Maximizing efficiency through an agile workforce

In addition, preventing lacklustre performance and inefficiencies will ensure your business is smooth-running and this will create a better working and professional workplace that’s high-performing, no matter the issues nor surprising events, like a pandemic. Having clear communication and consistency will make attaining your organisational goals that much easier. However, efficiency should never be sacrificed. This is what drives business and boosts bottom line.

When your employees understand their role and refer to the right process at the right time, there is purpose in their work, there is clarity. The employee will benefit as they understand their role through structured feedback, and can measure their own performance while at the same time the organisation does not need to slow down that will create inefficiencies that impede performance. With clear goals and a roadmap, your employees can work better for the organization.

Training new staff can take a significant amount of time. Many employees will take different lengths of time to get used to and to manage their tasks and roles well. Taking the time to create clear procedures and processes that anyone can follow should be fool-proof. This isn’t always the case and in a fast-flowing workplace, knowledge can leave an organisation when employees leave.  

If processes are smooth and efficient, less time needs to be spent backtracking. Backtracking and fixing past mistakes can lead to a lack of compliance and missing key things.  This may be no fault of the employee but whatever the reason, it’s sure to reach the top of the chain, where the buck stops. When employees have been working in the organisation for many years, some processes may be overlooked or continue to be done ‘the old way’.

Rectifying these attitudes needs training and supervision that will lead to consistency and efficiency. This is also vital if new employees are starting, having a clear pathway that all employees refer to will create a better and more cohesive workforce.

Poor processes and lack of consistency can put your whole company in jeopardy, including jobs. Compliance issues go all the way to the top which impacts the reputation, brand, and the bottom line. It takes time to bounce back after such a fall, or it may not even be possible, such is the damage. When each employee has their own way of doing things, right and wrong can become blurred with staff going their own way which can lead to instances of neglect, poor professionalism and worst-case-scenarios. Compliance is the key to ongoing success.

Where an employee does not understand fully their role and processes, it kills productivity.  However, one major cause is often forgotten and that is re-prioritisation, and how this is communicated. Priorities are usually set half yearly or quarterly and quickly forgotten. Most employees will work hard to achieve the original priorities regardless of changes to business priorities. This can often lead to employees focusing on the wrong things and not focusing on how to achieve outcomes in their current state, and changes that have occurred. Great leaders have a common quality of constantly re-prioritising at a department level down to an individual level and communicating this clearly. This ensures the employee understands their accountability in delivering these outcomes.

There are many ways to keep staff up to date on changes to laws, compliance and processes. Difficult to keep track of, it can create issues for a business that impacts the bottom line. Working to prevent negative economic, and cultural, impacts is vital for your business ongoing. Online technology can bring quick updates and with many new online learning strategies, it can help staff come to terms with the changes. On email, it can be difficult to keep track of, as well as meetings and other forms. Using technology is one way to ensure continuing training. RapL provides an innovative delivery system combined with professional advice services to achieve your intended outcomes.

Procedures show an employee the detailed instructions of how to do a task. This saves time and money and enables your employee to manage issues that arise in a consistent manner. In Sales for example, they can get to the clients quicker with clear purpose and intention. What this can do is to give the employee strength to perform tasks to a high level that is in keeping with compliance.  

If the right strategies are in place, then it’s easy to maintain a global understanding of what the company is doing and how all employees can optimise performance to enhance the business.

When employees understand their priorities and can refer to their processes and/or procedures, they can take responsibility for their roles better and reprioritise where needed, making the right decisions at the right time. It gives them faith in the organisation and flexibility to do more, and appeal to their own attributes. This is vital for companies so that team members can use their skills, hit targets and also keep up to date with the little tasks. Furthermore, staff can also see where they are able to use their own initiative if they have a deep understanding of the organisation.

To book a free consultation with Rapl go to Book a Demo

-By Dave Trendall