Reducing staff and increasing productivity: is it possible?

Being able to increase, or at least maintain the same productivity and, at the same time, reduce the team, is a major challenge for managers. A concern that has become common, considering the country's current economy and also, with some employees still working from home .

In the incessant search for efficiency and greater results, entrepreneurs end up leaving some basic steps aside, compromising effectiveness and consequently, the result.

There are many factors that influence a company's productivity. However, contrary to what many managers imagine, large investments in technology, in an attempt to replace human work, do not always guarantee a productive return. The vast majority of processes in companies are related to human resources, which, when well optimized, become a rich source of production.

It is necessary to think about people management to improve processes, reduce costs with excess staff and increase productivity according to the company's needs.

In the lines below, we will see some ways to achieve this result.

1 – Define processes

Productivity is delivering more in the shortest possible time with the best level of quality. Processes and standards improve the way in which all stages of the employees' production process are monitored, making it possible to eliminate errors and failures, and defining a goal, where the employee must climb one step at a time in their workday.

Following standards, procedures, routines and priorities means that goals and objectives are achieved more quickly. Don't let the employee's time be defined by themselves, as it is up to them to define what is a priority and what their productive agenda will be.

2 – Delegate responsibilities

Every team must have a leader. Employees need to be aligned with the company's planning and know which goals need to be met within which deadlines.

However, in the middle of this process, it is natural for some employees to lose their way for some reason and therefore, the presence of a good manager is essential, who positions himself as a leader and takes the team towards its goal in the healthiest way possible.

3 – Flexibility in exchange for responsibility

Offering flexibility for specific cases in exchange for responsibilities brings benefits to both employee and employer. Allowing team members to have autonomy in some parts of their activities can keep them more motivated and productive, performing their tasks more efficiently.

However, by becoming more flexible, the manager must have greater control over activities and identify a way to constantly monitor his team, making sure there is no drop in productivity.

4 – Availability of tools

Essential materials and tools to perform the work fluidly must always be available to the employee. Of course, without waste, but, under no circumstances, should the lack of any basic item influence the employee's productivity and schedule.

Always plan in advance the company's needs with basic materials and equipment, always thinking about the greater good, the result.

5 – Use technology to everyone’s advantage

Optimizing tasks, reducing costs and in some cases, reducing the work team and still maintaining the same productivity, are pillars of good management. And for this, the use of technology in favor of the employee and the employer comes in handy.

There are several ways to use technology as a results multiplier in companies. We will see some of them in the next lines.

Updated equipment and systems

Equipment and systems undergo continuous technological evolution and need to be replaced and updated periodically. Furthermore, when purchasing such tools, one must take into account the quality and performance aspects compatible with the company's use, so that they work in a way that perfectly meets the needs, without overloads, failures or defects due to inappropriate use.

Offering equipment compatible with the work performed by the employee is in line with their productivity.

Internet access control

Controlling internet access is a common practice in companies and is increasingly important and necessary. Unlike a work policy imposed by the company, access control does not require the employee's common sense and will to ensure that sites outside the scope of work are not accessed.

With the large number of accesses coming from cell phones , social networks and instant messaging applications, there are almost no business sectors that are not affected by improper access to the internet.

On the market, there are several tools that block access to specific websites, improving the productivity of many companies on a daily basis.

You can see more information on the topic in the Internet Access Control Guide for Companies .

Remote team management

We know that many companies still have employees working from home, and many will still make this a permanent form of work.

But, how can you control employee productivity remotely?

Managing and controlling the remote team, implementing production processes and software and tools such as Business VPN , greatly help managers to keep employees working from home.

We even created a Home Office Guide for professionals and companies, which can be accessed free of charge. The material covers the following topics:

1. Reasons to adopt Home Office
2. Home Office Challenges
3. Legal issues
4. How to adapt my company?
5. Tools and technologies that can help
6. Home Office Equipment Tips

Conclusion

Optimizing tasks, processes, customs and technologies can certainly improve the productivity of work teams. Perhaps, after reading this, it will be easier to identify whether there is the possibility of reducing the team and maintaining the same quality of production. We understand that the economic moment is sensitive and it is natural for companies to reduce their teams and optimize production processes in order to improve their cost-benefit ratio.

I hope I helped you identify that reducing staff and increasing productivity is possible.

To the next!