Retail one of best performing sectors for productivity: new study
A new study has found that retail is one of the best performing sectors for productivity.
The study by iOpener Institute for People and Performance, which analyzed responses from over 30,000 professionals, reveals significant differences between personal productivity levels in different countries and industry sectors. The findings also show a clear relationship between happiness at work and personal productivity.
The international consultancy measured components of happiness at work including energy levels, time engaged and feelings of happiness. Productivity was measured as ‘time on task’; the time that workers were actively producing outputs that made a tangible contribution to their organization.
The international average for time on task was found to be 58.8%, but there were significant differences between the various industry sectors. The retail sector was revealed as one the best performing sectors with 64.3% time on task, beaten only by the food service sector with 66.2% time on task. The biotechnology sector came bottom of the table with 53.2%.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Even greater differences were found when comparing the different countries surveyed. Mexico was found to have the highest productivity with 73.2% of time on task, while Portugal had the lowest with 43.3%.
Within both sets of data, the sectors and countries that showed the highest levels of productivity also performed strongly in the measurements of happiness at work.
Jessica Pryce-Jones, founder director of the iOpener Institute and author of Happiness at Work – Maximising Your Psychological Capital for Success, said: “Whilst broad correlations between happiness at work and productivity have been recognized for some time, this detailed method of analyzing the components of happiness at work offers organizations actionable insights to formulate practical plans to improve their productivity.
“The sector and country results offer companies a contextual starting point; those in the retail sector can ascertain how they measure up when compared to their sector and country averages, and tailor their productivity initiatives accordingly. Whilst the retail sector can take encouragement from scoring highly, the time on task measured is less than two thirds, so there is still potential for further improvement particularly as the high street struggles from the continued effects of recession.”
