote employees and data from over 200,000 other employees to create a portrait of the happiness and satisfaction of remote workers.

Remote or telecommuting employees ranked their happiness and job satisfaction much higher than their onsite coworkers. The only drawback to telecommuting they noted was a decrease in coworker relationships and a feeling of connection with coworkers. For some, this was a drawback. For those who are tired of office politics, it may be a benefit.

The Future of Nonprofit Employee Productivity

By 2018, it is projected that more than 2.5 million nonprofits will embrace mobile workforce management solutions. This reflects a 21 percent increase over today’s numbers. With that growing use of mobile technology, specific steps should be considered by nonprofit managers.

  • Create a structured telecommuting policy for employees. A written policy sets a common understanding of what is allowed (and what isn’t), and also provides a good recruiting benefit when attracting talent to your organization.
  • Update your software and systems with cloud-based solutions that are easily accessed via mobile devices.
  • Discuss security issues with your IT staff or consultants now. Make sure that sensitive data, such as donor lists, accounting and fund data, and employee data is protected with the best security you can install. Close the barn door before the proverbial horse escapes, not after.

The future seems to be one in which work, however it is defined, can be conducted just as easily from the bleachers at a child’s Little League game to an office downtown. Higher job satisfaction, flexible work arrangements, and personal investment into a nonprofit’s mission are all benefits for employees working at nonprofits. When employee productivity increases too, it’s a win-win for both employees and their organizations.

An upcoming webinar will be discussing how the demands on nonprofit finance teams have continued to increase. Also, how you must create greater levels of transparency and visibility, enhance the governance of the organization, and strengthen decision-making and strategic focus – all while improving productivity. Click here to register for the Survival Guide for Nonprofit Finance Teams Webinar On Thursday, June 3rd at 11 AM PT/2 PM ET.

Beck & Company provides nonprofit accounting and consulting services nationwide. Founded in 1987, our staff of CPAs and seasoned nonprofit experts can help you with audits, tax compliance and more. Please call us at 703-834-0776 for an appointment today.