Senior managers across the country expect huge increases in their organisations' productivity in the next five years – but accuse their peers of undermining Britain's progress and leaving it languishing behind its competitors. That's the finding of new research to mark the start of this year's Investors in People week (which runs from November 14–20).
Stakeholder Response: Investors in People
Ruth Spellman, chief executive of Investors in People, said: "Britain is employing more people than ever before, but the country still lags behind competitors in terms of employee productivity. Although three quarters of senior managers make the link between effective employee development and increased productivity, they are failing to convert this understanding into action. It seems that senior managers still see productivity as someone else's problem, which is disturbing and potentially damaging, not just to their organisations but to Britain as a whole.
"Failing to apply a critical eye to their own organisations means senior managers risk undermining their ability to deliver the growth they are predicting. Britain's boardrooms must take action now to prioritise employee development in the face of other demands if they are to achieve their business goals and help the country rise to its productivity challenge."
Stakeholder Response: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Dr John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said: "The Future Foundation research echoes the findings of CIPD's 'Voices from the boardroom' study which highlights a fundamental implementation gap underlying the UK's productivity gap. Although many UK managers aspire to improve performance too few succeed in walking the talk.
"This partly reflects underinvestment in skills, especially when comparison is made with major competitor economies elsewhere in the UK. However, investment in people is merely one of several important elements of the high productivity equation. This becomes clear when one considers that half the productivity gap between the United States and the UK is accounted for by differences in innovation and working practices.
"The key message of Investors in People week should be that UK organisations must urgently raise their game when it comes to managing people on a day-to-day basis, in addition to boosting skill levels and enhancing staff development. The UK can equip itself for the task by improving the quality of management training. But central to this must be an appreciation of the central importance of high performance work practices: effective job design, ongoing learning, employee involvement and profit related reward.
"CIPD research evidence suggests that organisations that get these practices right can hope to enjoy a 20 per cent boost to productivity. If the bulk of senior managers were to act on this message then the productivity gap might finally start to close."
Stakeholder Response: CITB - Construction Skills
A spokesman for the CITB said: "CITB-ConstructionSkills is determined that all companies in the construction sector understand the business benefits of a competent workforce at all levels and have easy access to the support services and training provisions required to achieve this goal. Through our Area offices, we run a number of business improvement programmes that enable construction companies to achieve the Investors in People standard. Since 2002, CITB-ConstructionSkills has been responsible for helping over 450 companies achieve the Standard and this year alone has convinced 1,152 construction companies to commit to achieving the Standard.
"One such business performance improvement programme is BLUEPRINT, a unique construction-specific programme that provides a simple step-by-step framework for enhancing business performance through improving the contributions of employees. It is aimed mainly at owners and/or senior managers of small and medium sized businesses, many of whom have no formal management training and struggle with the day-to-day responsibilities of business management. It helps organisations to improve people performance, improve business performance and achieve the Investors in People Standard. Over 700 construction companies have so far benefitted from the programme."
