More firms are allowing workers to come to the office in less formal attire. Does this have an impact on productivity? There is little research on the issue. The arguments seem to boil down to: allowing people to dress casually makes them more comfortable, more relaxed and more content - and this has a positive
Nations are (quite rightly) urged to improve educational standards and attainments to help boost national productivity. An educated - and skilled - workforce is a key underpinning of higher productivity. This is actually a vicious circle (or cycle). Low education standards results in lower productivity - and lower productivity results in less money to invest
We know that teams that share values tend to knit together better. A culture in which people 'get on' and work for each other is considered to be productive. Yet, tension can provide creative sparks; competition raises effort; oysters need an irritant to produce pearls. So, don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Allow
Some countries are much more productive than others. One would assume that this gives the less productive countries lots of scope to learn what works and what doesn't - and boost their own productivity ... but this doesn't seem to be the case. This suggests that either those countries are not trying to learn the
As i write this, Donald Trump has just accepted the nomination as Republican candidate for the US presidency. Now Trump is certainly a controversial figure and i am not going to give my view on his suitability to be president - if for no other reason that, here from the U K, making any judgement
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI)together with Lloyds Banking Group, the ScaleUp Institute & Aston Business School, has launched a new report, Lifting the Trophy, profiling scale-up insights into raising productivity within firms. In 2013, 4% of firms contributed 17% to total UK productivity Between 2012 – 2015, over 18,500 businesses rapidly scaled-up their turnover
Many people are not at their most productive on Friday afternoons. They procrastinate, prolong and prevaricate - picking issues up on Monday when they are (hopefully) refreshed and revitalised. So, why not use this fact to your advantage. Give your staff Friday freedom. Not the freedom to take time off - but the freedom to
The UK public has voted to leave the EU. There are numerous reasons given - but they don't matter anymore ... except inso far as the EU learns what the public don't like about the EU and attempts to reform itself. What matters for the UK is what happens now to the EU economy -
Over the last 5 years - in fact since the great recession hit - many companies seem to have concentrated on short term gains - and have rewarded their CEOs with generous bonuses for producing them. This is in response to a real or imagined investor need for quick results and dividends - to
Does your boss enhance, or detract from, your productivity? If you ask this question of employees, you might expect them to answer 'enhance' - but they rarely do. Too many people see their boss as 'interfering' or 'meddling', confusing rather than directing them. Does this say something about the employees - and their perceptions versus