Productivity is key for driving economic growth and prosperity.
When productivity increases, so do wages, businesses, public services and overall quality of life.
Put simply, productivity is an indicator of business efficacy or economic output. With growth a high priority for governments across the globe, improving productivity is vital. As it stands, current data places Ireland at the top of the global labour productivity performance table, with the UK placing 25th – beneath the G7 average and other comparable economies. In order to be competitive in today’s economy, businesses must look to reinvent the wheel and modernise productivity methods.
Modernising productivity for 2025
The saying ‘work smarter, not harder’ may be cliche, but that doesn’t make it less true. Productivity metrics must focus on delivering higher growth without exhaustive effort. Previously, it has been measured through labour and material inputs versus project outputs – if more came out relative to what went in, then the process was seen as productive. However, this approach focused solely on quantity, rather than quality. And, in today’s competitive landscape, quality is key.
A more holistic view factors in additional resources such as technology, employee skills and innovation, providing organisations with a more comprehensive overview. By monitoring all of these aspects, businesses can achieve higher productivity levels and better overall performance.
It is time for a revolution
In difficult economic times, when businesses are tightening the purse strings, productivity improvements may often be overlooked in favour of cost reductions. However, cutting costs is merely a short-term solution. By focusing on sustainable productivity gains, businesses will reap dividends in the long term.
To achieve this, organisations must turn their focus to technology. Some technology solutions, such as cloud computing, ERP systems, project management and collaboration tools, produce significant flexibility or performance advantages compared to legacy approaches and processes. Whilst an initial expense, the long-term benefits are often multiples of the investment – cost reductions, time savings, employee motivation, to name just a few. And all of those technology categories are being enhanced with artificial intelligence – for example adding virtual agents to help us do more, quickly.
Evolve to improve
Technology is only one part of the puzzle, however. Internal processes must also evolve in order to help organisations boost productivity. Businesses must look to cut inefficient practices, improve the quality of their outputs and streamline resource management. Through dedicated work to evolve these processes, they can reduce costs, improve employee satisfaction and provide a better customer experience.
At a time when businesses and labour markets are struggling with employee retention and availability, it has become more critical than ever for organisations to focus on effective training and wellbeing initiatives. Minimising staff turnover and building up internal skill sets is vital for businesses looking to improve their key outputs. Getting this right will enable organisations to build smarter and more effective productivity strategies.
On top of this, enhanced processes will have an impact on other relevant productivity issues, such as regulatory compliance and risk mitigation. With modernised processes in place, there will be a more effective drive towards continuous improvement and innovation initiatives, which play key roles in long-term productivity performance.
Every organisation has a productivity sweet spot where people, technologies and processes combine to deliver maximum efficiency and output. In order to enhance productivity, it is vital that businesses find and optimise this balance. Only then will they be able to truly sustain growth, stay competitive and ensure long term success.
About the Author
Mark Wilson is Technology and Innovation Director at Node4. We exist to deliver exceptional client outcomes using innovative solutions from application modernisation to the infrastructure that underpins it. We have strong relationships with market-leading vendors such Microsoft and hold all 6 Solution Designations, as well as Azure Expert MSP and Inner Circle status. We have a friendly and supportive culture, built on the values of passion, innovation and trust, with an aim of delivering Exceptional Service as a Standard.
