Are Your Employees Working Hard or Working Smart?

As a manager, it can be easy to look at an employee putting in long hours and automatically think they are doing good work, or vice versa.
In fact, hard work isn’t always the same as good work. Being able to gauge the difference is key to managing productivity.
Working smart doesn’t necessarily mean working long hours. Instead, it means taking time to plan, budgeting time, and taking breaks to maximize efficiency. Here are a few methods to determining the difference between working hard and working smart.

Impose deadlines.

In order to meet deadlines, an employee has no choice but to work smart.  Deadlines force employees to prioritize tasks, budget time, and work as efficiently as possible. Imposing regular deadlines can help distinguish between an employee who just put in long hours of inefficient work and an employee who is truly good at getting things done.

Encourage spare time.

An employee with more spare time is most likely working smarter and more efficiently. Providing incentives and activities to do during spare time can help encourage employees to better manage tasks and budget time to complete good work efficiently.

Look at profit.

Focusing on profit is a good indicator of how efficiently employees are working. If profit is increasing, that means employees are doing good work in relation to the amount of resources being spent.

Look at the quality of the work.

In the end, it all comes down to the quality of the work the employee is doing. If employees are putting in long hours but not producing good work, there could be a potential mismanagement of resources. However, employees who hastily submit subpar work are not good, either. Ultimately, it is worth taking the extra time to ensure that work is done right.
At Job Store Staffing, we have the experience and expertise you need to assist you with all aspects of your staffing needs.  Be sure to contact us today.

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