One way to benefit for an organization is to monitor and improve the employee productivity. In every organization, the employee productivity audit is recommended to be carried out at least once in a year. In this process, the performance of the workforce is evaluated and corrective steps are implemented to maximize the output of employees.
WalMart had always been focusing on controlling costs by hiring people with low wages. But, the company soon found out that the employee productivity was not at the desired levels. They identified it as a negative factor and increased the salary of employees, going contrary to their established corporate policy. That is the power of information gathered by independent consultants through interacting with clients and customers.
Most organizations do not have a clear understanding of their people. Like other resources, the workforce also require regular monitoring and periodic assessment by an expert. This can be best done using an independent workforce consultant. They are specialists in locating the pain points that are keeping the employees from delivering their best. The consultant examines the working methods and discovers the reasons that hinder the flow of operations.
Below are different ways in which Consultants conduct the employee productivity audit:
1. Measuring Employee Productivity:
Employees perform a variety of functions inside an organization. While some tasks can be easily quantified, there are other tasks that are difficult to evaluate. Measuring the efficiency of workers by number of hours is a common method to calculate the productivity. However, productivity is not always related to the time put in. In most organizations, what matters more is not the hours spent at the workplace but the amount of tasks completed.
Consultants measure the employee performance by breaking down the work into different segments. They assign tasks to different employees according to their skills. Setting various targets for different employees helps the consultant to calculate the productivity. It also lets the consultant identify those areas where employees are failing to achieve their goals and fix the problems.
2. Individual Employee Assessment:
Every single employee has his own strengths and weaknesses. A dynamic workforce structure is one where roles are assigned according to the skills and competence of workers. When revamping the workforce, individual employee assessment is the most important step. Each employee has to be assigned roles according to his capability. It sets things straight in the workplace.
Assessment of each individual employee is recorded in different sheets by the consultant. The consultant then assigns the roles to employees based on their performance graph. This performance graph is outlined by taking into account the different attributes of employees. For instance, take-charge employees that assume responsibility can be given leadership roles, whereas innovative employees can be given creative control over the projects. In addition, this exercise also helps to retain and promote the best employees that are crucial to the growth of the company.
3. Workforce Analytics:
This is one of the most important methods used by independent consultants to measure the performance of workforce. Workforce analytics provide a bird’s eye view of the organization’s overall activity. Consultants analyze this data through various metrics in order to gain insights and draw conclusions. A research conducted at MIT found that successful companies are three times more likely using the workforce analytics than the low performing companies.
Workforce analytics help to understand the reasons behind frequent fluctuations in productivity. Consultants use this information in an effective way to gain deep insight about the employees. Based on this, they prepare the future strategy to drive superior performance and to ensure employee job satisfaction. Workforce analytics also helps to determine the future technological needs of the organization and serves in a number of other ways.
4. Developing Integrity and Proper Work Habits:
In many organizations, various tasks remain pending due to conflict between two employees or departments. While difference of opinions keep occurring in every organization, the consultant makes sure that it does not impact the productivity. The consultant performs assessment to examine the integrity and loyalty of the employees. He then instructs different employees based on their score.
After performing the assessment, the consultants try to build a collaborative environment across different departments within the organization. They train managers from different departments and explain the importance of corporate ethics. Developing the proper work habits promotes harmony at the workplace. It leads the employees to understand that they are working for a common goal. Workplace integrity not only promotes personal development, it also helps to improve the overall organization culture.
Businesses that are having a hard time managing their employees are advised to hire independent workforce consultants and organizational psychology experts. People are the most expensive resources of every business. Thus, every once in a year, businesses are advised to spend time and money in restructuring their workforce. It saves the businesses from various problems that are likely to arise from time to time.
