The problem with productivity

Modern organisations are obsessed with productivity. We’re investing more in game-changing technologies and upskilling at pace in a bid to realise these efficiency gains. And yet, global growth figures tell a different story. We’re facing a chronic plateau in productivity, especially in advanced economies.  

What’s getting in the way? In a nutshell – work, and too much of it, which is distracting us from the things that matter.  A recent study indicates that 75% of employees report spending more than one hour per day on administrative tasks, but less than half (35%) felt this was meaningful to success in the role.  

What’s more, many of the tools and technologies integrated to enhance productivity are instead creating additional complexities.  

According to Deloitte, “the promise of a future where technology frees workers to focus on high-value work - strategic thinking, creativity, complex problem-solving - seems to keep getting deferred. New tools meant to increase productivity and efficiency often add new layers of complexity instead: more notifications to check, more dashboards to update, more digital busywork.” 

Endless to-do lists, meetings and email notifications create another blocker to productivity in the form of ‘context switching’. Productivity relies on disciplined focus, but modern work – and all the applications that come with it – disrupt our attention. It can take up to 40 minutes for your brain to refocus, meaning that many of us operate in a space of ‘shallow work’. 

For John Wilson, Principal Technology Advisor at Hays, a lack of visibility is hampering our productivity.  

“Most notably in large organisations, your decision makers are removed from the shop floor, but the people on the ground aren’t empowered to make meaningful change when they see problems arise. Without a forum for them to quickly feedback on urgent fixes, small issues quickly become significant challenges, which impacts productivity.” 

Is it time to rethink our definition of productivity? For Maisie Badami, Global Head of Marketing Analytics at Hays, there’s a strong case for doing so.   

“Many organisations define productivity by how long it takes to deliver the product or service, and at what cost to the business. These standardised outcomes are necessary on a large scale, but it’s important to recognise that they don’t always capture the full picture.  

Take a data dashboard, for example, the dashboard you see is just the cherry on top. Behind the scenes, there is an enormous amount of valuable work, including data collection, testing and stakeholder alignment, to create this tool.” 

Let’s explore how organisations can shape impactful, purpose-driven and productive teams.  

Future focus: Leaders, are you the problem?  

Reflect on the culture you’ve created. You may think that as a manager, you’ve given your team the freedom to do their best work, introducing remote working opportunities or flexible working patterns, for example.  

But if your team perceives you as a micromanager or a clock-watcher, they’ll focus their efforts into being seen, rather than being productive. Research by Deloitte indicates that a third of workers say they prioritise work that is most visible, regardless of whether that work is actually valuable to the business.  

How can you shift from visible to valuable?  

For Maisie, the answer lies in focusing on efforts before the finish line. “Don’t become consumed solely by the end goal. If you only care about the completion of the task and don't give time to understanding how your team achieved this, you aren't making space for innovation, creativity, problem-solving and big-picture thinking.  

“Your team will get the message that it’s about doing tasks quickly, not necessarily in the best way for the end user”.  

Balancing business needs and team output is tricky, but you can use data to your advantage. Maisie calls data the ‘super fuel’ for productivity, because “it allows you to easily identify what’s working and avoid wasting time, resource and momentum.”  

But the data needs to be clean, meaningful and well-curated. Traditional metrics may no longer tell the full story. You need to co-create modern productivity metrics with workers that focus on shared outcomes.  

For Deborah Dorman, Chief People Officer at Hays, it’s vital to paint a picture with various ‘shades’ of data, rather than relying on a single source of truth.  

“Organisations need to bring together different sources of data, including commercial performance, engagement metrics and people analytics, and match this with a highly analytical capability in teams to be able to make better decisions about the direction of work.”  

Career corner: Find purpose and productivity will follow  

Productive work requires a strong purpose. This needs to be defined and communicated by your employer, but we can all take steps to elevate the quality of our work.  

Here’s our top hacks for enhancing your productivity:  

1. Focus on your most common activities first.  

It seems obvious, but our daily tasks are simultaneously overlooked and where we have the greatest ability to make meaningful change. As John details:  

“Imagine you’re sending an email to 100 people. As the sender, you’ve saved time by simply attaching the word document to the email, requesting that the end users take the time to open, read and respond.  

Rather than putting the additional task onto others, as the single sender, instead copy the key messages into the email. In terms of efficiency, that’s 99 fewer actions that need to be taken to get to the end goal.”  

2. Understand how you spend your energy 

Mapping your processes enables you to identify the ‘busy work’ that is consuming your energy, but not always enhancing your output. As technology evolves, more tasks are in the scope of automation. Having visibility of your task list enables you to find these quick wins - and get them off your plate.  

As Isadore Sharp, hotelier and philanthropist surmises, “systemise the predictable, so you can humanise the exceptional.” 

3. Ask questions 

“You need to ask four key questions whenever you approach a task; why, how, who for, and when”, Maisie states.  

This gives you the visibility to understand how this specific task fits into the wider objectives of the business. You can determine how meaningful the task is and what level of input is required to create a meaningful solution.  

“Most work is important; some work is just urgent. The best employees ask questions so that they can distinguish between the two and allocate their resource most effectively”, Maisie concludes.  

4. Always wear a seatbelt  

Taking measured risks is fundamental to enhancing productivity. Your seatbelt keeps you safe, but don't let it restrict you. When you’re doing your work, ask yourself ‘why do we do it this way?’ 

If it’s because it’s always been done in a certain way, then you’ve got a process prime for improving productivity. Experiment, fail fast and move forward.  

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