The UK’s lagging productivity: What makes an efficient workforce?

Commercial property specialists, Making Moves London, have conducted research looking into why the UK is lagging behind in terms of productivity, and the factors that allow certain countries and their workers to be more productive than the UK.

Compared to the most productive nations, the UK is ultimately ranked the 17th most productive country in the world.

To gain an insight into why this may be, Making Moves looked at a number of factors including:

Business outlook
Working conditions
Happiness
The graphic below shows the UK compared to the top 5 nations. Not only are we achieving a lower GDP per hour worked, but UK citizens are also lower down the scale of happiness.

Does this mean that happiness at work and productivity are intrinsically linked?

The top 5 most productive countries and the UK – Making Moves.png

Making Moves found that:

Ireland is the most productive country, perhaps due to the number of multinational corporations based in the country
Happy workers are more efficient and are more productive employees
Technology and manufacturing sectors are the most productive
Higher salaries seem to be more conducive to productivity over working hours and holiday allowance
Tobi Crosbie, CEO at Making Moves said

“It’s interesting to see what kinds of factors can contribute to productivity and how these can change throughout the world. While we knew aspects like happiness can influence productivity levels, we now have the data to show just how big an impact it can have.

“The index is a great resource for employers to better learn how they can provide for their team. We can see how a good working environment can affect motivation and productivity levels, so making your company a positive place to be should be of utmost importance to business owners.

“The easiest and best way to see exactly what kinds of perks and improvements your employees want is by asking them. Sending out anonymous company surveys is a great way of collecting honest feedback, so you can implement benefits that aren’t just performative or surface-level, but actually mean something to your team. In turn, you may just get a productivity boost.”