In an 8-hour workday, the average office worker is only productive for about 3 hours, according to a recent study. Yet companies pay for every second they spend at their desks. It is thus important for businesses to bring out the full potential of their employees.

Here are five productivity tips that can help businesses do just that.

Measure Performance Regularly

Businesses should measure the performance of their employees every now and then. Doing so allows them to know exactly how the employees are performing and whether they need to improve.

Measuring performance does not necessarily mean going through the quarterly performance reviews of each employee. Simple things like punctuality, timely completion of projects, personal habits, attitude, personal presentation, client feedback, and random checks can tell a lot about the performance of an employee.

Set Goals and Objectives

When setting the performance standards for employees and measuring them, managers should know the current state of their business and set rules and expectations in advance.

For instance, if an employee spends three hours on office applications and emails and two hours on personal sites, his actions may be considered not productive. If he spends one hour on personal sites and the rest on office work, he may be considered fairly productive. Above all, businesses should have regular check-ins to see if everyone is on track regarding the goals set.

Be Personal

Businesses should know their employees better. This is very important because employees often struggle with personal problems such as drug abuse, domestic violence, or financial crises. Such problems can take a toll on their productivity at work, making the business to suffer in the process. Earlier intervention can save the employee and increase the overall productivity of the business.

For instance, if an employee is severely underperforming, business managers can hold drug tests like marijuana testing to check if their performance has been affected by particular substances. After that, the proper course of action can be determined from there.

Do Not Impose So Many Internet Restrictions

Businesses need to relax on internet restrictions, especially for social media platforms. There are a lot potential that might remain unexploited if the employees are unable to access these sites and interact with prospective customers. Businesses should allow employees to market freely on social media and keep up-to-date with the latest moves from the competitors.

Provide Constructive Feedback

Business managers should provide feedback in a constructive way on a regular basis. The feedback should be encouraging, not disheartening. An encouraging feedback does not mean there must be a positive message. The message can be negative, but the communication should be done in a carefully calculated and thoughtful manner. It shouldn’t make the employee to feel bad about himself, but rather it should give him the motivation and desire to do better next time.

Employee productivity forms the foundation on which a company achieves success and prosperity. Companies should ensure they provide constructive feedback, allow social media access, and measure performance regularly in order to keep their employees productive at work.