Boosting Productivity: The Top Culprit Behind Employee Inefficiency Revealed

Introduction

If I asked you what the top causes that cause employees to be inefficient, you might say it is:

1. Employees working remotely.
2. Lack of clear communication and instructions from management.
3. Poorly defined job roles and responsibilities.
4. Inadequate training or lack of skill development opportunities.
5. Low morale and disengagement among employees.
6. Constant interruptions and distractions in the workplace.
7. Insufficient resources or outdated tools and technology.
8. Micromanagement and a lack of autonomy.
9. Unclear goals and objectives.
10. Inefficient processes and workflows.
11. Workplace politics and conflicts.
12. Burnout and fatigue due to overwork.
13. Health issues or personal problems affecting productivity.
14. Poor work-life balance.
15. Ineffective leadership or management practices.
16. Lack of recognition and rewards for good performance.
17. Office environmental issues such as noise or discomfort.
18. Inadequate feedback and performance evaluations.
19. Resistance to change or outdated organizational culture.
20. Insufficient motivation or alignment with company values.
21. External distractions like personal devices or social media.

You are correct, these can be a factor in their productivity, but it is not the main reason. Many of these items would boost productivity. and improve employee job satisfaction.  But, another factor accounts for a large number of hours wasted each day.

The Number One Thing That Effects Employee Productivity

The one thing you need to know is what is the one thing that takes up the most time in your employee’s day? If you knew that one thing then you could find a solution to fix it.   I just happen to know that one thing that wastes precious time for your employees. I discovered it in a report,  A 360-degree view of enterprise information. Here is an excerpt of the report. “In a series of IDC studies in 2001, 2002, and 2003, we asked users of information systems to tell us how many hours they spend searching in a typical week, and then to rate their success in finding the information they were hunting for. Most users told us that they spend between 15% and 30% of their time seeking information.”

And if that was not bad enough, another 10% was spent recreating documents they could not find. That seemed high. And that was a long time ago, surely things have changed.

So, I did some further research and found a recent article by Gartner one of the premier research firms on this topic. They stated that currently, 47% of workers report they struggle to find the information they need.  Here is a link to the article: 

Gartner Article

Things Have Not Changed, Finding Information Is Still A Problem 

  So, if you are like most organizations, this is the one thing you need to solve is reducing the time your staff spends searching for information.   Maybe you can relate to Cindy Hamilton from Community Action Partnership Suburban Hennepin. She recalled the mess they had. “Files everywhere. People’s desks were piled high. Underneath their desks were piled high. A misplaced file could take hours to find.”   We implemented a Laserfiche ECM (enterprise content management) system for them and here is the result. Cindy said, “now the office is clear, no paper files anywhere and we now can find any file in moments.”  

Here is what another client said.  “We receive thousands of calls from clients anxious to know if we can help them. Before Laserfiche, these kinds of calls were hard to field, since staff didn’t have the relevant information in front of them. Today, the calls are much more productive. We can find a client’s application immediately by looking in Laserfiche, and can then let the client know exactly what he needs to do to complete his application.”    Catherine Fair Senior Director, Programs and Technology Innovation, Community Action Partnership Ramsey Washington

The number one solution to improve employee productivity.

We have helped hundreds of organizations like yours eliminate the number one cause of lack of employee productivity - time wasted on finding the information they need to do their job.

We help them by implementing Laserfiche ECM and the time spent on finding documents almost disappears. Often making their staff 20-30% more efficient.

But we don't stop there.

Boosting Productivity in the Workplace

Many of our clients have seen increased employee productivity by going paperless with Laserfiche. And they are excited to see what else can help increase productivity levels.

We then look at their work environment and workflow and look at ways to automate and streamline their business processes using Laserfiche Workflow and Forms. 

Automating their processes helps make them more productive and reduces the time-consuming tasks spent pushing paper-based processes.

Here is an example of what one of our customers said after we automated one of their departments. “I am totally amazed on how a simple Laserfiche workflow could make our energy assistance approval so much more efficient – we are about twice as efficient as we were before Laserfiche”    Chris Larson IT Director, Kootasca Community Action

Solves More 

Going paperless and automating your business applications solves more than the one thing that results in low productivity: problems finding information.

Many of the items mentioned earlier in the article are potential issues in employee performance. For example, the lack of employee training can be solved in part by automating a business process, the employee is guided through the process, they don't need to know the details, and the management software takes care of it.

The lack of motivation or low morale is often improved by going paperless and automating business processes. They see that you value their time and knowledge by eliminating redundant data entry and reducing frustrating menial time-consuming tasks. 

Going paperless and automating business processes helps improve issues with poorly defined job roles and responsibilities and inadequate training. The Laserfiche Workflow helps the staff member know exactly what is needed next to complete the task and meet your client's needs. This reduces stress by allowing them to focus on the tasks at hand. And helps retain quality employees.

It also often reduces the feeling of being micromanaged, because the manager has the tools to measure productivity and knows when a staff member completes a task. And this helps both the employee and the manager when the staff member works remotely.

Conclusion

If you are intent on improving employee productivity in the workplace, then you need to look at reducing the time they spend searching for information.

As we discussed, when you do that by implementing a paperless solution such as Laserfiche and you also start automating and streamlining your business processes, you will find that you are also solving many other factors that affect employee productivity. 

If you implement these tools in the workplace, you will see not only higher productivity but also a positive workplace environment. Your employees feel valued and work smarter.

If this sounds like something you would like to learn more about, please feel free to reach out to me.

Larry

cell 612-382-4069