It is clear that potential growth in worldwide productivity is a major issue. There has been a marked slowing of growth in productivity over the last few years and the creation of more specialised organizations have not helped, as it is a discipline that in its best form knows no organizational limits.
There have been many reasons identified as causes for this problem, including advances in technology and changes in organizations. But the problem is one of semantics.
How many organizations have a productivity manager? We believe that it is in the whole organization that advances could and should be made. Productivity is everywhere in an organization. In production, marketing, accounting, etc., anywhere you care to look it should be of high priority.
Management & Staff Development
It is becoming imperative that companies implement programmes of management and staff development. Companies who invest in the Corporate University as a primary instrument for companywide quality development see a high return in their investment in terms of increased productivity, cost saving and improved staff retention.
Smaller companies often lack the drive to implement extensive productivity-linked management training processes and are significantly less likely to provide effective training. However the Corporate University is a proven mechanism for raising productivity skill levels across all organizations. And in smaller companies, joint enterprise ventures are often the key to their success in raising productivity levels.
It is important that any productivity impact from these developments is felt across the entire organization. The highest qualified managers cannot improve productivity alone, they need to be the ‘agents of productivity’ to ensure that the productivity advantage is spread right through all disciplines and at all levels. This will improve motivation and, in turn, stimulate that all-important growth in productivity.
Richard Dealtry
Chairman, G-ACUA
