Why is the UK’s productivity continuing to deteriorate and what can we do about it?

By Cornwall Chamber of Commerce - 02nd September 2019

The question on many people’s minds is this; why is the UK’s productivity the lowest in the G7? The UK once had the best productivity in Europe! However, since the financial crisis of 2008 growth has slowed year on year. Improving productivity should be a priority as it forms the foundation for economic growth.

Higher levels of productivity produce a higher level of output value. This means productivity is directly related to real wages and business profitability. A rise in productivity therefore drives economic growth and better standards of living. However, people are not robots and we cannot determine what their output will be all the time. There could be many social and environmental influences that affect a person’s efficiency.

There are many factors businesses should be considering when it comes to motivating their teams to be their most productive. Is your team communicating as well as it could be? Are your staff inspired and motivated? Are they being rewarded? An individual that feels undervalued can really take its toll on the whole team, leading to performance decline.

Is your business struggling to gain momentum?    

Cornwall Chamber of Commerce seeks to inspire change within the business community at this year’s Productivity Conference at Heartlands on the 17th September. We have an exciting line up of speakers to inform businesses of agile technologies and working methods that will help stimulate Cornwall to reverse the trend and allow our productivity to increase and our economy to develop.

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