Wasted Productivity Opportunities!

According to ‘London Loves Business’: “Excessive meetings and wasted skills are to blame for the UK productivity crisis”.

Waste of time and resources is certainly a major factor determining current productivity levels worldwide yet it’s overlooked by many organisations in all sectors, public and private.

Banging the waste drum, and that of its equal partner ‘inefficient use of existing resources’, needs to be much louder to be heard, understood and acted upon by all in charge – at present, the enormous short-term benefits they offer seem to be ignored by most.

The greater potential from major new investment in new skills and technology is for the longer term yet the overall productivity problem is NOW

And therein lies the problem.

Some ‘creative destruction’ of current group-think amongst those seeking productivity improvement is needed, whether at national, regional, sectoral or organisation levels –  something akin to the ‘Trump effect’ on European political leaders’ priorities for their national defences.

So we’re very happy to publicise the following extracts from a survey by Cognassi which help demonstrate the enormous waste of human resources already employed within the walls of many organisations.

Cognassi survey results:

• The UK’s economic stagnation has long been blamed on financial uncertainty, outdated infrastructure, or even remote working.
• But new independent research from Cognassist, based on a survey of 2,000 UK employees, reveals a far more immediate issue impacting economic growth:
  • • 67% say they aren’t as productive as they could be at work.
    • 83% feel there are serious barriers to productivity at their place of work, with the top issues being poor communication with managers, excessive meetings, and a lack of skills development opportunities.
    • 77% say their team doesn’t understand how to use each person’s strengths effectively, leading to misallocated work and inefficiency.
• Opportunities to boost productivity are being stifled:
  • • 80% don’t feel their workplace encourages creativity and innovation
    • 64% think productivity would improve if they and colleagues had a better understanding of each other’s strengths.
    • On top of this, nearly one in five employees admit they are quiet quitting – doing the bare minimum at work – because their skills aren’t being used properly by their employers.
• Chris Quickfall, CEO and founder of Cognassist, says:
  • • “People want to contribute more, but too often they are held back by outdated ways of working.
    • Businesses are stuck in a cycle of inefficiency, blaming remote working and lack of resources when the real issue is how they manage the people they already have.
    • Productivity improvement will come from ensuring each employee has the tools, support, and environment they need to put their unique skills to use.”