5 Steps to Improve Workforce Productivity in Facilities Management

There’s a lot that can be done on the facilities management side of things to ensure that work flows more smoothly at the office. From simple, small details, to more major projects that can take some time to complete, it’s important to take a good look at the way your department is being run to ensure that you’re not missing some obvious detail that could potentially bring serious improvements.

1. Tidy and clean common areas

This one is so commonly mishandled that it’s ridiculous to even think about nowadays, but it’s a fact. You should pay a lot of attention to the condition of the common areas workers have available, as this can significantly improve the quality of their working environment, and subsequently their overall perception of their job. As a result, this can bring some serious boosts to the productivity of the whole place it should not be surprising that allowing people to relax better can help them work harder as well.

2. Appropriate ergonomics

Don’t just stop at the common areas though ensure that your workers have everything they need in order to do their jobs comfortably for prolonged periods of time. For an office job, a proper desk and chair is a must, but there are other factors that are often ignored due to their subtler nature. For example, take a good look at the lighting of your office and consult an expert to see if there is some room for improvement. You’ll often find that things can be made quite better without even having to invest a lot of money into it.

3. Adequate workplace privacy

Open floor plans are becoming a thing of the past, and for a good reason research after research shows that they’re a terrible idea all around. Worst of all, they significantly reduce the feeling of privacy your workers have, which can have a very strong negative impact on their day-to-day productivity. Giving everyone their dedicated space as much as possible is a great step towards ensuring that your workers are more motivated to do their jobs right. When people don’t have the constant nagging feeling that someone is always peeking over their shoulder, they can perform quite a lot better. You’d be surprised how far this effect can go in some individual cases.

4. Functional systems for feedback and assistance

Do your workers have a good system in place to share their opinions about the working situation and report potential problems? Is there something in place to facilitate anonymous reports in cases where it makes sense? These are important factors in ensuring that your workers are motivated to do their jobs properly, and that they will come to you when they spot something out of the ordinary. In some cases, even if such a system does exist, it may be poorly implemented, which detracts people from using it. Make sure to get enough feedback on the way this part of the organization works and make changes when necessary.

5. Surprise breaks

Last but not least, everyone loves to occasionally get some time off and relax, and as long as you don’t overdo it for no reason, this can have great results in terms of boosting workplace productivity. It’s not very difficult to come up with various ideas for events like these, such as impromptu grill lunches and other similar bits and your workers are going to love it. Of course, there should be a fine balance here, and it’s important to ensure that people still have enough time to actually do their jobs. But when you are more generous in giving them free time, you’ll find that they are much more motivated to fill their working hours with productive, quality work.