The Theme of 2025 Blogs is “Speak Up” – the Productivity Connection

This paragraph is from the January 2025 blog.

Oh Canada! What a challenging time. Given the gift of many decades on this earth I believe we are, for the most part, a decent people striving to do the right thing. At the same time, we are experiencing workplace productivity issues¹, and the North American political situation is causing upheaval as well. It’s an opportune moment to consider one way we can strengthen our Canadian workplace. By focusing on what apparently everyone wants, but we require tools to deal with – good character. Both for our organizations and us, as individuals. ²

In this blog, let’s focus on the connection between speaking up and productivity.

Definition of Productivity

Productivity refers to the effectiveness of productive effort, especially in industry, as measured in terms of the rate of output per unit of input.

Productivity measures efficiency and performance in the utilization of resources.

Why Productivity is Important

Canada's productivity ranking varies depending on the measurement used. According to a list of countries by labour productivity, Canada had a GDP* per hour worked of $71.90 in 2022, which places it behind countries like the United States, Germany, and France.

In terms of labour productivity as a percentage of the United States levels, Canada's workforce was 77% as productive as the U.S. workforce in 2020 (23% less productive). This indicates that while Canada is more productive than some countries, it still lags behind several advanced economies.

Factors that impact Productivity

Canada's productivity ranking is lagging due to several factors. While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and labour shortages have had an impact, this issue pre-dates the pandemic.

More relevant is the greater number of small businesses in Canada as a percentage of overall employment. OECD data suggest large companies invest more in productivity-improving technology and training.

However, many of Canada’s largest organizations are comfortably part of large organizations (banking, federal government and telecommunications companies, for example), with less industry pressure to be more competitive.

Additionally, Canada's trades and apprenticeship programs, where many of the people who implement productivity-enhancing measures would come from, are less developed compared to European countries.

Ways to increase Canada’s productivity

To address these issues and raise productivity in Canada, experts suggest several best practices.

1. Increase R&D Investments: Investing more in research and development can drive innovation and improve productivity.
2. Enhance Technology Adoption: Encouraging businesses to adopt new technologies can significantly boost productivity.
3. Foster a Culture of Innovation: Creating an environment that allows space for individual invention and imagination while providing mechanisms for sharing learnings and creations.
4. Leverage Private Equity and M&A: Utilizing private equity and mergers and acquisitions can help businesses grow and become more productive.
5. Maximize Government Incentives: Taking advantage of government incentives can support businesses in their productivity-enhancing efforts.
6. Manage Risks Effectively: Organizations need to find ways to comfortably adopt new technologies while maintaining strong internal controls and compliance.

The connection between Speaking Up and Productivity

This is not about people worker harder. It is about, among the list below, ensuring that we are focused on the right things. Over the years it is clear that many staff members have insight into how to improve work, and their organizations.

The challenge is;

 a) getting them to articulate this information to the right people,

b) ensuring there are people who want to do something with this information, and,



c) that something actually happens.

The simpler and more accessible the practice of gathering and acting upon information, the better for your organization.



Concrete steps in Managing Productivity – Speak Up

1.     Determine how you assess productivity in your organization. Create a benchmark.

2.     Create a culture where innovative ideas are solicited and welcome. Encourage your colleagues to speak up. Leaders can turn employee suggestions into actionable improvements by nurturing a culture of open communication and trust, ideally through both team meetings and one-on-one conversations.

3.     Establishing clear feedback channels empowers employees to share their insights freely. Let people know what happens to their suggestions.

4.     Develop a process for evaluating ideas. Prioritizing suggestions based on strategic goals ensures that valuable ideas are considered.

5.     Collaboration is crucial in developing action plans that integrate employee input. Transparent communication about outcomes reinforces the significance of contributions, while celebrating successes motivates continuous engagement.

6.     Ask the question; What can be done to be more effective? Listen to the answer openly.

Additional Reading and Sources

¹ https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230519/dq230519b-eng.htm

² https://www.regent.edu/journal/international-journal-of-leadership-studies/leading-with-integrity/

Gross Domestic Product* (total monetary or market value of all the finished good and services produced within a country in a specific time period

https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/36-28-0001/2023012/article/00006-eng.htm

https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/canada-s-lagging-productivity-affects-us-all-and-will-take-years-remedy

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2024/03/productivity-problem/

https://www.bdo.ca/insights/canada-s-productivity-paradox

https://aaronhall.com/how-leaders-can-turn-employee-suggestions-into-actionable-improvements/

This is a very interesting podcast – the productivity element

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/16127993-boosting-canadas-productivity-young-adults-stuck-living-parents

Examples of how to measure productivity

1.     The most regularly used input is labor hours, while the output can be measured in units produced or sales. For instance, if a factory produced 10,000 widgets last month while being billed for 5,000 hours for labor, productivity would be two widgets per hour (10,000 / 5,000).

2.     Restaurants – customers served divided by hours worked.

3.     https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesnonprofitcouncil/2022/02/28/11-strategies-to-implement-to-measure-the-impact-and-efficiency-of-your-nonprofit/

We are living in challenging times. I hope that this information and tools may be helpful in strengthening our organizations and country.

With gratitude,

Kathleen Redmond MA, MCC

kr@centreforcharacterleadership.com

905.478.7962