What is productivity at work and how to measure it in your company

[shammis606]

Work efficiency is achieved with a handful of actions, not necessarily chronological, but fully understood by the entire work team. In fact, marketing would not be productive in itself if employees did not have clear goals or did not feel comfortable with the work environment.

Likewise, knowing how to measure it is a key factor to improve shareholder database decision-making as we move forward, whether preventive or corrective.

For this reason, we have decided to create a complete guide on the subject. We will define productivity, explain how to measure it in relation to workers, their functions and the company with practical examples - including simple economic formulas - and finish with those key aspects to be more productive.

Did you think this was a good idea? Then let's get started!

Productivity: what is it?
Types of productivity
Ultimately, how important is productivity at work?
These are the advantages of being more productive at work
How to measure productivity at work?
5 keys to being more productive
Productivity: what is it?
Before we discuss productivity at work, we must first understand the concept of “productivity” itself.

Its definition tells us that it is an economic measure that is responsible for calculating how many products and services have been produced by each factor that has been used — workers, capital, time, land, among others — during a given period.

Its purpose is to measure the production efficiency for each resource or factor used; it is understood that the process is efficient when the same quantity is produced with the least amount of resources possible.

In other words, the fewer resources required to produce a specific quantity, the higher the productivity and therefore the greater the efficiency.

In this way, we will be able to answer the following questions:

How much does a worker produce per month?
How much does a machine produce?
The answer could be, for example, that a worker produces 60 units per month or 0.5 units per hour worked. This result is what we call "productivity" in general terms, it is what we refer to when we evaluate whether or not we have labor productivity.

Types of productivity
Now, is there only labor productivity? Not at all! There are 3 types of productivity to consider:

1. Productivity at work
The production obtained and the amount of work employed are evaluated.

2. Total factor productivity
The production obtained is related to all the factors involved in production: infrastructure, capital, labor and technology.

3. Marginal productivity
This is the extra production that we get with an additional unit of a production factor, keeping the rest constant.

This is where the law of diminishing returns comes into play, which states that in any production process, if we add more units of a production factor without modifying the rest, production per unit will progressively decrease.

Ultimately, how important is productivity at work?
When we talk about productivity at work, we are referring to how efficient the business production process is; an essential aspect in the final results.

Indeed, learning how to measure it will help us optimize the company's capital and detect anomalies such as absenteeism, presenteeism, and workers who do not perform their work correctly.

In addition, it is conditioned by several factors such as the flexibility offered, working conditions, work environment, team leader, among many others.

Having the results at hand will allow us to study the situation in depth and, in this way, improve decision-making, avoiding the least amount of losses - we will talk about this later!

Increasing productivity at work is essential because it improves the quality of life in society, influencing salaries and the profitability of projects, which also increases employment and investment.

Whether for a country, company or industry, it represents a determining factor in economic development. When estimating a country's long-term growth curve, it is divided into two main components:

employment changes , which in turn depend on population growth and the employment rate;
and productivity ; it depends above all on spending on capital goods and productive factors.
An analysis of the most productive requires:

time saving : since it allows more tasks to be performed in less time and the savings are used to perform other tasks;
cost savings : can be achieved by getting rid of what is unnecessary to meet the proposed goals.
Following this line, an effective analysis allows determining the best combination of workers, machinery and other resources to maximize the total production of goods and services.

These are the advantages of being more productive at work
It is quite evident that productivity at work is a key point within its profitability and that each worker is essential for a company to be highly competitive, right?

Indeed, productivity will always be a positive point. Now we are looking to determine how.

It is essential to change this mentality regarding production planning due to the practical impact it has on companies. Find out the advantages you will gain in exchange for a business focused on optimization!

Greater efficiency and agility
The direct consequence of increasing productivity at work is the simplification of tasks, processes and activities, regardless of the department.

This has a direct impact on customer response times and the availability of professionals in charge, who will have the flexibility to work in different roles on an alternating basis.

Cost savings
As we mentioned a few paragraphs back in the definition, we are faced with a situation where you will do more with the same, with the least amount of resources possible. The result of this is, inevitably, the saving of resources used, especially time .

It also translates into a reduction in waste and even greater sustainability for the company; this will have a great effect in the future due to the boom that green marketing has had in recent years.

Lower production costs
Logically, by spending less on resources the company spends less money.

Following this line, by spending less money, it is able to increase profitability and, in turn, impact other of the most important "sub-benefits" to obtain a greater market share:

More competitive prices
Organizations seek to set an effective price to maximize the profitability of their market share or of each unit sold. They may set a price to prevent competitors from entering the market, to increase their market share, or just to stay in the market.

And, no wonder, it is one of the most relevant components when developing viable marketing strategies .

I'll do a little survey for you, when you go to the market and you see a huge amount of products:

What's the first thing you see?
What draws your attention the most?
What do you compare with other products before looking at specifications?
Surely, your answer will be: the price, right?

In fact, it is one of the first things a consumer observes about a product and is a determining factor in the purchasing process .

The market is getting bigger and bigger, and with this, competition remains constantly increasing, especially with the ecommerce trend .

This means that businesses must keep an eye on the behavior of their buyer personas and competitors when setting prices and increasing their competitive advantage.

Greater investment capacity
Investment, in short, is introducing capital into a project after it has gone through the entire planning, management and decision-making process.

Thus, at the time of executing it, an opportunity cost is being assumed by dispensing with those resources that we have at present, to seek a future benefit that is uncertain.

However, as we have been saying, by increasing productivity at work we are optimizing efficiency, we will be in a position to anticipate the results and know what profitability we can expect.

This will allow us to define in advance the ROI of the project we want to carry out.

Possibility of hiring and retaining talents
To find new, quality talent, it is essential that we know how to convey the needs of the profile required and, to do so, we must first know how this profile is productive in the work environment.

Does the interviewee have what it takes to be productive at work? Then they are the right fit!

And on the other hand, it is essential that you retain those who are already within the organization so that they remain productive in your business structure and the competition does not benefit from the fruits that belong to you.

By retaining a good employee, you will, in turn, be retaining the clients they work with and have a great deal of trust in. Customer service, results, what the consumer wants to hear, organization based on them and the appreciation of your brand are key aspects to take into account. Very important!

Customer Benefits
Productivity at work will often translate into good service and interaction with customers. This total experience is the key to satisfying our customers ; which also makes us gain their loyalty.

When they are loyal to our business, they will share their experiences with others, which is an advantage of word- of-mouth marketing that leads to high levels of productivity.

Performance for the company
Employees themselves are an investment and, like anyone else, they must generate a healthy or valuable return for the company. Therefore, when employees are highly productive, the company achieves its goals of investing in them in the first place.

Productivity at work also helps to motivate the work environment, producing an increasingly better business environment.

Keep reading to learn how to measure productivity!

How to measure productivity at work?
A successful decision is one that can be supported by data that has been previously analyzed. Without reliable or verified information, you will not be able to improve your work efficiency and you will avoid making mistakes that worsen the situation.

The goal is not to control, but rather to check what can be corrected, what the needs are, to help their personal and professional growth, and, consequently, also that of the organization.

Next, we're going to go through a series of steps to calculate productivity at work. Not good with a calculator? Don't worry! It's very simple.

Get out your paper and pencil and start writing, this is going to be great!