Employee productivity is on the decline in the U.S., according to new data from the Labor Department. Employers are perplexed by the steepest year-over-year drop in productivity since 1948: Is this the result of quiet quitting? Should they be pushing workers harder? 

Kate Conroy, an HR consultant at Red Clover HR, has another explanation. “Productivity often declines when we use the wrong metrics to track our success. Too often, in the office as well as in the virtual world, we confuse presence with productivity,” she says. 

Redefining employee productivity 

“These are easy things to measure, but they can often fool us into thinking that our teams are being productive when they are not. An employee can come in early and stay late while playing solitaire at their desk for 10 hours. A remote employee may be active all day but could be browsing the internet or using a mouse shaker.” 

Output is harder to measure when it comes to knowledge work – and even harder to measure in hybrid workplaces. So let’s change the conversation to a…productive one. “We’ve placed our focus and values on the wrong things, and both managers and employees no longer know what good looks like. I’ve never met an employee who didn’t want to be productive, the disconnect comes with knowing what needs to happen and having the tools and support to get there,” adds Conroy. 

Employee productivity tips to keep your workplace engaged

As Conroy puts it, an engaged employee is a productive one. Gallup research revealed that higher employee engagement levels translate into decreased absenteeism and turnover and increased productivity, profitability and work quality. 

The pandemic has also shifted the relationship between employers and employees, so it’s important to understand how to keep your workplace engaged in this new work environment. Here are six employee productivity tips to embrace starting today.

1. Tie individual goals to the bigger picture 

“Be transparent about how the employee fits into the bigger picture,” recommends Conroy. “Too often individual contributors feel like they are in a hamster wheel. Just repeating the same tasks over and over, but not getting anywhere.” 

The solution? “Create a line of sight from the employee’s contributions to the business result, so that they can see the value of their work.” 

2. Consider a variable compensation program 

This may be seen as a progressive approach, but it’s one that can have really positive results on engagement and productivity. Raise the stakes through a variable compensation program that allows employees to share some of the risk and success of the business. 

According to Conroy, a successful variable compensation program must be easy to understand. It should also include a clear link between the behaviors you want to drive and the reward. Finally, it should be very clearly communicated that it’s a variable reward and not a guaranteed bonus.

3. Keep people up to date 

“Keep your employees updated on the ups and downs of the business. You don’t need to update the full staff as you would your leadership team, but they’ll feel more motivated if they know what is happening with the business,” adds Conroy. 

Are you experiencing an industry-wide challenge? Talk about it. Trust is a huge part of your employees feeling engaged and valued in the workplace. Without trust, they often feel micromanaged and less important.

It’s important to share key successes, too – and the learnings that you pick up along the way. How will those lessons impact operations moving forward? Keeping people up to date as things happen will translate into higher engagement. 

4. Encourage workers to set boundaries 

Don’t be one of those companies who preach about work-life balance but really insight on all work and no life. Encouraging employees to set boundaries can be positive for engagement and productivity, says Conroy. 

This can look like asking employees not to have their work emails on their phones or making it clear that you don’t expect work to occur during evenings and weekends. “By encouraging your employees to disconnect, they’ll be able to be more fully engaged when they are at work,” she adds. 

5. Embrace time-tracking in a constructive way 

Burnout often occurs when there is a disconnect between the perception of the workload that is being assigned and the actual workload. Time-tracking can solve that problem, but it should be adopted carefully. 

“A poorly communicated time-tracking policy will cause employees to feel as though they are not trusted. A well-communicated time-tracking policy emphasizes the need to know how long tasks take to appropriately assign work,” according to Conroy. 

6. Allow flexible work schedules

Needless to say, flexible work schedules go a long way toward keeping employees engaged and productive in 2022. 

“Flexible work scheduling can be a huge driver of productivity. If you can allow your employees to come in a little early or stay a little late for an appointment rather than having them use a whole day of PTO, it will make a huge difference and communicate how much you value and trust employees to manage their work and deliverables,” says Conroy. 

“By allowing your employees to take ownership of their time, you are also giving them ownership of their deliverables and any performance conversation shifts from the time put in, to the work that is put out.”