The Office for National Statistics says that, had productivity in the UK returned to its pre-recession trend, it would be 20% higher than its current level. Britain would be one fifth better off. The normal pattern is that after a recession, productivity bounces back and we recover (at least most of) what we lost. However, we have

Canada's labour productivity rose 1.4% in Q1 2017. This is not a spectacular result but a solid performance. Sometimes, slow and steady progress is preferable to high gain, fall-back performance.  (Think 'tortoise and hare'.) This is exactly why continuous improvement programmes, resulting in a number of evolutionary performance gains, often beat the occasional revolutionary improvement

We have been told a few times that what creates success is sheer hard work... the perspiration not the inspiration, and the 10,000 hours.  But many great men (and women) have achieved their greatness by original thought  by avoiding the 10,000 (wasted)  hours. it seems that both routes might take you to success - and

I try to keep up to date with productivity trends and productivity news. In scanning the airwaves and the twittersphere, I often see governments urging their citizens to be more productive. At least in religions when people are urged to be more 'holy' there are priests and other religious leaders helping prepare them to be

In the UK, we have been through a rather exciting General Election - though as I write this, we have the same government and the same Prime Minister. In their campaigns, all parties made us promises - of what they would do and deliver - better health care, more jobs, lower taxes, etc. How would

Many nations have realised that the only true long-term key to economic growth is productivity improvement. The problem is that this realisation is often the end, rather than the start, of the matter.  Governments and their agencies exhort commerce - and perhaps even the population - to improve productivity and to compete - but without

I've referred to the subject (threat?) of robots several times in the last year. Clearly they (robots) are going to have a big impact on many companies and on many people's jobs - but exactly how, in what ways ,is not yet clear. For some time humans and robots are likely to be co-workers. Skilled

Global rating agency Moody's Investors Service sees a persistent decline in labour productivity growth, stemming from an ageing population and slow investments, as posing a key threat to global economic recovery. The agency's report, titled "Collapse of Global Productivity Growth Remains Sizable Risk to Credit Conditions," published last week said global labour productivity growth fell

The last 2 decades have sen the inexorable rise of the robot - especially in motor manufacture.  We have all sen the robotic arms lifting and fitting panels, spray painting, and so on.  Some workers have presumable been displaced  - but the economic gains have been substantial, surely. Well ,thisc rise of †he robot has

In the developing world, education standards have been rising for decades.  More and more of the population go to university and the number of degrees, and even higher degrees, rises relentlessly. Yet, still employers maintain - as they always have done - that they cannot get employees with the right skills. Note the word 'skills'.