What did you do last week?

We are constantly reminded that productivity in the UK and other advanced economies has dropped in the past decade.

The chart below is taken from a report from the OECD showing the productivity of nations by GDP relative to the OECD average of $67.5 USD per hour in 2022. The dots in orange show comparison data from 2000. The UK is 16 from the left and reveals a significant drop over the period. COVID can take some of the blame but the challenge of most C suite executives is how to raise productivity to the levels of our main competitors.

There are marked differences between countries, but also industrial sectors and between the private and state sectors here in the UK. The finger pointing is not solely reliant on economic data as I read an article recently that singled out DEI and working from home initiatives for criticism. So I hesitate to join that debate and don’t profess to have the answer either.

< It is not possible show the OECD Productivity graph in the blog but it is shown on the summary page >

We heard this week that Elon Musk sent a memo to public sector workers in the US with a question: “What did you do last week?” On the face of it, this is not an unreasonable query in the workplace. On a Monday morning I have often been asked “what did you do at the weekend?” And I have been happy to tell of my leisurely pursuits. Management by walkabout is an accepted strategy in larger organisations and I would often open a meeting with a colleague asking “ How’s it going ?” In the commercial sector many professions charge for their time. Indeed a Solicitor is used to billing for every 6 minutes spent on a phone call, meeting or file review with a client. Such a questions is embedded within the management information of the legal firm and a solicitor’s revenue depends upon it.

Perhaps the pushback reported from US Civil Servants in the press derived from the implied “stick” for non-compliance. ‘Failure to reply will result in dismissal’. A “carrot” or small incentive might have elicited a more enthusiastic response. Although the question is not unreasonable, to make a judgement on the value of an employee’s contribution based on this single metric alone is plainly wrong.

I see myself and colleagues as human beings rather than human doings. With the prospect of AI doing more of the mundane office tasks, is there more value in people engaging in creativity than performing routine tasks in the workplace ? In which case further questions are required to establish the real contribution of the employee to the overall performance of the department or enterprise. This perhaps explains the presence of nations like Ireland, Luxembourg and Switzerland at the left of the above chart, where knowledge workers form a majority of the workforce.

Looking back on my own calendar, on a surface level I probably did very little last week. Meetings with a few clients and reading a lot of articles and reports plus taking a day-off to celebrate a birthday, would probably be enough to get me fired by the new head of DOGE. But a couple of inspirational ideas last Tuesday could yet prove very valuable. On that basis my productive week consisted of about 15 minutes and the rest was just “stuff”.

The paradox of my week is that time spent away from the desk positively improves my productivity, thus focusing on free time actually creates more of these inspirational ideas and ‘aha’ moments. Physical exercise and time spent in nature are known to boost our endorphins whereas sitting at a desk does not. The reality is that most people are required to trade their time for money for most of their career; part of our role at Eclipse Private Office is to help clients along the client journey * so they are no longer trading their time for money.

Have a great week and if you care to join the conversation on my Linked IN page then we would love to hear about your week too.