In real life – how relationships can unlock productivity

The UK’s poor productivity record need not be a mystery; it is closely linked to failings around employee engagement. Andrew Jackson argues that improving relationships in the workplace should result in productivity gains.

Over breakfast, Alex stumbles across another headline lamenting the UK’s long-term productivity problems. Depressingly, between 2004 and 2019, the UK’s output per hour grew at the second slowest rate among the G7.

Alex is a newly promoted manager in a medium-sized UK business, recently put in charge of an important new sales and marketing initiative. Like many other managers in organisations across the UK – her team is seriously underperforming, and as a result, has attracted the attention of the company’s senior management.

The team are aware that this is not great for their careers and they’re feeling a little lost as the usual mix of disagreements and personality clashes, which means their team is just not making progress on this flagship project. Alex is feeling the pressure to “crack the whip” and “turn up the heat” on the team, and to “just sort things out”.

Many of us can relate to this situation as every organisation has teams that don’t perform, which impacts productivity.

But how we address these moments can either create competitive advantage or do more damage. The reality is that how we address broken or ineffective teams impacts more than just a KPI but has a knock-on effect on other teams, the culture and…