Maximizing Employee Productivity: 5 Tips For Benefits Advisor Management

The success of a company relies on how productive its employees are. It’s as simple as that. And yet, only 13% of employees are satisfied with their work experience. As you can surely assume, it is this 13% that are most productive in the workplace, contributing the most toward the success of the company that employs them. Companies that don’t have satisfied employees are witnessing a decline in employee productivity. 

In the US alone, actively disengaged employees cost up to $605 billion in lost productivity every year. It is important to look for ways to create a work environment that employees will appreciate, one that will boost employee productivity. 

If you are a benefits advisor looking for the most effective ways to maximize productivity at a company, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll provide you with 5 tips on how to achieve this. 

The importance of employee productivity

You enter an office where leaders assigned unending piles of tasks to their employees to make sure they work every minute of every working day. What do you see? The burned-out, stressed employees are easy to notice. They work without motivation, just for the sake of earning their salary and not being replaced by someone else.

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After a while and as soon as these people are offered a good opportunity, they’ll leave the company one by one. Employee retention is very hard on companies that put a lot of pressure on their employees and don’t take any action to boost their productivity. 

The ones that stay will only give a small portion of their talent, skillset, and creativity. The work will take longer to complete, the results will not be as they could be - all because the employees are not productive. 

Benefits advisors should strive to make employees more productive. By doing this, the company in question stands to gain the following - and more:

• Increase in ROI and higher profitability
• Higher employee retention and minimized onboarding costs
• More satisfied customers
• The ability to meet customer demands
• An advantage over the competition

In essence, if a company manages to boost employee productivity, this can do wonders for its growth. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top tricks every benefits advisor should have under their sleeve. 

Best ways to maximize employee productivity

Benefits packages (obviously as a benefits advisor), a smart and clean work environment, leaders that know how to push the employees to do their best… There are many things that you can do to maximize the productivity of employees. You can give them extra days off, a paid vacation, or increase their salaries to motivate them to work better.

With so many options, the decision-making process is hard. Benefits advisors almost always have to stick to a fixed budget and their job is to make the best of it. 

That being said, let’s take a look at the best steps to take to maximize the productivity of employees in today’s workforce. 

1. Streamline the onboarding process

If you remember your first days of work, you probably remember that feeling when you enter the workplace without any clue where to go - or what to do. This happens to the best of us, and it happens every time we set foot in a new company. 

No matter how experienced or confident you are, working in a new company comes with a learning curve. On average, a new hire is expected to complete 54 activities during the onboarding period. This is what the employer must pay attention to - the onboarding process. 

A company that effectively communicates during onboarding makes it easier and faster for the new team member to adjust to the new workplace. This is a magic moment, a first impression that the employee will gain. How it goes can affect their satisfaction with a business, as well as their productivity. 

Let’s discuss some ways in which the onboarding process can be optimized. 

2. Create an onboarding guide 

This might take some time to write and organize at first, but all it takes to start is the first version of your onboarding guide. Create short guides with instructions you have for all your employees, instructions for specific roles, documentation, tool access, and other useful information that your new employees will need to get familiarized with. 

You probably already have most of this data ready. SmallPDF will allow you to merge PDF files online to create an onboarding guide to share with all or with individual employees. Once you have this ready, share it with the people you employ to give them continuous access to the information they need.

If you do this, new employees will know what their tasks and responsibilities are as soon as they step foot in the office. They can refer to the guide whenever they have questions. 

Keep in mind that this is a work in progress. Based on the different roles you are hiring for, as well as the questions you get from new team members, you can always merge more files and update your onboarding guide. 

Based on this guide, you can give new employees a warm welcome. For example, you can send a welcome email containing the onboarding guide, their login credentials for tools to use, details about the company policies and expectations, etc. 

3. Give them the necessary access

It’s important to ensure that every new employee has the necessary resources to do their work. It can be very frustrating when a new worker cannot do their work properly because they haven’t received login credentials yet, don’t have a laptop to use on their first days, or haven’t undergone training for specific tools used in the office. 

By offering every new employee the tools they need to work efficiently, you’d be making them more comfortable in the workplace. This, in return, will boost employee productivity. 

4. Act on feedback, not guesses

As a benefits advisor, you are tasked to make a program that fits the company’s needs specifically. You can’t make changes that work unless you know what it is that diminishes employee productivity in the first place. 

That being said, you should first collect feedback by using employee engagement surveys across different parts of the organization. The data you collect by directly asking the employees is the most accurate information. Instead of basing the plan on guesses, you’ll learn what it is that employees expect from the company. Then you can search for ways to provide it to them - within the budget and means of the business. 

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5. Provide the right incentives

Employees want to feel valued and appreciated in the place they work. They spend hours at a company working toward a common goal, investing their skills and time to get the job done. Providing the right incentives is one of the biggest productivity boosts. There are plenty of ways to do this, including:

• Giving them paid time off
• Rewarding overtime work
• Gifts and rewards for successful work or project completion
• More flexible work hours (possibly even remote work opportunities)

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Of course, the incentives will depend on the company’s budget and possibilities, as well as the individual needs of the customers. 

6. Establish a supportive work environment

Employees thrive in a good work environment. The workplace itself can greatly affect their mood, motivation, and productivity. 

You can get started with the physical environment in which the team works. Is it clean? Is it comfortable? Do employees have enough space to work without distractions? Do they have easy access to help from colleagues or mentors?

This goes beyond the office space, too, and includes the even smallest and seemingly irrelevant things such as water in the working space or a fridge to store their lunches. 

Another important factor for employee productivity is the psychological environment. Employees that don’t communicate with colleagues or work in an environment that doesn’t support teamwork and collaboration are less productive. It is your job to create a place where people can engage with coworkers and communicate, work together, and simply feel free to speak up when they need some help or guidance. 

7. Invest in their well-being inside and outside the office

Unhealthy, stressed, and overworked employees are simply not in a position to be productive. Yes, your job isn’t to force healthy habits on an employee, but you can definitely give them the opportunity for it by investing in their well-being. 

Companies around the world focus greatly on the well-being of their team. We often see big brands creating benefits such as onsite gym access, healthy snack vending machines, and yoga or meditation sessions during work breaks. 

If the office space and budget doesn’t allow for this, companies can always give their employees paid access to facilities outside the office where they can exercise, refuel, and refresh. In this way, they are ensuring that, when at work, the employees are rested and productive to work. 

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What about YOUR productivity plan?

Does your productivity plan include these benefits? How do you advise businesses to achieve the goals listed here and boost the productivity of employees? Remember, this article lists the basic, most important tips for maximizing employee productivity. There’s no reason why you couldn’t get more creative with it.

Author

Nadica Metuleva is a freelance writer who’s passionate about creating quality original content. She holds a Master’s degree in English teaching and a Bachelor’s degree in translation. With 8 years of experience in the freelance writing industry, Nadica has become proficient in creating content that captivates the audience, drives growth, and educates. You can find her on LinkedIn.