I'm currently writing (or more accurately co-writing) a book on productivity improvement in the retail sector. It seems that retailers have broadly 'got it right' ... they work hard at productivity improvement ... but they

I've just spent some time in India. The educational system is india is large and varied - it includes state provision and much private provision. the system is 'good'if you measure it in terms of

The Asian Water Development Outlook (AWDO) report reveals that not even one out of 49 countries of the Asia Pacific region can be considered ‘water secure’. South Asia and parts of Central and West Asia

I talked last week about employability skills. During the past week I have delivered a pilot program with Indian students developing employability skills using productivity as the 'engine' or focus. The students really enjoyed the

I  have been doing some work in India recently and have been talking to employers about the process of employing recent graduates and post-graduates. What came across loud and clear and often were comments that

I have just got back from Turkey where I attended an event - a 'Leadership Camp' - organised by students for students - mainly students of industrial engineering. They had assembled an impressive set of

I was reading something the other day which reminded me of the number of keyboard shortcuts available within some software packages.  If you take the time to learn these, they can shave seconds off simple tasks - improving your performance and productivity.  Yet each individual time

I don't know whether you know about the horsemeat scandal in the UK - where horsemeat has been found in a range of pre-produced 'beef' products but it  does remind us that each of us

Some productivity methodologies and techniques seem to be more used in specific sectors.  This suggests that either they are in some way particularly suited to the processes involved in that sector .... or perhaps just

Two old adages say "Measurement creates understanding" and "You get what you measure".    The first is self-explanatory - if you want to understand a situation, measure it, once you know how mant/much, when, at what rate

There are many blogs offering 'personal productivity' advice - often linked to reminder/time management software... but often just offering simple advice. A common piece of advice is to 'declutter' your life - get rid of distractions and focus on the

How would a productivity director of a global enterprise exhibit leadership? My first thoughts are that, like all effective leaders, they would define and articulate a clear mission, vision and set of values with commitment

For several decades after World War II, the graphs for productivity and wages mirrored eac other - productivity increases allowed workers to earn more money. Over the last decade this has changed. Whoever is reaping

When times are tough (as they are now), we tend to turn in all directions looking for some help So, will technology help us out of the current mess we are in? It is possible

China's productivity record over recent years has been excellent - yet most of the improvement has come from capital investment. As such it has been relatively low-hanging fruit. If growth is to be maintained, the

This, of course is the time for resolution- determination to do more and/or better, to improve. But this shouldn't happen at new year- or, at least, not only at new year. Such determination should be ingrained in you at all times - and across your

Information from India, provided by the ILO, shows that economic growth from 2008 to 2011 was over 7%. However real wages rose by about 1.6%. This suggests that the fruits of productivity growth are not

Many workers sit - at desks, at PCs, at assembly stations at ... It has been known for many years that it s beneficial to give people the choice as to whether to sit or

Regular readers will know i have just been in Mauritius helping to promote their national productivity campaign. I talked to lots of stakeholders - employers, trades unions, educators, government agencies and even senior figures in

Maneesh Sethi wrote on his blog that he hired a "slapper" to smack him in the face whenever he logged onto Facebook while working and boasted that it increased his productivity. Of course, Sethi must

Thomas Friedman suggests that “big breakthroughs happen when what is suddenly possible meets what is desperately necessary.” So, leaders of successful companies are those that recognise both sides of that formula - they know what

If you read lots of press releases ... as I do (yes, I know I should 'get a life'), you soon realise that just about everything is claimed to improve productivity. Most often such 'stories' relate to what is termed 'personal productivity'

Too often, managers assess worker performance - especially in knowledge jobs - on how long they work ... not on what they achieve. Of course workers react to such measurement schemes and will extend their hours ... taking longer than necessary to complete