Most of us have been in a situation at work where rules have been enforced which are clearly stupid to anyone with common sense. If you doubt this, you need to read ‘Dilbert’ more. Do you want your employees to obey rules which, to them, are ridiculous …. or do you want them to challenge those
Spoiler alert!. Yes, it does! Manufacturing, in spite of continual productivity gains over several decades, is a large employer. But it also employs a multiple more (often several multiples more) in the wider supply chain - those providing parts, components and ancillary services to the large main manufacturing organisations - the factories themselves. Manufacturing often supports
I read a report recently which suggested that the workforce in Pakistan lacks both appropriate skills and the work ethic needed to significantly improve productivity. (This is not of course exclusive to Pakistan - it is true of a quiet a few places - or even industrial sectors.) The report then simply moved on to
How does a government kickstart productivity improvement? Well one possible answer Is to benchmark and challenge. A government can set up benchmarking across specific sectors it thinks are important for future growth. It starts by asking firms in the sector what is important in creating future growth - and then setting up a measurement scheme
Todays’ students are happy to use technology as part of the learning process. However, teachers and parents are worried about the distraction effect of technology when students go ‘off topic’ and start browsing and exploring subjects not relevant to their current study. Teachers do, however, understand the potential for technology to help create engaging
The UK is technically in recession - it has had two consecutive quarters with negative growth. Worse, the economy has been at best stagnant for over two years and productivity has been falling. Our Prime Minister, when he got the job, gave 5 pledges, one of which was to grow the economy. He failed in four
Many people - and especially pundits - are predicting significant productivity gains from the use of AI (Artificial Intelligence). However few will say exactly how this transformation will happen. My view is that gains will come in all sorts of places that we do not yet know about - as adopters realise just what AI can
Productivity growth has been falling or stagnating for the last couple of decades. Everyone seems surprised. (Well pundits, journalists and politicians do!) I'm not! The growth referred to above was mostly in the manufacturing sector - where productivity growth is relatively easy to accomplish ... especially with the help of new technologies. But most developed nations
Though this post refers specifically to the UK, there are lessons for most nations … so don’t turn the page… read on! UK productivity stagnated some time ago and has been bouncing along the bottom of most nationality comparison charts for too long. Serval people far more important than me have tried to explain the
At the personal level, many people associate the word ‘productivity’ with working (too) hard, suffering a poor work-life balance and increasing stress. At the organisation level, many people associate the word ‘productivity’ with working harder, restructurings and layoffs. At national level, few people understand the word ‘productivity’ - talk about it confuses and frightens them.