Labour productivity crisis?

‍Contemporary Antiquity

According to Martijn, many companies are now organized according to standards and standards that were devised in the 1970s. And the way in which the value of our labour is measured dates back to the time of the industrial revolution. According to him, the idea that people are rewarded on the basis of hourly rates, salaries and productivity is not only old-fashioned but also not in line with human nature. What also doesn't help is that many companies oblige their employees to work with only one form of software. For example, your boss buys a Microsoft Office package for each employee so that everyone can deliver files in the same format. Very useful for the administration, but killer for the creativity of your staff. The irony lies in the fact that many companies are enormously progressive when it comes to digitization, while clinging to old-fashioned concepts.

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Where does it go wrong?

Low labour productivity, burnouts and friction at work are all symptoms of a much larger problem. So where are many companies missing out now? According to Martijn, digital fitness is one of the main factors. Digital fitness actually includes everything that has to do with a computer, such as Microsoft Office skills but also knowledge about the computer itself. According to Martijn, the vast majority of the 5 million Dutch people who work at a computer are not digitally fit. And while this is a problem, it doesn't have to be that way. Indeed, Martijn explains that most people, of those 5 million, are hired to think. Thinking about problems, processes or customers. And to think, someone must be able to focus, something that can be done effectively for up to 5 hours a day under ideal conditions. It is then a huge shame if you lose a large part of your time because you have to perform tasks on a computer that don't have to be done at all, or that can be fully automated. Martijn also emphasizes that people with a “full head” cannot effectively focus on or think about the problems they are dealing with. It is therefore quite logical that people become frustrated, are unable to be productive or run into a burnout. All because we're working on work that a robot can do better, in an environment where we don't belong.

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The impact

Now, you may be wondering what the exact impact of all that friction, burnouts and so-called digital fitness is. How bad can it be if someone isn't proficient with their computer, or has a full head of sending emails all day? Pretty bad, apparently. Martijn explains the figures in detail during the broadcast, and don't be alarmed, but it appears that an average office worker can lose between 40 and 400 hours a year because he or she does not have the necessary skills with a computer. Research by Microsoft also shows that an average of 240 hours a year is spent looking for information that they can't easily find. In addition, it takes an average of 40 days a year to compensate for things that are forgotten, simply because the average person receives too much information in a day, and he also explains that passing a typing course, or general computer proficiency, can save hundreds of hours. But not the solution is to the root of the problem. And anyway, there is an enormous amount of work left that, according to Martijn, is simply not necessary, but is still being done.

So the bottom line is that many companies waste hundreds of hours per person per year. Hundreds of paid hours that are frustrating and are much better spent elsewhere. Now the only question is, how do you solve this?

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The road to freedom

Within an organization, you can of course change many things to get better. For example, there are courses that can greatly increase people's digital skills, and there are programs that are a lot more user-friendly. Martijn himself also offers the opportunity to learn more and become more digitally fit free of charge. On his website https://www.digitalefitheid.nl/ you can work on your own digital fitness yourself. And while it's important to be digitally fit yourself, it's important to know that this isn't the only way.

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This is because VionA helps companies eliminate unnecessary administrative computer work with smart automations. As a result, you will automatically free up time with yourself and your colleagues, which in turn reduces the workload and increases happiness at work. Thanks to the revolutionary gen-2 RPA technology, this is now accessible to many companies. Want to know if this is also interesting for your organization? Then get in touch with us.