According to the Conference Board of Canada, productivity is the single most important determinant of a country's per capita income over the long term. Canada's labour productivity has lagged behind the United States since 1995, and the gap continues to widen. So what exactly is "productivity" and why does it matter so much?
Productivity isn't linked to how hard you've worked or the hours you keep. It's about the amount you can produce while exerting the same amount of effort. As workers, our productivity increases as our skills and knowledge increase, but there's only so much a person can do if they don't have the right tools for the job, or if there are bottlenecks in workflow. As business owners, we need to take a step back and examine our work processes and procedures. Could a job have been done faster or better with a different tool? Are you capitalizing on available technologies to speed up and simplify your business processes? Are you using customer relationship management software to ensure you really capitalize on your customer base?
The College of New Caledonia has a new project called the Digital Technology Adoption Pilot Project. Zelda Craig has recently been hired as the Industry Liaison, and she will be meeting with local businesses and industry associations to help them find answers to these questions. If you have an incorporated, small or medium sized business and want some assistance identifying productivity issues in your company, you can contact Zelda at [email protected]. There is no charge for this service. If you identify a need to develop or adopt digital technology to boost productivity, Zelda will address barriers to adoption of technologies, including gathering information on potential suppliers, training and orientations with staff, or partners and funding for new technology development.
It is so encouraging to see such examples of collaboration between post-secondary institutions and business owners. One of the resolutions that our Chamber of Commerce presented at the 2012-2013 policy session, and is now printed in the BC Chamber of Commerce's Policy and Position Manual, was entitled "Getting the Most from our Education System". One of our specific 'asks' of the Provincial Government was to encourage input from small business and industry groups to be incorporated into school curriculum in order to ensure that students are being adequately prepared with the necessary employability skills.
Our chamber commends the recent efforts of the CNC Trades Department which has begun meeting with a number of industry advisory committees as part of ongoing collaboration between CNC Trades and local business owners. The most recent meeting of the Automotive Advisory Committee was attended by the Industry Training Association and the Automotive Training Standards Organization, where they unveiled changes to the Automotive Service Technician credentialing process. From all reports, this meeting was very successful and is only the start of a very productive collaboration.
So if you find yourself asking, "There must be a more efficient way of doing ___", make sure to connect with local productivity resources, like Zelda at CNC, in order to focus efforts on doing business better.
Until next time, stay in the black and keep coming back.
Jennifer Brandle-McCall is the CEO of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce. Thought leadership for today's column was provided by the College of New Caledonia.
