It goes without saying that employee productivity is a big part of your company’s success.

Productive employees know how to manage their time and get things done. Conversely, there are employees who struggle in this department, never reaching peak performance.

As a business owner or manager, it’s your responsibility to get the most out of your workforce. Here are three simple ways to increase employee productivity:

1. Improve Skills Through Ongoing Training

Do your employees have the skills they need to succeed?

Don’t allocate all your training resources to new employees. Ongoing training is critical to ensuring that your workforce remains productive into the future.

If you don’t have the time or manpower to handle this in-house, take advantage of training outsourcing. Outsourcing is growing in popularity, with Training Magazine noting the following:

“2018 saw an increase in the average expenditure for training outsourcing: $422,321, up from $219,265 in 2017. Large companies on average spent $1.3 million vs. $216,657 for midsize companies and $78,184 for small ones. An average of 14 percent of the total training budget was spent on outsourcing in 2018, doubling the 2017 percentage.”

Ongoing training is one of the best ways to boost employee productivity. Be sure to save money in your budget for this.

2. Provide the Right Tools and Equipment

Regardless of company size or industry, there are tools and equipment your employees need to remain productive.

Are you asking your employees to do their job on outdated computers? Are you asking them to use equipment that hasn’t been relevant in your industry for 10+ years? Are you lagging behind the competition in regards to tools, such as web-based software?

The right tools and equipment will increase productivity. The wrong tools and equipment – or none at all – will inhibit your employees from performing their job.

3. Focus on What Matters the Most

It’s easy for workers to become bogged down with problems and concerns that don’t have any real impact on them, the company as a whole, or its bottom line.

Help your employees focus on the details that matter the most, while putting others on the backburner for the time being.

For example, it’s more important to solve a customer’s problem than to troubleshoot why a printer isn’t working.

Productive employees know how to use every minute of their day to their advantage.

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. If any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add, please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!