Productivity or the lack of it to be more precise, is once again a hot topic throughout the UK following rather damning reveals from both the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). According to the ONS, UK labour productivity is down for the second successive quarter while the OBR sees little scope for improvement in the next five years.
In this post we’ll be perusing the UK’s prolonged productivity problem, taking into account some interesting findings before touching upon the impact of inefficient processes and outdated technology on organisational productivity.
Two thousand UK-based office workers were recently surveyed to find out how productive they are during a standard eight-hour working day. Understandably, when respondents were asked if they are productive throughout an entire working day, eighty percent answered ‘no’. However, when prompted to estimate how many hours per day they do consider themselves to be productive (employers you may wish to look away now), the average response was approximately three hours! The survey also revealed the top three workplace productivity killers. In first place, ‘internet browsing’ which included: constantly checking social media, keeping up to date with all the latest sports news or celebrity gossip and rather worryingly, searching for a new job. In second place, time thieving, non-work-related activities such as chatting with colleagues and taking too many smoking or coffee breaks. The third highest ranking factor was a lack of ‘meaningful’ work with many respondents becoming disillusioned with menial tasks, particularly those perceived to be unnecessary or repetitive.
Interestingly, this lack of ‘meaningful work’ was echoed in another survey which set out to explore the various barriers to workplace productivity and what businesses can do to overcome them. This time, respondents were largely disgruntled with outdated office technology which had led to the creation of demoralising, redundant processes. When quizzed as to how their employers could improve the situation, respondents were keen to point towards the implementation of cloud-based systems capable of automating tasks that are historically time consuming, repetitive or error-plagued.
Is your organisation experiencing a prolonged productivity problem?
Deployable via the cloud or utilising your existing network infrastructure, Ceequel® is an award-winning, feature-rich modular workforce management solution comprising of: Time and Attendance, Access Control, Human Resources, Shop Floor Data Capture, E-Manager, Employee Self Service and Mobile Apps.
If you would like to learn more about Ceequel® Employee Management Software, please contact ELF Productivity. A range of brochures can be found here.