Prime Minister John Key has just confirmed what businesses already know - raising New Zealand's productivity performance is the biggest economic challenge facing the country.

Productivity and labour force participation are the key drivers of economic performance, higher wages and higher living standards.
Our capacity to raise our standard of living depends on our ability to raise output per worker – the amount of goods and services each worker produces and the value they add. This is not about working harder – we already work hard.
We are just very busy doing work of low value. Becoming a more productive (ie high wage) economy is about working smarter.

No matter what your business does or how big or small it is, there are a range of ways to improve productivity:
1. Build leadership and management capability: Effective leadership is about having a clear vision of where your business is heading, identifying new opportunities and inspiring your team to pursue those opportunities.
2. Create productive workplace cultures: Positive relationships between staff, teams and managers are a feature of productive workplaces. A positive work environment motivates people and helps them commit to the organisation. People feel encouraged to go the extra mile.
3. Encourage innovation and the use of technology: Productive workplaces are innovative in how they use technology and how they plan and organise themselves. They generally employ more highly-skilled and highly-paid workers and, through innovation, they increase market share.
4. Investing in people and skills: The more skills staff have, the more innovative they can be. They will also be more capable with new technology, make fewer mistakes, require less supervision, accept more responsibility and become better communicators.
5. Organising work: Productive workplaces have structures and processes that enable them to adapt and grow as products, technology and markets change. A well-organised workplace is able to get the best out of its staff and technology.
6. Networking and collaboration: Improve your workplace productivity by exchanging ideas and information with others in your industry. Collaborate with others to reduce the cost of business and give you access to new ideas and new technologies.
7. Measuring what matters: It is important to assess the value of any investment you make in improving workplace productivity. This helps you understand what makes the biggest difference. For example, is it the size of your organisation's structure, the skill levels of your staff or the size of your market or some other factor?

At a local level, we have great examples of businesses that have increased productivity, particularly in the kiwifruit industry.
A recent study found that value added per employee had increased the most over the past decade in the kiwifruit industry.
Zespri spends about $10 million a year on research and development – an essential component of increased productivity. In addition, growers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, in terms of on-orchard practices and enabling technology.
Post harvest operators such as Trevelyan's Pack & Cool, strongly supported by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, are leading the way with productivity enhancement by implementing ‘lean' business principles in every aspect of their business.
Technology to organise information so it is easily accessible is another driver of productivity.
Local IT company, Mavim New Zealand Ltd, specialises in creating clear, graphical business processes linked to corporate objectives and policies. Organisations can better structure their information, thereby improving productivity, compliance, health and safety and quality management.
The process can identify repetitive administration jobs that can be automated and ensure company information is easily accessible for staff.