Doing more with less, also known as increasing productivity. This important concept is how employees enjoy a higher standard of living due to increased wages, and businesses increase profits. The right technology services supporting your business strategy will increase your productivity over time.
We have already covered the concept of measuring productivity in your business HERE.
Productivity is the measure of labor hours required to produce an amount of goods or services.
The fact is that since the Great Recession of 2008 productivity growth has stagnated. There is an excellent article on this HERE. In summary the hours we are working are not producing higher outputs (goods and services) and thus real wage growth for individuals, and profits for companies are less than they would be otherwise.
Technology alone cannot increase your productivity, but it is a requirement that you have the RIGHT technology services in place to compete.
Technology is seen as a key driver of increasing productivity, but that can be misleading.
The RIGHT technology services and tools supporting your business strategy can increase productivity. The wrong technology can actually lead to much worse output per employee and decreased profits. It is critical to provide your people with technology services that align with the overall business strategy. Three questions to ask before implementing new technology services:
- Will this technology allow us to accomplish a task in less time than before?
- Does this technology cost less than the increase in output over the next three years?
- Does this technology enable a competitive advantage or align with a longer term company strategy?
If your technology investments are not going to increase your productivity, they may not be good investments. Implementing a fancy document management system that makes your processes SLOWER versus utilizing cloud-based document storage that is simple….you need a partner to help you make these decisions!
Measuring productivity and tying it back to overall strategy will generate more profits and higher wage growth.
Unless you figure out how to increase productivity you cannot (profitability) scale your business or increase wages to your employees. These break points happen consistently based on the industry you are in. Measuring productivity growth rates will alert you to when you need to evaluate new technology services to boost your output for the next phase of growth.
In this series we have covered Alignment, Consistent Results, and Productivity. These three areas of focus will guide you in making sure that your Business Strategy is correctly supported by Technology Services, Standards, and Strategy that will enable you to make Better Business Decisions. To learn how Stringfellow may be able to work with your business please CONTACT US TODAY!