northland chamber

Workplace Productivity – Business benefits to improving productivity

Recently the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce worked with the Government to promote workplace productivity improvements. This arises from New Zealand’s productivity falling in relation to other members of the OECD. Our GDP per capita is 39% lower than that of the US. Most of that gap is attributed to lower labour or workplace productivity. Our labour utilisation rates are high by OECD standards but our workplace productivity is not.

There is also a realisation that for the country to remain globally competitive, increased productivity is essential. A country’s ability to improve its standard of living over time depends almost entirely on its ability to raise its output per worker . The alternatives are to reduce the costs of labour and other inputs.

This is all fine when we are looking at the big picture, but how small can and medium sized businesses work to improve their productivity.

Workplace Productivity - is about exploring all the ways that a workplace can do things better and smarter

It can also be defined as how well an organisation converts resource inputs into goods or services. In other words how firms can utilise labour and skills, innovation, technology and workplace organisation to improve the quantity and quality of their output

For the Economy the benefits of increased productivity are huge HOWEVER for your business the benefits are improved profitability, increased institutional knowledge and highly motivated staff

The one important thing to remember when embarking on a productivity improvement programme is that improving workplace productivity is not about working harder but about working smarter

The 7 drivers to increasing workplace productivity

In 2004, after consulting with a number of NZ businesses and examining international research, the Workplace Productivity Working Group identified seven key drivers of workplace productivity

Building Leadership and Management.

Leadership and management capabilities are key drivers of firm capability and performance and cut across all of the other workplace productivity drivers. If there is a lack of strong leadership and/or management in a firm, it will be difficult to successfully develop and implement initiatives around the other main productivity drivers.

Creating Productive Workplace Cultures.

Employees need to be are willing to “go the extra mile ”.There is no single prescription for creating a productive organisational culture but firms can cultivate such an environment by fostering some significant cultural attributes, such as acknowledging the contribution of individuals, rewarding participation and good ideas, developing healthy and respectful relationships in the workplace and promoting a sense of shared goals and values.

Encouraging Innovation and the Use of Technology.

Creating new products or services or just doing things better are vital ways to achieve firm growth.

Investing in People and Skills.

Ongoing investment in foundation,technical,supervisory and managerial skills ,together with improvements in work organisation, can help improve the productivity and performance of New Zealand firms.

Organising Work.

Firms need to assess and adapt their structures and business practices and the way they carry out their work on an ongoing basis.

Networking and Collaboration.

Firms do not operate in isolation and there are significant productivity gains to be achieved by improving the exchange of knowledge, information and ideas through both formal and informal networks.

Measuring What Matters.

Good measurement and reporting practices, linked to an organisation’s strategies.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce would be happy to explore these issues in further detail with your business and invite you to give us a call.

The Northland Chamber of Commerce is the networking, education, advocacy and marketing group for Northland business, and is part of a nationwide network of 30 and a world-wide movement of 27,000 chambers. Subscription to the free fortnightly chamber e-news can be arranged on info@northchamber.co.nz. Enquiries to 09-4384771 or www.northchamber.co.nz, www.kaiparachamber.co.nz and www.farnorthchamber.co.nz
You can have a say and vote on this and other topical business issues on this by going to the Northland Chamber of Commerce Feedback website on www.northchamber.blogspot.com.