The government is failing to address the problem of poor management which is a key factor behind the UK’s woeful productivity performance, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has warned.
A CIPD report released ahead of official data urges the government to encourage more ‘smart working’ by managers and staff.
The official statistics are expected to show the UK still lagging behind the productivity of the US, France and Germany by some margin.
John Philpott, chief economist at the CIPD, said: “Coming after a year when UK productivity growth plummeted to ground zero, the latest international comparisons will be disappointing for a chancellor who has put considerable effort for almost a decade into closing the productivity gap.
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“The underlying problem, mostly overlooked by government policy, is that the vast majority of UK organisations still don’t make a good enough fist of managing the productive resources they do have, especially their people,” Philpott said.
The government should make improving people management and working practices central to its policy agenda, rather than treating it as subsidiary to investment, innovation, skills and competitive labour and product markets, he added.
