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Encouraging employees to walk could be an easy way to boost their productivity

Finding the best way to get the most out of the workforce is often a daunting task - push employees too hard and they're likely to stress out, but be too lax and productivity will inevitably take a hit.

While striking a happy medium between the two isn't an overnight solution, there are a number of easy ways to make staff increasingly alert without pumping them full of free coffee.

Indeed, one expert believes it could be as simple as encouraging workers to walk into the office rather than having them fight through swathes of fellow commuters as they try and bundle their way onto trains in the early morning.

"People who exercise regularly are more productive, happier and suffer less stress than those who don't," said Tony Armstrong, chief executive of Living Streets.

"Walking is one of the simplest forms of exercise that can be slotted into even the busiest of days."

Whether it's encouraging staff to get off of the bus a few stops earlier than usual or getting them to take a quick trip down the road during their lunch break, it appears promoting walking could be an easy - and, just as importantly, free - means of improving on productivity.

So if workers' pupils look like they're starting to resemble box files and some members of staff are struggling for energy, signing up to Walk to Work Week, beginning on May 14th, may be the best solution to the problem.

"During Walk to Work Week we're urging everyone to give it a go," Mr Armstrong added.

Finding the right employee is key to ensuring that companies have workers with the skills that they need to develop.

Whether it's to take care of accounting or keep the IT systems up to date, employees are always hired for a purpose.

With a range of tasks that need performing in the workplace - as well as a variety of roles that have to be filled by staff capable of taking the business forward - ensuring that you build a team with the right skill set could be a deciding factor in the success of your company.

While the vast majority of people will be capable of putting the lever arch files back in the right place and won't sit there chewing their way through office supplies, one expert believes that the importance of employing workers with the specific set of abilities that a certain job requires cannot be underestimated

"The key issue is making sure that people have got the right kind of skills for the sectors which are growing and that they have got the sort of things that employers are going to need," said John Bell, policy editor at ESF-Works.com.

If your company is struggling to drag its servers into the 21st century or there's a departing receptionist that needs replacing, finding someone that is suited to the specific requirements of the role is going to be better than settling for a worker who isn't entirely sure what they'll need to be doing.

Be it setting up a more rigorous selection process or applying a particularly stringent set of criteria when you advertise a job, attracting and holding onto the right employee is integral to the daily productivity of the business.

"There are some employers that are doing quite well and they will begin to start recruiting new people," Mr Bell added.

As companies are able to develop due to employing adequately skilled workers, it seems the scope for growth will improve and allow businesses to increase the size of their workforce.

We are very pleased to report that theOfficeSuppliesSupermarket.com team completed the arduous Yorkshire 3 Peaks Walk last weekend.