Workforce productivity top priority for UK employers in 2008

Increasing workforce productivity is the top HR priority for UK employers this year, according to research released today by Manpower, the UKís leading employment experts.

The research, conducted by GfK NOP of over 2,000 employers on behalf of Manpower, reveals that nearly one quarter of employers (23%) consider improving staff productivity to be their top HR priority for 2008, compared to only seven per cent in 2007. Improving workforce productivity has risen up the HR agenda from joint fourth place in 2007 replacing staff retention as the number one concern.

Mark Cahill, Managing Director of Manpower UK, comments: ìNew year, new challenges, means new priorities for employers. Improving labour force productivity and maximising efficiency is currently top of the company health-check agenda.

ìWe believe one of the key ways to improve workforce productivity is to respect, value, and reward your staff. We spend time advising many of our clients on not only how to attract and recruit staff, but also how to remunerate, reward and retain their existing workforces.î

Manpowerís survey shows that the top four HR Priorities from 2007 continue to dominate the concerns of employers this year: staff retention drops from the number one HR priority to second place (21%); adapting to new legislation (14%) moves from the number two priority in 2007, to third place this year; the introduction of new technology (10%) drops from third to fourth place; and productivity leaps from fourth position to become the chief concern for 2008. Succession planning (six per cent) and wage inflation (five per cent) are also considered to be key HR priorities in 2008, although to a lesser extent.

By business sector, one in five Public Sector and Construction sector employees reveal their top HR priority in 2008 will be to adapt to new legislation. Manufacturing sector employers follow the overall results and are most concerned with improving workforce productivity with nearly one third reporting it as their top HR priority. Utilities sector employers consider succession planning to be their number one HR issue compared to six per cent of all companies surveyed.