What’s More Important for Your Business, Productivity, or Efficiency?

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So what really matters? Business productivity or efficiency? This question has been the question of companies and employers throughout the ages. Do you concentrate on the relative ease of doing business? Offering faster and better service to your clients and customers? Or should you focus more on the faster production of goods? On the rate of output of goods per unit time?

That’s what this article brings to the fore and finally concludes. If you are a starting business or also a market leader in your industry seeking an answer, then we urge you to keep on scrolling.

The Difference

While people have been found to use the two words interchangeably at times (especially by bosses in the workplace), the two terms are as different as black and white. With productivity, we focus more on the quantity of work produced by an entity while efficiency focuses or is more concerned with the quality. Ever heard of the difference between working harder and working smarter? This is where the origin of that comparison was born. Working harder can be related to productivity and the latter to efficiency.

The Benefits of Each

Let’s first look at productivity. The key benefit of focusing on productivity is that it gives a business an Opportunity for Growth. A business is always interested in growing its reach in a particular market and increasing its market share. Firstly, increased productivity means that your products or services hit the product faster than your competitors leading to faster sales. For your employees, increased productivity means that they can hit their quota or goals faster. This extra time, if well applied to the company, can lead to its natural growth. However, this may come at a detriment. Despite the high standards, what if there are errors or rejects among the produced goods or products?

Let’s take a look at efficiency, the ease at which or how the goods are produced. When a company focuses on efficiency, one of the first effects is the reduction of operational costs or the optimization of resources. It could be through the improvement of the technology used or the redefinition of the methodology. But the danger is focusing on efficiency as the first step of the business. First, you need to put your products or services out there for the public to see. And that can only come through increased productivity. After that, you can focus more on efficiency. Most companies miss out on this.

So What’s the Final Take?

As a CEO or owner of a business, one thing you should realize is that both are key parts of your business and deserve your attention. The question is: Can you strike that balance? Think about what affects each element and how they can be influenced. But remember, too much emphasis on either will lead to substantial negative effects. It’s a balance between working harder and working smarter.