UK Productivity Gap

We know that lack of investment in CPD (Continuous Professional Development) of people and talent creates a knowledge, skills and behaviours gap which can impact productivity and business performance. It is globally recognised that there is a productivity gap in the UK; the UK Office of National Statistics state that the UK is 20 percentage points behind the average G7 country on productivity levels.

Naturally the more you can improve and develop your people, it will help to grow your business, but it should really be performance driven and results driven, which will help to start closing some of those gaps. Of course, there are other environmental, economic, cultural and political factors which will contribute towards that 20 percentage point gap but there is definitely a correlation.

The correlation between employee engagement and productivity is well documented by such organisations as Engage for Success and Gallup. When you consider that global engagement levels are around only 30%, and that productivity levels are down, creating a culture of agile learning that can be tailored to individuals will help to motivate those high-potential employees. This in turn will help to improve productivity and performance levels in your organisation, narrowing that productivity gap.