If the UK is to be a free trading global nation, we need to address the productivity challenge.
Regardless of which side of the Brexit debate you stood at the time of the 2016 referendum the United Kingdom will leave the European Union in March 2019. The focus must now be on preparing our organisations and employees to take advantage of the opportunities that this momentous move may create.
For human resource professionals the initial focus of concern was what elements of employment legislation could be attributed to the European Union and might as a result be removed or changed.
For me it was one of my fellow CIPD branch chairs who put these fears into perspective when they spoke at an event for CIPD branch chairs ahead of the referendum, and asked: Regardless of the source of the legislation what element of our current employment laws do not support the type of society that we want to live in?
Which I suspect means we will not see much change in employment law as a direct result of Brexit.
The bigger issue for HR professionals is more likely to be improving individual employee and organisational productivity.
Although the United Kingdom is one of the biggest seven global economies (G7), we are not one of the most productive.
Just before the 2016 referendum output per hour worked in the UK was 18 points below the average of the other nations in the G7 and the trend since the start of the analysis shows a widening gap.
Despite advances in technology British workers are getting less productive than their international counterparts.
When in 2017 Expert Market compared the annual Gross National Product of British workers to workers from a wider group of countries the UK was ranked in 17th place, one place down from the 2016 ranking.
A EuroStat analysis from 2013 shows the United Kingdom in 13th place.
Whilst the UK is getting less productive in comparison to other countries there is some evidence from Trading Economics that British workers are improving their productivity, just not as rapidly as workers in other countries.
It isn’t the big industrial power houses that beat the UK in the productivity tables, smaller economies, like Ireland, Luxembourg and Denmark are regularly placed higher, and other small but rapidly developing countries like Iceland and New Zealand are snapping at the heels of British workers.
Since the free movement of people was introduced within the European Union the UK economy has benefitted from an influx of migrant EU workers who have been recognised for their higher work ethic than native British workers.
Such has been the impact of these workers that their return to their home countries many of which have fast growing economies will have an impact across all UK industries and leave companies with unfilled vacancies.
Back in 2012 former Tory Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab contributed along with fellow Members of Parliament, Elizabeth Truss, Priti Patel, Chris Skidmore and Kwasi Kwarteng to a book, Britannia Unchained, which highlighted what they described as the laziness of British workers in comparison to migrant workers and workers in Asia.
So, the HR profession faces a challenge; how are we going to contribute to the development of a more productive workforce?
Some might say that the problem kicks in long before people enter the workforce during the time people spend in an education system that focuses on qualifications that prepare people for the next stage of education instead of a life of work.
Others may say that the challenge is more cultural, and that we must make the best of it and hope that artificial intelligence arrives in time to save us!
Whimsical comments perhaps, but there is some truth behind them as well.
On the other hand, the problem could be that the HR profession including those with organisation development in their job titles simply has not focused on productivity.
It does seem that much of the work being done by HR professionals nowadays is either related to employment law, with disciplinaries and grievances or on employee well-being programmes to try and create engaged employees.
In my ideal HR world if we improved the relationships that employers have with employees there would be no need for disciplinaries or grievances, but that is a story for another day.
I am a big fan of employee well-being programmes and employee engagement, but as we struggle to secure the budgets for these initiatives it is worth remembering that those HR professionals who first focused on improving productivity have much easier access to the finances that they need.
At the start of my HR career the work of what was then called a Personnel department was much more focus on manpower planning and organisational work and methods assessments, but these functions have slipped from favour and the complex skills they required may have been lost.
Fortunately, there are some companies, from across a wide range of industries, that have maintained an interest in employee productivity. It is the professionals from these companies that will be presenting their experiences at the HR Productivity Summit in London on 31st January 2019.
You can see the agenda for the event at this link. If you wish to attend use the booking code WPLC10 to receive a 10% discount.
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