The problem with productivity – It’s about how people, process and technology work together

The problem with productivity, as Susannah Clements, CIPD deputy chief executive, puts it, is that it is fundamentally an economic equation – output divided by people employed. “But people don’t think on that level. They think about how hard they’re working personally, not necessarily how effectively they’re working collectively. We can have a workforce that feels it is working very hard, and deserves more reward for that. But the way the organisation is performing and delivering for customers balanced against its cost base may tell a very different story.”

While the scope for improving productivity through people will vary according to the nature of the business – how labour intensive it is and the level of skill it requires – it exists everywhere. “If you think about organisational drivers of productivity, they are people, process and technology,” says Elissa Coward, a talent management consultant at PA Consulting. “It’s about how they work together.”

In any organisation, says Clements, productivity is about understanding what value you are adding and knowing how efficient and effective your people are at delivering that. It’s about job design and getting the organisation to work smarter. It’s also inextricably linked with pay (“Without improvements in productivity, it’s hard to afford proper pay rises”) and the level of engagement among staff.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Productivity – who’s working harder? – People Management Magazine Online.