In the past, many companies equated “working from home” with “slacking off from home,” fearing the potential productivity losses their company would face if employees had greater workplace flexibility.
Now, a year into the largest remote work movement the business world has ever seen, these fears have been largely overcome. Productivity in the U.S. rose 4.6% in Q3 of 2020, marking the largest quarterly productivity increase since 2009.
But there’s a catch: not every company is seeing productivity boosts with its mostly remote workforce. One study of 800 employers found:
- 67% of companies reported similar productivity levels as pre-pandemic days
- 27% reported an increase in productivity
So what’s separating those seeing gains in productivity from the rest? It could be in how they define productivity and the tools they’re using to track it.
Workplace Productivity Defined
Productivity is the amount of output per hour of work, adapted for a specific job role and business type.
To increase productivity for remote workers, companies can try a few approaches:
- Adopt new tools to digitize manual tasks
- Implement automation capabilities to complete repetitive administrative work
- Refine workflows to streamline processes and reduce hurdles
The Link Between Employee Satisfaction and Workplace Productivity
When selecting tools and finding ways to boost employee productivity, companies must also focus on their employee satisfaction and how their tech can benefit or detract from their overall employee experience.
Research from the Boston Consulting Group found that social connectivity, mental health, and physical health are all factors of productivity and access to workplace tools. So businesses need to expand their productivity definition to get a more accurate look at their organization’s health.
One natural area to start is how your company manages its meetings because these are often viewed as unproductive, fail to bring the team closer, and ultimately detract your team from completing their work (talk about being a downer on employee happiness).
Host Smarter Online Meetings For More Satisfied Employees
Online meetings have long remained a productivity and engagement blindspot for companies. Social hour was built with these shortcomings in mind to give you the data you need to keep your team happy and productive. Learn more about Frameable and how your meetings can provide you much-needed data on your workplace health.