New Year resolurions

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 organisation.

So, by all means make a resolution - but resolve to keep resolving... to keep challenging and improving, asking questions and seeking answers.

Above all, resolve not to be complacent. Make this a truly productive year ... and the basis of many more.

What about the workers?

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 being shared with the workers.

Do you share gains in your organisation?  If not, why not. Surely if gains are seen to be shared, your workforce is much more likely to help you accrue further gains.

This is something to ponder as you sit down to your Christmas lunch.

Stand Up For Efficiency

I am sure that 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 stand ... and to give them furniture that accommodates either.

Yes, you probably don't provide such furniture ... and you are certainly not alone. It is very rare. Presumably either people don't realise that providing the stand/sit option is beneficial or the cost of the furniture is deemed to be expensive ... and the payback period too long.  Yet I doubt that anyone has done a study to identify the productivity gain that would accrue ... and then to work out a  'real' payback schedule,

We might all be surprised.

Think about what other little changes might have a big impact.

Have you been SMEED

Mauritius - from where I have just returned - like many other countries has a government-funded agency charged with aiding the development of SMEs.

Mauritius - like many other countries - seems to spend quite a bit of money on such support ... but with little obvious effect.

Are we people in SMEs so hard to please ... so hard to support?  Or is it that those who have been supported effectively are no longer SMEs?  They have moved upwards, onwards and out of the SME bracket.

Talk to them

I am currently in Mauritius, helping launch their National Productivity Campaign.  I am talking to government officials, trades unions, employers, educators ... and the public.

Such campaigns are relatively common.  Do they work?

Well, it is difficult to say ... because one can rarely measure the 'counterfactual' ... what would have happened if the campaign had not been run.

So, they are largely an act of faith.

However getting everyone informed about productivity ... and lining up to participate in a coordinated strategy to improve national productivity cannot be a bad thing, can it?

And this is the real lesson ... you have to respect, talk to and engage all of the stakeholders if you want a plan to work.