According to recent research from O2 Business, companies throughout the UK could potentially benefit from £34.1 billion in gains from enhanced productivity with access to better connectivity. Currently, the UK is the only major advanced economy that is expected to record slowing growth in productivity this year. However, O2 believes that investing in faster connections could lead to a thriving marketplace for the UK.
Now that the Bank of England has warned that Brexit is reducing worker output by up to 5%, the country needs all the help it can get to engage and empower employees. Since most of us are reliant on the web and digital tools for our day-to-day processes, it makes sense that connectivity would help us to thrive. This is particularly true as 50% of the workforce prepares to work from outside of the office, in a remote environment.
In its "Business without Boundaries" study, O2 found that enhanced connectivity leads to savings of around 3.14 hours per week for the average employee. That means that upgrading our connectivity could lead to up to 18 days of extra productivity per year!
The UK is Making Progress (Slowly)
This isn't the first time that O2 has commented on the UK's need for better connectivity solutions. The Smarter Working Britain report from 2014 also highlighted a problem with our connections. Since then, we have made progress, with a greater uptake of tools to support remote working, and stronger connection speeds. Some of the biggest businesses in Britain are benefiting from a productivity boost of around £10.5 billion from part-time remote workers.
[caption id="attachment_24564" align="alignright" width="200"]
Jo Bertram[/caption]
However, there's still work to do. If all employers could embrace tools like real-time collaboration apps, video conferencing services, and so on, then the UK could access up to £14.7 billion in extra productivity gains for SMEs alone. Large companies would earn up to £19.4 in productivity boosts.
Now that the work is changing from a place where you go, to a think you do, it's time to embrace a more advanced digital environment. According to the Managing Director of O2 Business, Jo Bertram, the latest figures indicate that more of our leaders need to embrace opportunities for better connectivity. Digitally-enabled teams will be more productive and convenient, achieving higher levels of performance, and therefore better levels of customer satisfaction.
