Brother - How productive are UK businesses

How productive are UK businesses?

Among the many lessons learned from the pandemic, none looms larger than the success of hybrid working. Here, Rob Waugh explores just how businesses can harness the new normal and hit productivity, sustainability and wellness goals

HYBRID WORKING

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As Britain finally emerges from Covid-19 restrictions, businesses have a unique opportunity to boost productivity, says Phil Jones MBE, managing director of business technology solutions provider Brother UK. The pandemic has meant that millions of us have worked from home for the first time, and businesses have adopted new working models enabled by technologies such as video meetings. This offers businesses a chance to learn lessons in terms of productivity, Jones says. “We’ve all seen how business can work very differently through necessity. So the question is, what can we identify as the key lessons to take forward and keep for the future? For some businesses, it’s OK to simply bounce back to what you used to be. But for many others it’s about redesigning their offer to capitalise on the new demands from customers and trends.”

Employers expect the number of people working from home to double to 37pc, compared with 18pc pre-pandemic, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. More than half of the employers surveyed said that home working either improved employee productivity or made no change to it. Hybrid working (where workers spend some of the time in the office and some at home) offers the best of both worlds, says Phil Jones MBE, managing director of business technology solutions provider Brother UK. He explains: “I think I speak for many leaders in saying that I didn’t believe it would be viable for us to shift to hybrid working last year in the timescale we did. We have boosted productivity and we’ve now implemented a permanent hybrid working policy for our people to ensure we can continue to enjoy the benefits from both sides.” Hybrid working offers key advantages over full-time remote working, Jones believes. “Company culture is so vital to performance, wellbeing, employee retention, attracting talent and strategy execution. But it’s much harder to nurture culture when only working remotely. Hybrid working offers the opportunity to continue providing people with the flexibility they want, while striking the right balance with the in-person social cohesion that fuels our company culture.” Hybrid working can deliver benefits for both companies and workers, but managers need to rise to the challenge, says Chieu Cao, chief executive and founder at Mintago. He says: “This level of discretion for employees has forced managers to upgrade their management skills to cope with remote teams, giving employees greater autonomy and flexibility. Managed successfully, this can create higher productivity and staff wellbeing.” Companies need to learn to trust their employees, says HR global industry analyst Josh Bersin, dean of the Josh Bersin Academy. Bersin says: “Most companies have seen productivity go up significantly during the pandemic as people don’t have to commute or waste time in meetings in the office. British companies have to build hybrid work strategies that let employees do their best work when and where they feel they can be the most productive. They also have to learn to let people manage their own work environment, trust them, and give them easy-to-use tools.”

Why productivity = sustainability

Highs and lows of British productivity

After the Industrial Revolution, labour productivity grew by an an average annual rate of 0.5pc

1760 Industrial Revolution

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Productivity is how efficiently a business or a country converts inputs (like labour and materials) into output (goods and services). In the past decade, productivity has been a problem for Britain, growing just 0.3pc per year in the years after the financial crisis, according to the Office for National Statistics, compared to 2pc per year beforehand. Hybrid working and new digital technologies offer businesses an opportunity to change in the wake of the pandemic, says Jones. He adds: “If you are looking to build back better, you must take some time to really take a look at what you are doing – and what you want to start, stop or continue.” Many business norms changed out of necessity, but offer an advantage in terms of productivity, says Chieu Cao, chief executive and founder at Mintago. He says: “In-person meetings have been a standard practice for many companies. Now it's viewed as an area where time can be saved via a Zoom meeting. Supporting your staff is the most important aspect to take into consideration – through training, offering flexible work and supporting their well-being.”

How to create an empowered workforce

“Our new reliance on video conferencing has also created a more balanced playing field for fully remote employees and in office employees. This can reduce the cultural differences previously seen between office staff and remote staff, which can lead to higher productivity.”

Chieu Cao, chief executive and founder at Mintago

“The Covid-19 crisis, combined with impassioned social movements, has led people to reassess their core values and what is important to them. What we are seeing is a fundamental shift in values. This in turn is impacting what people want from their work. They are looking for a new employee/employer contract, one that feels more equal and flexible.”

Vanella Jackson, global chief executive, Hall & Partners

“Leaders should encourage people to take risks whilst recognising that they’ll probably make mistakes along the way. Try not to be afraid of failure. If you do try and fail, don’t fail and forget, fail and move on instead. To make the same mistake twice is a failure, but to try and make a mistake once is a great learning opportunity.”

“We must ‘build back better’ on a foundation of employee equity. Nothing compares to giving employees a genuine stake in their company. It is fundamentally the best way that businesses can motivate, engage and empower staff, and ultimately drive productivity and performance – more so than any new technology or working process.”

Christian Gabriel, chief executive and co-founder of Capdesk

“The risk with hybrid working is that we are leaving no time for development of others, relationship building, or learning from each other, and this is particularly damaging for younger or newer team members. Assign new team members buddies from the management and leadership group, so they have the chance to overhear meetings and learn from the conversations that more experienced people are having.”

Pam Hamilton, collaboration expert and author of Supercharged Teams

The pandemic has changed the way Britain works – with home and hybrid working here to stay.

Chance for change?

What's next for hybrid working

Freed from the need to commute, workers will relocate to different areas, says Chieu Cao, founder and chief executive of Mintago. He says, “There is already an increase in relocations to more rural locations where costs are lower and quality of life is better.”

People will relocate

David Williams, chief executive and founder of Impact

Companies will have to work hard to instill company culture, and find ways for employees to have fun together, says Amrit Sandhar, founder of The Engagement Coach. Sandhar says, “There is a risk that working from home becomes the same experience for everyone, no matter which organisation you belong to. What stops people moving from one organisation to another, what differentiates one organisation from another?”

Businesses will have to work harder on company culture

Offices will be used differently, and business leaders need to embrace this fact, says Andrew Mawson, founder of global consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates (AWA). Mawson says: “In the new world, offices will be used very differently and we’ll want to share workplace resources and schedule them cleverly so that we give people their best experience, whilst using the space effectively to reduce cost and carbon.”

The function of offices will change

Mind the age gap

But it’s key to find an approach which works for all staff, says Jones. “It’s a continuing conversation to ensure that everything about your offer stays relevant across all age groups,” says Jones. “It’s important to have an active dialogue with everyone in your business to know exactly where they are at and also what technology, work hours or support they may need. We’re just designing a well-being programme that specifically looks at the different transitions that people might go through at different times of their lives.” Businesses may need to rethink their relationship with their employees in the new world, says Chris Love, managing partner, Workforce Management at REPL Group, part of Accenture. Love says: “Investing in or motivating staff doesn't just mean increasing salary and bonuses, it is also about upskilling, motivating, and listening to the teams on the ground to create an agile, multi-skilled and engaged workforce.”

How can tech help?

Small businesses in Britain adopted new technology enthusiastically during the pandemic, according to the Enterprise Research Centre’s Business Futures Survey. Almost two-thirds (62pc) of SMEs said they increased their tech uptake, and were spending not just on video-conferencing, but on online marketing and cloud computing. For business leaders, it’s important to use technology to empower workers, says Phil Jones. “It’s about eliminating the frustrating tasks that slow them down through process re-evaluation or new technology. Importantly, it’s about helping foster a happier, more engaged workforce.” Technology needs to be at the centre of change, says Chieu Cao. He says: “Technology plays a crucial role. When it comes to productivity employers have to make sure that all employees have the technological tools to be able to do their best work. Employers also need to look into streamlining communication and make contact as easy as possible within the business.”

Improving digital infrastructure and engaging with remote working technology will help Britain boost productivity sustainably, believes Gwen Buck, senior policy adviser at the Green Alliance think tank. Buck says: “Engaging with green technology is going to be a useful way for businesses to build productivity as well as sustainability. We need to think about how the economy works in terms of building a more circular economy so we use resources more wisely.” Boosting home broadband and remote-working technology could create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK, says Buck, including in regions where productivity has traditionally been low. Buck says: “We see digital infrastructure as key tools in the drive towards a net zero economy as well. Things like upgrading home broadband can actually help in tackling the climate crisis. It can help reduce transport emissions, which are actually the biggest emitter in the UK. Our research calculated that upgrading home broadband could provide 500,000 jobs by 2038, as well as helping to tackle climate change,” she finishes.

1800-1900 ‘The workshop of the world’

Britain’s dominance in industry saw productivity rising steadily throughout the 19th century at 1pc year-on-year

1918 Post-war stagnation

Britain struggled to keep up with America’s booming new industries in terms of productivity after the First World War

1950 Post-war boom

Britain's post-war years saw productivity increasing by 3.2pc year on year, driven by free trade, transport and technology

1973 Oil crisis

A recession caused by a dispute over oil supply saw oil prices rise 300pc, and dealt a blow to Britain’s productivity

2008 Credit Crunch

Productivity in Britain struggled to recover after the crisis, with growth of just 0.3pc year on year

2019 A lost decade

The Royal Statistical Society announced that British productivity would have been 20pc higher if the pre-credit crunch growth rate had remained

2020 Pandemic

Output per worker fell 3.1pc annually during the first quarter of 2020, the biggest fall since 2009, according to the ONS

Things are never going to return to the ‘way they were’ and leaders need to embrace hybrid working and new technology to boost productivity, says Phil Jones. “Hybrid working is the future,” he adds. “Shifts in the housing and jobs markets indicate the serious choices that people are making about their careers and quite simply, I believe that if you don’t offer a hybrid or flexible working policy then you may lose people or struggle to recruit for white collar roles.” Business leaders may also need to rethink the structure of their organisation or the design of their offices, Jones says. “The role of an HQ or office will change. It will become much more about the value the space provides in terms of conversations, group working, creativity, mental health and social cohesion.” Bold business leaders who can embrace these changes can ‘build back’ more productively, Jones believes. He says: “It’s about finding new ways of creating tangible improvements to the way our people work that can help them get more done.”

What’s next?

meet the brother business responders

We’ve assembled a crack team of experts to help take your business to the next level in these challenging times. They come from disciplines as wide-ranging as well-being through to futurology, and you’ll see them offering advice throughout this campaign. They are:

Phil Jones, managing director, Brother UK Emma Sinclair, entrepreneur and co-founder of Enterprise Alumni Chieu Cao, employee well-being expert and founder of Perkbox and Mintago Erica Orange, US futurist and founder of The Future Hunter Gwen Buck, policy adviser at The Green Alliance

In the wake of the pandemic, younger workers tend to be more enthusiastic about returning to face-to-face collaboration, with 74pc of Gen Z keen to collaborate face-to-face, research by Accenture found, higher than Generation X (66pc) and Baby Boomers (68pc).