Breaking Down the Barriers to Productivity

The UK is in the throes of a productivity crisis. It’s time to break down the productivity barriers and reinvigorate the nation’s workers says Hastee CEO James Herbert

Productivity in the UK is in steep decline. A recent report from the Office for National Statistics shows that between June and April this year productivity dropped at its fastest annual pace in five years. And the worrying part is, it’s been flatlining since the economic downturn of 2008.

Naturally, business leaders should be worried. If more than a decade’s worth of low productivity wasn’t scary enough, this latest drop shows things really can get worse. It’s not complete doom and gloom – the UK isn’t heading to a grinding halt, but things could be better, much better. For business leaders, it’s about getting the best possible performance out of your people in order to achieve the best business results.

So, what can be done? By exploring some of the common barriers to productivity, businesses across the UK can identify and implement solutions that will help to reinvigorate the workforce and help them fervidly perform to the best of their abilities.

1. Absenteeism and presenteeism

Reducing absenteeism is a key objective for HR managers, as well as an ongoing challenge. But too much time at work and working late into the night at home can also impact productivity in a negative way. This is known as presenteeism and – while the occasional bit of overtime can be a good thing – employers need to ensure their people are getting the right work-life balance.

According to recent figures, workers regularly brush aside physical and mental health issues to show up for work. As many as 83% of respondents in the CIPD’s Health and Well-Being at Work Report have observed presenteeism in their organisation and a quarter said the problem had become worse over the preceding 12 months.

For business leaders, presenteeism might feel like something that should be rewarded but it should be tackled with the same vigour that businesses address absenteeism. Encouraging or allowing workers to continually work longer hours or come to work when they’re suffering from poor physical or mental health, will inevitably lead to poor productivity and burnout. It’s also likely to make those poor physical or mental conditions worse. Employers need to ensure their workers are striking the right balance. But both absenteeism and presenteeism can be exacerbated by the next barrier in this article…

2. Financial stress

Financial wellbeing is something business leaders probably don’t think about when they think about the barriers to productivity. They don’t think about it because they’re not aware of it, and that’s not their fault. The reality is, money is one of those awkward subjects that we as a nation feel uncomfortable speaking about. Yet research shows financial stress is a widespread issue in UK workforces – an issue that directly impacts productivity.

Hastee’s Workplace Wellbeing Study 2018 found a fifth of workers admit to wasting working hours dealing with repayments. In 2019’s instalment of the study, respondents confirmed that financial stress impacts their work, as well as their health, sleep, social lives and relationships – all factors that can undoubtedly impact their performance at work.

Those figures could be set to rise considering the 2019 study found 82% of workers across the UK (all salary levels) source additional funds between pay days, including high cost credit options such as credit cards, overdrafts and the worst, payday loans. What’s more, only 21% of workers say they are able to budget and live within their means. It’s clear that borrowing to get by is rife within UK businesses. Not only is this distracting people at work – in some cases it has prevented them from getting to work with 39% admitting they have been unable to make it to work due to financial difficulties.

3. Poor working environments

Financial stress doesn’t just affect those directly coping with it. It’s impact on behaviour can create a demotivating environment for the people around them. When you’re stressed, working relationships can become strained. Challenging tasks or tight deadlines can add to that stress, creating a ticking time bomb that can all too easily erupt into an unpleasant and unprofessional scenario.

This brings us back full circle to absenteeism and presenteeism. A poor working environment can lead to people taking more sick days, waking up and feeling like doing literally anything other than facing their hostile working environment for another day. On the other hand, if they’re dealing with an environment that makes it difficult to concentrate, they might work longer hours to get work down when the office is quieter, or they might choose to take their work home.

This doesn’t mean productivity is increased. It just means they’re working later to finish tasks that should have been completed during standard working hours, and they’re burning themselves out in the process.

Breaking down the barriers

It’s clear that all three of these barriers are related. The silent financial struggles UK workers face are weaving a thread of poor productivity throughout our workforces, but employers can tackle this head on. By implementing a financial wellbeing solution that is free to implement with seamless integration and enables workers to access their earned pay as and when they need it, employers can provide workers with muchneeded respite from financial stress.

Hastee’s research found workers value digital money management tools with 66% saying they help them be more productive. In the same survey, 54% of workers said digital money management tools have helped them become more engaged. But such solutions must also provide users with the financial education to ensure they’re managing all aspects of their finances effectively – not just improving the way they smooth their incomes but how they manage debt, mortgages and other important aspects.

The UK is currently in the throes of a decades-long wealth boom and workers across all sectors deserve a fair chance to live up to their potential, both inside and outside of the workplace. Digital money management tools paired with financial wellbeing solutions will help them do just that, and in doing so productivity can be improved.