Productivity in the UK significantly lags that of its European partners

Productivity in the UK significantly lags that of its European partners and if it matched that of the United States, it would have the financial impact equivalent to almost doubling the average national wage.

Productivity growth is driven by several factors but key elements stand out, investment in training and investment in systems and hardware. For these investments to take place demands confidence in the market and the appropriate fiscal incentives.

UK Treasury Office data demonstrates a statistically significant relationship between the stagnation in productivity in the UK since the 2008 financial crash and the continuous reduction in investment in on and off the job training.

There is another key challenge, how to positively adopt automation and embrace the concept of man and machine. Automation frees up skilled labour to be used in the workplace to undertake more added value roles, eg interpreting the results from the analysis of the significant amounts of data generated by automation and using this to improve productivity.

An employee’s contribution to improving productivity relies on a combination of their skills and knowledge with the right tools, processes and training. Matching this with expert management and quality leadership will make a significant contribution to increasing productivity and subsequently to national prosperity.