Productivity, which I like to define as the quality production of goods and services at economic cost, is critical to economic growth and competition in international trade. But Jamaica has been lagging far behind most of the other countries in Latin America, North America and the Caribbean.

In 1998 the International Labour Productivity Comparisons put the productivity level of Jamaica at 9862 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) dollars and Trinidad and Tobago at 30,954. This meant it took one Trinidadian to do what it took three Jamaicans. Ten years later Trinidad and Tobago was registering 51,916 PPP$ to Jamaica’s 9158 PPP$. Accordingly, one Trinidadian was doing what it took five Jamaicans to do. But let us compare Jamaica’s productivity level with that of some of the other countries in the region in terms of PPP$. In 2007, Argentina was recording 25,416, Barbados 20,830, Brazil 12,563, Chile 28,329, Costa Rica 18,018, Venezuela 29,613, Puerto Rico 48,115 and the United States of America, famous for work discipline, a whopping 63,783. This indicates that Jamaicans will have to work harder if the country is not to fall off the spinning globe while most of its people live in perpetual poverty.

One of the officials who is concerned with the country’s low productivity level and is working hard to correct the national problem is Dr Charles Douglas, executive director of the Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC), but the matter should also be the concern of workers, managers, line supervisors and trade unions.

The centre says the economy has been caught in a slow growth trap since 1973. During this period, real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by a meagre 0.5 per cent per annum. This slow growth experience resulted in the standard of living of the average Jamaican remaining almost stagnant. In fact, the real GDP per capita (by each person) in 1972 was greater than it was in 2007.

Growth accounting research published by the JPC has attributed Jamaica’s slow GDP growth to the anaemic growth in productivity over time. For instance, during the period 1973 to 2005, total factor productivity declined by 1.7 per cent annually. This is equivalent to saying that Jamaicans produced 1.7 per cent less output (GDP) each year from the same amount of productive resources (labour, physical capital and human capital). A similar conclusion has been reached by an Inter-American Development Bank study in 2010, which reveals that the economies of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) suffer from a chronic low-growth disease caused by low productivity. The report further points out that the LAC region has become so accustomed to this ailment that it no longer considers slow growth its most pressing development problem.

All this implies that there is a very strong relationship between productivity, competitiveness, economic growth and standard of living. This relationship means that growing the Jamaican economy is about growing the individual businesses that comprise the economy. The JPC says that for this to happen, enterprises must place greater emphasis on increasing productivity. Achieving and sustaining increased productivity will require individual enterprises to place greater emphasis on four critical productivity drivers: developing a culture of productivity, developing a highly motivated and skilled workforce, developing smart organisation structure and increasing investments in appropriate technology, innovation and productivity-enhancing techniques.

Productivity Champions Programme

What is the JPC doing to address the issue of low productivity within the workplace? Along with the Hugh Lawson Shearer Trade Union Education Institute (HLSTUEI), the organisation has launched the Workplace Productivity Champions Programme which will focus on the four critical areas through training and empowering selective workers as “Productivity Champions”. The programme, says the JPC, is a classical example of true labour-management cooperation. The Productivity champions will be equipped with tools that will empower them to work with management to develop, instil and sustain a productive culture at their respective workplaces. In addition, the productive champions will be assisted by the JPC in carrying out productive analysis and developing improvement solutions. The fundamental goal of the programme is to develop managers and practitioners who will cooperate with management in promoting and facilitating productivity improvement at the enterprise level. Integral to this labour management cooperation is the enlightened understanding that the fruits of enhanced productivity must be shared between workers, investors and management.

The philosophy driving the programme is that adoption of the methods and techniques for sustained productivity growth will significantly improve enterprise efficiency, effectiveness, product or service quality, competitiveness and profitability, These should lead to better financial returns that can be more equitably distributed among workers, managers and investors, thereby creating virtuous cycles of growth and prosperity. A key component of the programme is the implementation of a productivity initiative that each champion will have to select and work on from their organisation while undergoing the training. Participants will become certified productivity champions with responsibility for promoting a productivity culture in their respective work places. The champions, supported with the research information and data, will demonstrate the important links between productivity, socio-economic and cultural advancement of the country.

The issue of low productivity at the workplace will be confronted through the collaborative efforts and leadership of JPC and the HLSTUEI, with support from various stakeholders. Champions will be given an opportunity to appreciate the importance of productivity on the personal, enterprise and national level. The programme is of utmost importance to Jamaica. However, one should not expect miracles quickly and expect the national productivity level to rise dramatically overnight. It is going to be a long and hard process, that I am sure will pay dividends in the end. Every Jamaican worker, supervisor and manager and trade union should support the programme.