Innovation is widely recognized as the key component of productivity, so the company looking to raise productivity during a hiring freeze must at some point take a step back and look and see if stagnant, stale inefficient processes can be replaced with innovative interventions that raise efficiency and productivity levels. Hold brainstorming sessions or use social media idea generation tools to encourage employees to put forward new ideas that can help to improve business processes, customer satisfaction, reduce time to market. Create a safe environment where employees feel able to put forward any ideas and where they will not be criticized or ridiculed for saying something off the wall.