CIPD – The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has questioned the government’s priorities on improving the UK’s productivity.
Although the UK’s GDP has grown in recent years, this has been predominantly as a result of immigration increasing the size of the work force; productivity in terms of output per head has been more or less static since the 2008 financial crisis
Ben Willmott, Head of Public Policy for the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, has responded to the Queen’s Speech’s lack of address in this area:
“Given that the UK’s productivity is continuing to stagnate, it’s hard to understand why improving workplace productivity doesn’t seem to figure in the Government’s priorities. Improving this is the key to increasing wages, enhancing services and building stability and success into the economy for the long term. Businesses – particularly small firms – need more support from Government to help them improve workplace practices that can unlock productivity improvements.
“Furthermore, we need an economy that creates more high-skilled jobs and a strategy to achieve this. The UK has the second highest level of over-qualification in the OECD, suggesting that making use of existing skills in the workplace through better leadership and people management, as well as job design, is just as important as increasing the supply of graduates.”
