Report: Productivity in the Workplace: What's the real problem?

A lack of flexible working and the working environment is having an impact on productivity levels, according to research from Red Letter Days for Business.

Key findings:

• 60% of the 2,040 UK employees surveyed said they spend at least half a day every single week performing tasks they deem as time wasters in the office.
• The top five areas that restricted productivity were: too many meetings, too much admin, too many emails, people management and slow technology.
• To improve productivity, 22% thought flexible working would help, while 19% sought better technology.
• Other factors that could help with productivity included: a happy workplace (17%), increased job satisfaction (15%) and better recognition from senior management (14%).

Around 42% of employees did not believe that their employer had done anything to improve productivity in the past two years. However, of those who had seen changes, 38% saw an increase in training, 20% experienced an investment in technology, 26% said tools designed for the job had been bought in and 9% said outside consultants had been hired.