In order to keep your business running smoothly and achieve growth, your organization must have clear processes in place. When an organization has too many processes in place, however, it’s easy for business efficiencies to go off the rails, and employee productivity suffers as a result. So how can you do this properly?

How to streamline business procedures effectively

1. Evaluate current processes and define business goals

When looking to simplify business procedures, you must first identify the bottlenecks that are creating flaws in your system. Look for areas within your organization that could benefit from process improvement. If one area of your business is running smoothly, there’s no sense in interrupting a process that’s operating as it should. Instead, think of the outcomes that could derive from such improvements. From there you can define SMART goals to ultimately unlock business growth.

2. Streamline time- and labor-management methods

If you’re in charge of manually entering your time and approving employee time sheets, then you have likely experienced errors and frustration at the tedious task. While time sheets are crucial for managing your employees’ time and invoicing clients based on those billable hours, there is a more efficient way to gain insight into your employees’ workday.

With an online time- and labor-management module, you can eliminate the need for spreadsheets and gain real-time visibility over your entire organization. To keep productivity at bay, provide your employees with access to their time information, enabling them to review reports at the daily, weekly and monthly levels, so they only have to address management with questions if changes must be made.

3. Simplify hiring practices

A recent survey of HR executives conducted by Deloitte Research determined that talent will ultimately become the defining factor in the future success or failure of U.S. organizations. With the support of HR, or a professional with a blend of experience in HR, recruiting and talent management, your organization can streamline processes. First, your job descriptions need to be specific, and the process for applying must be clear and defined. Second, you must ensure that the end-to-end process is smooth and free of lags for the sake of both parties. Once you have hired the right talent, it’s time to shift your focus to the employee onboarding, which serves as the perfect opportunity to make a solid first impression. By aligning your onboarding model with technology, organizations can provide all the forms and documents required in a timely manner.

4. Invest in employee experience

According to the Young Entrepreneur Council in a contribution to Inc: “Seventy percent of American workers are either uninspired at work or actively disengaged, which cost businesses more than $450 million in 2013. Employees disengage because they feel unsupported, over-scrutinized, or that their very jobs are at risk. And when employees feel unsafe, they’re working from their more primitive reptilian brain. This puts people in a high-stress state where they can’t concentrate and are looking for distractions, such as email and Facebook.”

This, of course, can be highly detrimental to the success of the organization. At the same time, it proves that employees who feel supported will in turn feel more empowered to contribute to the success of the organization. To alleviate the risk of creating a dissatisfying environment, invest in your company culture, encourage positive and negative feedback from employees and emphasize employee development.