A boost in sales can mean that the standard working week isn’t enough to get everything done in your business. Overtime allows you to ramp up output at a moment’s notice, but it’s expensive. Here are seven ways to help your employees work quickly and efficiently during those extra hours.
Provide refreshments
Save time by installing facilities to make hot drinks and have healthy snacks to hand, kept cool in an office fridge. By having these on site, productivity will rise as tired employees can easily grab a drink and a snack to keep them focussed.
Track the Keys
Use an intelligent key cabinet to keep keys safe. Not only will your employees be able to access the building when they need to, you’ll also be able to track when they arrive and leave. This eliminates the need for a separate clocking in system and resolves disputes with hours owed in overtime. Also useful if staff need to access locked cupboards out of hours.
Customer contact software
Keep employees informed of who has contacted which customers even when there’s no-one around to ask. Especially useful when working out of hours to contact customers in different time zones, a customer management system will ensure that all employees are kept in the loop.
Work in comfort
Ensure you have an air conditioning system installed that your employees can operate themselves. Using a simple wall panel or a remote control unit, they can change the temperature to suit. Studies have shown that productivity goes down if the office space gets too hot, and employees are unlikely to want to work in cold conditions.
Intelligent Lighting
With out of hours working, you won’t be able to use a timer to switch off the lights, and you can’t expect staff to work in the dark! Use an intelligent lighting system. The lights will stay on whilst there are people working in a given area, but will switch off in empty areas. This has the added benefit of saving electricity too.
Project Management software
Staff working late to complete tasks required to move a project to a critical next phase need to know exactly what’s expected of them. Use project management software that automatically emails tasks to the correct people. Your staff can tick items off when they’re done and everyone will be kept up to date with the status of the project.
Install Blinds
Easy to overlook, but if you’re working late into the evening then it’s possible that the setting sun will be shining through the window and onto your screen. Fit blinds that can be opened and closed remotely and allow employees to open and close them when necessary.
Overtime is a necessary evil. People like the money, but it’s hard work. It’s worth investing in small things that make life easier for your staff who have to put in the extra hours. The sooner they get the job done, the sooner they can go home, and the less it’ll cost your company in overtime pay.