The third annual Telstra Productivity Indicator (TPI 2011) is the latest comprehensive report into the attitudes and behaviours of large Australian organisations towards productivity.
Over the last two years, there has been increasing awareness that Australia needs to focus on becoming more productive to ensure long-term prosperity. The Federal Government’s Inquiry into raising the productivity growth rate in the Australian economy incorporated findings from TPI 2009, and the Grattan Institute’s February 2011 report titled: Australia’s Productivity Challenge highlights the challenges in reversing Australia’s apparent decline in productivity performance.
The key findings of theTelstra Productivity Indicator 2011 are:
- Improving productivity is a top priority for 76% of large Australian organisations.
- A major disparity still exists between management’s productivity expectations and real improvements. This substantial shortfall of 52% has been identified as the ‘Productivity Improvement Deficit’.
- Compared to the majority who hope for improvement, only a minority (24%) – Productivity Leaders – actually measure and deliver productivity improvements.
- Telstra’s research has identified the attributes and behaviours of Productivity Leaders.
The Productivity Improvement Deficit, by survey year
Productivity Leader attributes
TPI 2011 clearly indicates that Productivity Leaders typically have a definable set of attributes that set them apart. These attributes primarily relate to investment in customer communications, process improvements, and information and communications technology (ICT).
Productivity Leaders:
- Recognise the importance of making investments to improve productivity
- Have invested in ICT in the past and plan to do so in the future
- Invest in whole of organisation productivity programs and collaboration
- Create a more engaged workforce
- Connect better with their customers
- Are less influenced by perceived barriers to investment in ICT and more optimistic about the future
Utilising this productivity research and demonstrated experience in helping organisations realise their productivity goals, Telstra has devised a practical approach to help executives analyse, target and invest to boost business productivity.