Analysis of productivity and efficiency of companies in Spain

We talked to Daniele Tramontin, commercial director of Adecco Outsourcing, to learn more about the performance of these applications in companies in our country and to analyze these processes.

What aspects determine the productivity and efficiency of companies?

Efficiency determines a company’s ability to leverage internal resources.. Like this, Human Resources management is the main lever that affects productivity: understanding the needs of the workforce in terms of development, training, ergonomic changes in the process, motivation, among others, affect the engagement of teams and therefore their productivity. Organizational structure, quality and technological level are other factors that determine the efficiency and therefore competitiveness of a company relative to others.

To what extent do Spanish companies implement and follow policies aimed at increasing productivity?

This Adecco Outsourcing barometer on efficiency and productivity the one we just published and collects feedback from over 2000 executives of companies of all sizes, 58.78% of Spanish companies implement and follow policies focused on improving efficiency. There are significant differences when comparing these data by company size, reaching 67.92% of companies with more than 250 employees, compared to 53.8% in Spain, the vast majority of which are companies with less than 49 employees. Within the evaluated categories, education, overtime management, sick leave, etc. The level appears to be inadequate, given the basic concepts of worker management.

What is the best way to increase productivity? What might be the keys to helping Spanish companies increase their productivity?

In order to increase efficiency or productivity in a company, if we want this improvement to be sustained over time, it has to have a result. mindset change at all layers of an organization; from below, the employees who run the processes are the ones who know more about the processes and their possible improvements. On the other hand, company management should provide training plans in specific continuous improvement methodologies so that everyone knows how to lead improvement initiatives. It is also extremely important to provide the organization with activity measurement systems to ensure an accurate diagnosis, realize and monitor the improvements achieved.

For years there has been the “eternal debate” in our economic and political context about the link between wages and productivity. Is it the Spanish company, how does this connection affect the economy and the labor market?

As I mentioned, there should be one employee engagement for improvements in productivity and efficiencyotherwise it would be impossible to achieve any positive results. One of the most important actions to be taken is to share the improvements achieved in a way that will benefit the 3 actors: 33% employer, 33% workers and 33% customers. In Spain, more than 2 out of 3 managers, directors or middle managers (68.97%) declare that their company applies variable compensation based on goals or productivity; therefore, we can say that this is a comprehensive measure.

Is training a lever to increase productivity for the company or just on the employee side?

Of course yes, education is an important element of improvement, especially when we take into account that technology is one of the main levers for achieving an improvement in productivity and efficiency in almost all industries. This requires staff training to use new technologies effectively, which almost always involves a change in the process, in relevant areas, and so it is important to train not only about the particular process but also about the change. this once again ensures that the entire organization continues to encourage motivation and involvement of all employees.

What changes does the company need to make to be more productive and efficient? But what about companies that don’t comply?

The first step to take is relatively simple, i.e. measuring times, protocolizing processes, measuring quality, etc. are key factors leading to an improvement in productivity and efficiency. Therefore, the first question we need to ask ourselves is are we really measuring, monitoring and making action plans for these 3 elements? For companies that do not adapt, they will likely gradually lose their competitiveness: we live in a highly competitive and globalized environment, so it would be wrong to think that we are seeing no entry in any industry in which we operate. new players that can take us out of the market.

How do Spanish companies deal with eventual business peaks?

40.51% of companies face eventual job peaks by increasing overtime hours30.48% go new hire, directly or by resorting to the services of a third party. There is no absolute data to tell us whether this data is optimal, the truth is that high numbers of overtime hours reduce employee productivity for obvious reasons of fatigue and can ultimately lead to higher sick leave rates.

One of the productivity sections of the Adecco Outsourcing Barometer focuses on absenteeism. Do institutions have specific plans to reduce absenteeism? How can this problem be resolved?

Absenteeism in a company is a very complex element that often does not respond to a single cause, with 51.48% of companies analyzing health-related KPIs, and 8 out of 10 respondents state that their company is running health promotion campaigns. From a purely “medical” point of view, most companies seem to meet the minimum requirements with the cooperation of co-insurers. However, as we said, absenteeism is also always due to reasons that are not purely medical and related to the work environment, motivation, and other factors that can ultimately trigger a medical diagnosis. In this sense, it reveals the following truth: Only 4 out of 10 companies state that they do work environment studies.