SA productivity increasing

Productivity is increasing in SA: 23% of the SA managers surveyed in the 8th Global Productivity Survey reported that their companies experienced productivity increases of more than 15% in 2007, classifying them as “High Performers.” This is 4th highest of all countries surveyed.

Yet, SA managers surveyed think their companies could improve their productivity by an average of 16.1% over the next two years, over two points above the global norm. However those same managers believe the actual productivity gains realised will only be 10.5%, leaving almost 35% of the potential productivity gains untapped.

The global survey by Proudfoot Consulting included more than 1 250 comprehensive interviews with senior officials in companies with annual turnover exceeding $100-m in 12 countries and six industries.

Apart from SA, research was conducted in the US, UK, Brazil, Canada, France, Russia, Australia, Germany, India, Spain and China. The following sectors were surveyed: mining, financial services, manufacturing, communications, food & beverage, automotive energy and retail.

Some interesting findings at a glance:

• Staff shortages and Internal communication problems are the main barriers to productivity across the globe.
• Companies across the globe see training as integral to driving productivity improvements and are set to invest heavily in training & development in order to drive productivity improvements.
• In almost all cases, smaller companies are much less likely to be implementing change initiatives to drive productivity improvements.
• Managers in Emerging Markets are much more likely to agree that their staff performance and incentive measures are aligned to corporate goals compared to those in North America and Europe.
• Managers are generally upbeat about their company’s productivity - Globally, three quarters of managers believe their company’s general productivity is ‘above average’.
• The Emerging Markets are where quick decisions are made.
• Developing countries are embracing the concept of employee morale as a key driver of improved productivity.
• Whilst a quarter of companies are outsourcing, 1 in 5 are bringing activities back in house; are we seeing the end of the outsourcing culture?

The top global barriers to improved productivity:

1. Staff shortages and insufficient labour pools
2. Internal communication issues
3. Quality of supervisors

Main barriers to productivity in SA:

• Staff shortages and insufficient labour pools (37%)
• Legislative issues (33%)
• Quality of supervisors (31%)
• General workforce unable (23%) and unmotivated (20%) to adopt change programs
• Internal communication (20%)
• High staff turnover and low employee morale

SA compared to the rest of world:

• #1 world: SA managers planning to embrace a performance methodology (75%)
• #1 world: SA quality of supervisors is key barrier to productivity
• #1 world (10 points above norm): SA companies plan to invest in workforce training (91%)
• #1 world: SA workers receive most days of training (16 days on average)
• #2 world: SA companies plan to invest in programs to boost staff morale (71%)
• #4th world: 23% SA managers increase productivity more 15%
• 2 points above norm: SA managers believe can improve productivity by 16%
• Lowest (10 points below norm): SA managers saying it is easy to communicate to the workforce (67%)
• Lowest (17 points below norm): Companies formally and regularly assess the effectiveness of staff training (46%)

Retail sector worldwide:

• Retail sector managers think their companies could potentially increase productivity by 11.9% over the next two years.
• Retail managers surveyed cited high staff turnover (25%) and low employee motivation and morale (24%) as the top two barriers to improved productivity.
• Technology is seen as a key to improved productivity in the retail sector. 64% of retail managers surveyed reported their companies plan to drive productivity improvements over the next 12 months by increasing capital expenditures on IT & Communications technology.
• Workers and managers in the retail sector receive less training days than the global norm and almost half (46%) see this level as insufficient
• Retail sector managers currently spend 46.5% of their time on administrative tasks, the highest level of any sector studied and equivalent to 2.3 days per workweek.

More information on the report is available on www.proudfootconsulting.com/productivity.