Employing Analytics to Enhance Workplace Productivity

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With decreased productivity seen across Asia, organizations need to focus on raising employee productivity to improve competitiveness, says new report

• Rising wage pressure, lack of skills to leverage technology, ineffective leadership and low engagement levels are making it difficult for firms to deliver productivity gains
• Singapore and South Korea showed the largest drops in productivity per person with 3.12% and 2.34% respectively, compared to India, which had the highest gain at 2.71%, followed by Indonesia at 0.68%
• The research states three key approaches to enhance productivity: developing more effective leaders; leveraging technology; and enhancing employee engagement
• This is the first in a series of reports on utilizing analytics in Asia across the human capital domain

A new report from the Workforce Analytics Institute (WAI), a partnership between The Conference Board and Mercer, titled Employing Analytics to Enhance Workplace Productivity, states that raising employee productivity remains one of the key levers organizations can use to improve their competitiveness. With regards to Asia Pacific, the catch-up phase in which productivity gains were easy to achieve with the introduction of technology, is gone. The report highlights the importance of prioritizing three key approaches and outlines strategies that organizations can use to enhance productivity: developing more effective leaders; leveraging technology; and enhancing employee engagement.

Siddarth Mehta, Leader, Workforce Planning & Analytics, Mercer, commented on the report, “Across Asia we are riddled with economies showing weak or slowing growth. Against this backdrop, productivity combined with rising wage pressure poses a serious threat to organizations’ profitability. Additionally, in Asia, where the demand for skilled labor far exceeds supply, companies in the region are encountering substantial difficulties: they are realizing that the link between productivity and business performance is one of an organization’s key resources and if effectively managed can lead to significant payoffs. Gone are the days when productivity could spike simply with the introduction of technology. Going forward, companies need to be more innovative.”

The Conference Board’s research shows that the global decline in productivity growth is a serious threat to competiveness and profitability – from 2007 to 2014 productivity growth dropped about a quarter of what it was from 1999 to 2006 and is expected to make little recovery before 2025. In Asia, most markets have seen a slump in labor productivity with nearly all markets, with the exception of India, Indonesia and Philippines, showing decreasing productivity between 2008-2016 when compared to 1999-2007 (Exhibit 1).

Raising productivity is fast becoming a priority and especially crucial in an uncertain business climate. The Conference Board’s research illustrates that higher productivity growth can be associated with larger real net operation surplus growth (Exhibit 2).

With insights from interviews and surveys with over 50 HR professionals in Asia, three main themes emerged:

Developing leadership to drive productivity: where significant changes to the work environment are planned, as is the case for most productivity interventions, communication, preparation and transparency are key.

Enhancing employee engagement: designing incentive schemes to motivate employees, or creating physical and virtual workplaces that promote teamwork, collaboration and engagement are ways to provide a healthy environment for high performance.

Leveraging technology to raise productivity: technology is best utilized for communications, equipment upgrades, self-service systems and training.

According to Caitlin Pan, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Asia Region of The Conference Board and an author of the report, “To foster a culture in which consistent productivity growth is possible, organizations need to develop a systematic approach toward tracking and analyzing the quality of their productivity interventions. We often see companies start a number of initiatives and continue to pursue them without a clear understanding of which, if any, has a positive impact on organizational outcomes including profitability. Feedback is useful, but measuring and qualifying the quality of the interventions will lead to enhanced productivity. Before designing and implementing an intervention, it is imperative to determine the current productivity levels so as to effectively evaluate the changes in productivity.”

About The Workforce Analytics Institute

Launched in March 2015, the Workforce Analytics Institute (WAI), a partnership between The Conference Board and Mercer, is a virtual membership based institute created to provide businesses and human resources professionals in the region with the research, methodologies, tools and training they need to move towards workforce analytics and planning.

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is a global, independent business membershipand research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: to provide the world’s leading organizationswith the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States.

About Mercer

Mercer is a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments. Mercer helps clients around the world advance the health, wealth and performance of their most vital asset – their people. Mercer’s more than 20,000 employees are based in more than 40 countries and the firm operates in over 130 countries. Mercer is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), a global professional services firm offering clients advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and people. With 57,000 employees worldwide and annual revenue exceeding $13 billion, Marsh & McLennan Companies is also the parent company of Marsh, a leader in insurance broking and risk management; Guy Carpenter, a leader in providing risk and reinsurance intermediary services; and Oliver Wyman, a leader in management consulting.