The Government is being encouraged to expand existing efforts to boost workforce productivity by investing more in and incentivising research and development as well as innovation.

Government Senator Kavan Gayle put forward the proposal while making his contribution to the State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Friday (December 9).

Gayle made several recommendations which he said acted on to improve national productivity.

Among his recommendations was the establishment of a committee to institute a special action plan and programme aimed at developing human capital.

He further suggested the establishment of a productivity-focused curricula for school-age children and professionals.

“If we are going to talk about productivity, let’s talk about productivity at an early age of development. Let us encourage the youngsters to be more efficient and productive, and when we start from there, we build the generation,” he said.

The senator further proposed supporting positive behavioural changes towards a productivity-centric culture and mindset, noting that this is how the Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC) can work with stakeholders in promoting advocacy and awareness.

“The successful implementation of the recommendations will depend on the resources at our disposal. In this respect, a designated productivity fund would be particularly useful for financing ongoing and future productivity-centred initiatives.

“With these funds set aside, the JPC and relevant stakeholders could readily capitalise on opportunities as they arise. Overall, it is clear that productivity is, indeed, everyone’s business. Therefore, let us put on a united front to tackle this persisting productivity issue,” he said.

Gayle indicated his intention to put a motion before the Senate to further action the matter.

He said productivity improvement demands a focus on public awareness, capacity building, measurement, and advocacy.

“We need to raise awareness about the importance of productivity, to build local support and awareness. We can no longer approach the goals of production improvement and employment improvement in separate silos. Even well-intentioned efforts at promoting productivity could yield little to no results, if workers lack the requisite knowledge and skills,” he stated.

To bridge this gap, Gayle said it was necessary to equip workers, businesses and the public sector with the tools to measure and monitor productivity improvement to ensure success.

“This will necessitate collaboration between the JPC, educational institutions, researchers, and private-sector organisations to expose individuals to productivity analysis and auditing techniques. We must all strive to be advocates of productivity,” he added.

Gayle further stated that human resource personnel across all ministries must be trained in how to accurately measure public-sector performance through appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs).

“Effective advocacy is heavily dependent on relationships. For this reason, realising productivity gains will also require close working relationships between the JPC and its external stakeholders. This will not only ensure a seamless exchange of ideas and data but also guarantee support for advocacy efforts,” he said.

Gayle said that, despite the fact that firms and organisations in Jamaica do not effectively monitor productivity, there is no disputing the notion that the lack of human capital development, job skills mismatch, improper adoption of technology, long waiting times, high transportation costs, and low value-added production are factors that limit productivity growth.

Estimates by the JPC indicate that between January and March 2022, output per worker rose by one per cent relative to that period last year.

“This is a glimmer of hope as from 2001 and 2019, the country registered average declines in labour productivity. However, one per cent is not enough to close the gap,” Gayle said.

-JIS