It would be really great if you didn’t have to think about ways of getting your employees to work more and work harder? It would be great if it just happened all by itself, but sadly, it doesn’t. As an employer, you have to be creative and think about what will encourage the people who work for you to want to work. While you can never force someone to work at their absolute best, you can go a long way towards creating an office culture and environment which promotes positivity and hard work, and in this article, we are going to look at some of these ways.

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Decide on a mission statement and get the whole team on board.

This might sound very wishy-washy and hippy-dippy, but it is essential that your company has a  clear mission or vision statement and that it is written down. It needs to lay out clearly what direction you are moving in, why you exist and what it is that makes the company successful. Don’t have it on a tiny plaque hidden somewhere – make sure that all of your team members can see it from their workspace, that they know what it means and that it is updated as and when necessary.

Overhaul all of your systems

If you are running outdated systems, it is time to get rid and give them an overhaul. If you use a paper filing system, can you look at going paperless? Make digital copies of any relevant documents and store them in cloud systems to avoid various bits of worthless paper from being passed from person to person. Have a look at your IT system. Are you spending hours waiting for computers and networks to reload rather than actually working? Here are 8 clear signs it’s time to change IT provider.


Make sure everyone is clear of their role.

Sometimes, especially if a company has been running for a while, the boundaries between roles can become blurred, and no one knows quite what each other is supposed to be doing. This can lead to two people doing the same task, and another critical task being forgotten about. Sit down with your team and make sure everyone knows exactly what their own role is, and who to go to for information. Various task management systems can help you – Asana, Slack, Trello and Microsoft Teams are just a few of them,


Encourage breaks away from the computer

While this may sound counter-productive, it really isn’t. It has been scientifically proven that people work best in small chunks with regular breaks. It is particularly important when working on a computer screen to avoid fatigue. ‘Force’ your employees to move away from the computer every so often by putting the water cooler/coffee machine/printer at the opposite end of the room. Implement a no eating policy at desks to encourage your staff to leave their desks and go to a common room or staffroom to eat their lunch.