Latest statistics from the ONS shows decline in labour productivity

The decline in labour productivity as shown by the ONS stats sheds light on the need for businesses to invest in agile talent and performance management to support and motivate the workforce in these unprecedented times.

Agile talent and performance management, which are both key to instilling a strong performance-based culture, are no longer just nice to have. They’re vital.  Businesses need to start providing additional support to staff and coding performance management into standard HR practice now, or square up to more cuts and losses.

Our research found that forty-eight percent of UK businesses don’t have a dedicated HR department, leaving non-departmental staff providing much-needed support for colleagues to keep them motivated and productive. Or, worse, this responsibility gets allocated to other teams such as compliance, finance or strategy on top of their day jobs. A dedicated HR team or specialist is central to creating high performance teams.

Employees are now having to juggle two or three jobs in one on top of their core role. With financial impacts and scaled back teams, businesses need to ensure their employees are happy and driven when restructuring departments, which starts with proper agility and performance management in HR.

Our research found that more than half of UK companies (50.6%) are convinced that COVID-19 will have a lasting negative financial impact on their businesses, so boosting agility and productivity will be crucial for companies on the road to recovery.

In the current environment, performance management is a must-have productivity tool in the arsenal of any HR professional. Performance data can be leveraged for strategic insight, informing HR about how to organise a team effectively and which individuals succeed at engaging in certain tasks.

HR should no longer be seen as something that ticks over in the background – it’s a core asset of any successful business.