The latest ONS ‘Index of Production’ report has revealed that UK productivity levels are not markedly improving.

This release of data from the Office for National Statistics on the 12th January estimates that production output has decreased by 0.7 percent between October 2015 and November 2015. According to an OECD UK Economic survey published last year, labour productivity per employee has failed to markedly rise since the global downturn; and recent CBI data reveals that the UK is 20 percentage points below the G7 average, the widest gap since the series began in 1991. 

In line with the latest ONS release, the world’s largest independent measure of workplace effectiveness, the Leesman Index, believes the workspace is a major contributor to worryingly low total production output. Tim Oldman, Leesman CEO, believes it’s imperative that business leaders analyse the reasons behind poor productivity levels in order to rectify the failings and improve business performance:

“As a global, independent think-tank, the Leesman Index measures workplaces effectiveness in supporting work activities as well recording employee satisfaction levels with numerous workplace features and services,” commented Oldman. “We have spoken to more than 135,000 employees across the world and the latest data has revealed that office environments can and do hinder productivity. However, the UK fares slightly worse than the global picture. From the 49,053 respondents based in Britain, only 54 percent think their workspace allows them to work productively*.

“There’s a woeful lack of science being applied to the workplace environment. Organisations must, alongside skills, investment andinfrastructure, include the workplace in their productivity focus. Those that do will boost productivity and their organisation performance.” The Leesman Index is unrivalled in its research; it benchmarks employee satisfaction in 90 areas, covering workplace design, activities, features and facilities, and contains feedback from more than 135,000 employees in over 1,100 workplaces in 49 countries.