Productivity Through People: New Opportunities for CHROs
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Future of Work

Productivity Through People: New Opportunities for CHROs

/ Report

Productivity is achieved by optimally using resources to effect better outcomes for people, firms, and the economy. However, for almost two decades, measured productivity growth has been persistently weak in Europe and other advanced economies.

As the workplace transforms, chief human resource officers (CHROs) have new opportunities to activate six specific people-based levers to spur productivity and bring their insights to the C-Suite to contribute to a more strategic discussion on productivity.

This report was created in partnership with The Productivity Institute, a UK-based research institute.

Trusted Insights for What’s Ahead™

Productivity is achieved by optimally using resources to effect better outcomes for people, firms, and the economy. However, for almost two decades, measured productivity growth has been persistently weak in Europe and other advanced economies.

As the workplace transforms, chief human resource officers (CHROs) have new opportunities to activate six specific people-based levers to spur productivity and bring their insights to the C-Suite to contribute to a more strategic discussion on productivity.

This report was created in partnership with The Productivity Institute, a UK-based research institute.

Trusted Insights for What’s Ahead™

  • Productivity growth is vital for business growth, economic progression, and improved living standards and social well-being. For a firm, productivity growth increases competitiveness through lower prices and/or better-quality products, frees up resources to invest, and creates greater opportunity to enhance stakeholder value. Productive firms have a talent advantage as productive workers are highly engaged, and are attracted to and stay with high-performing and growing businesses. CHROs who focus their people strategies on productivity can improve business outcomes, and enhance talent attraction and retention.
  • Mobilize the people function. As part of their productivity strategies, CHROs may need to build a new understanding and narrative about productivity among human resources (HR) leaders. Our discussions revealed that HR leaders often have siloed approaches to productivity or may lack a common understanding of what it is. A consistent and strategic narrative around people-based productivity can energize and align leaders around shared concepts, levers, and metrics of productivity.
  • Human capital strategy can help to close the productivity gap compared to the top-performing firms. A large gap exists between the top 10% of corporate performers and medium performers in the same industries—and the gap is widening, Evidence from leading firms suggests that the most productive firms succeed partly through better management practices, as well as more engaged and skilled workers. CHROs therefore play a critical role in strategizing for productivity growth.
  • CHROs can improve people’s productivity through six key human capital drivers:
    • Skills building;
    • High-quality leadership and management; 
    • Transformative work design (increasingly enabled through technology adoption and artificial intelligence [AI]);
    • Organizational agility and resilience;
    • Diversity; and
    • Worker well-being and engagement.

CHROs need to review thei

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Authors

Bart van Ark

Bart van Ark Bart van Ark

Managing Director, The Productivity Institute
The University of Manchester

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Marion Devine

Marion Devine Marion Devine

Principal Researcher, Human Capital, Europe
The Conference Board

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