Britain’s productivity puzzle does have an answer, but we dismissed it as too simple
Our politicians often don’t realise that the key to productivity is a happy, satisfied and healthy workforce. Wellness is essential to our growth as a country, writes Simon Neville
Productivity is one of those topics that seems to weave its way through the entire business ecosystem. Each day we hear ministers tell us about economic growth and how we can stimulate the economy through investment, creating jobs and driving productivity.
But one aspect for a strong workforce the government could do more on, is highlight some of the schemes already available to make the workplace better for those who might be struggling.
During the Industrial Revolution, poor working conditions led to the introduction of health and safety measures – designed to stop manual workers from being killed.
The premise of these laws remains to this day and few are arguing they are a burden on businesses.
They were also seen as a route to ensuring staff were better rested and more productive.
But today, most jobs are in the services sector – meaning hours of sitting behind a desk, keeping on top of emails and using our brains like never before.
A few businesses are trialling Four Day weeks and early reports suggest they are generally successful at improving productivity.
Mental health awareness has also improved, although support to services for employees can remain patchy, and companies seem genuinely interested in “doing the right thing”.
But part of the problem that remains is how companies cannot see the financial benefits of having a mentally robust workforce.
Few have made the economic case for managing mental health as a route to increasing productivity or growth.
Too often, politicians will fret endless about productivity and hope for some miracle cure to come along. But very few are shouting from the rooftops at some of the things that actually are working.
One of the best-kept secret is the Access To Work scheme. It’s one of those things often stuck at the bottom of a job ad, where the company in question promises not to discriminate based on background or any other characteristics. It usually ends up sounding both trite and somehow not quite real. But it can have a massive impact at a relatively small cost.
For example, I was diagnosed with ADHD in March 2020. Emerging through the thicket of a diagnosis and starting life-changing medication, I’ve spent much of the past three years trying to figure out how to ensure I can do my job to the best of my abilities.
The scheme allowed me to identify what “reasonable adjustments” I could use that would improve my productivity and make me a better employee.
As a result, I now have a new tablet to keep all my handwritten notes – instead of the vast array of notebooks that inevitably get lost.
I also get access to weekly workplace coaching, read and write software, organisational programmes, training and an allowance to hire an assistant to help me with being organised (I’m still too disorganised to actually hire someone just yet).
Lastly, there was the offer of workplace awareness training.
The premise of the scheme is that the government provides funding to implement workplace adjustments, and thereby ensures people remain in employment, paying their taxes and avoiding the risk of being a greater burden by being unable to work.
But the question is – why can no one in government see that to have a thriving workforce and a growing economy, you have to make sure employees are supported properly?
If more employees were given support – like with Access To Work – then they will be able to be the best versions of themselves; more work will get done and bigger profits generated.
But until wellness is taken out of the bucket of “nice but not essential” to a business’s core strategy for generating greater profits, very little will change and the question of “why can’t the UK improve productivity?” will remain.