Cracking the productivity code
The government’s five missions have been created to shape its priorities over the course of this parliament. At the foundation of all of the missions is an ambition to grow the economy.
Tara Dillon FCIMSPA (Chartered), CEO of The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA), examines one of the biggest barriers to economic growth and productivity, and explores the role of the sport and physical activity profession in reducing that barrier.
Across the sport and physical activity sector, we’ve been highlighting to policy makers and others the crucial role that our sector has in reducing economic inactivity. By helping members of the population who aren’t economically active to become more physically active, we can improve their health, wellbeing and confidence, and help them to take steps towards changing their lifestyle and being able to work.
But the sector’s role in economic growth goes much further. And we need to make sure that the government and others see our benefit beyond those who are economically inactive.
Productivity is one of the biggest challenges facing the UK government as it pursues growth. UK productivity lags behind other developed nations such as France, Germany and the USA. As one of the key determining factors of living standards, the fact that productivity in Quarter 3 of 2024 was estimated to have fallen by 1.8% from the previous year, and was down 0.8% on the previous quarter, shows that there is much work to do.
This isn’t new. It’s felt for a long time that our nation’s productivity is locked away in a safe and no-one can remember the combination.
So, what does this have to do with sport and physical activity professionals?
There are numerous factors that impact productivity, many of them so complex that the non-economists amongst us put them into the ‘too hard to understand’ and ‘leave it to the experts’ box.
But if you strip back how productivity is measured, i.e. how much output is produced for a specified amount of input, and then consider that a huge amount of that input is the effort and work of human beings, you come to a fairly simple question – how do we either increase the amount of input from each human being, or make that input have a higher value in terms of the output it produces?
Now that sounds really cold and mercenary. Like human beings need to be considered as robots – “wring as much work out of them as possible!” None of us want to be part of that kind of approach!
My point is that with the right conditions, it is possible to increase the amount and value of the input or work done, and at the same time benefit that human being in many other ways.
And that’s exactly where the sport and physical activity sector comes in – employees who are physically active take 27% fewer days off through ill health than those that are inactive.
Let’s take a look at a few headlines:
“Workplace sickness costs UK £138bn”
“Poor mental health among employees costs UK employers £42bn – £45bn each year”
“Between two and 16 per cent of annual salary bill spent by employers on absence”
“Businesses lose around £237 per day per absent employee”
“Average 5 days a year of work lost per employee”
The costs illustrated in these examples are huge. They are made up of salary and other direct costs paid to someone who isn’t well enough to carry out their work duties and are absent. Plus, the indirect costs associated with their work not being completed, or in that work having to be completed by colleagues, including the impact on their output and costs associated with overtime, etc. In addition, it takes into account the cost of presenteeism, where an unwell employee continues to work but their output is hampered by their ill health.
The latest CIPD Absence Survey found that mental health and musculoskeletal conditions were two of the biggest causes of workplace absence, and we know the impact that physical activity can have both on the prevention and management of both of those conditions. For example, evidence shows that physical activity prevented 1.3 million cases of depression in 2022/23.
Statistics from ONS show that other preventable chronic conditions such as respiratory or cardiovascular illness are also significant causes of workplace absence. Research from the European Society of Cardiology reports that physical activity contributes to a 27% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular mortality and the British Heart Foundation has found that exercise reduces the risk of heart and circulatory disease by up to 35%.
Across all sectors of industry in the UK, 2.6% of working hours are lost due to sickness absence, but in some sectors the rate is higher. The health and social care sector lost 4.2% of working hours due to sickness absence. In the NHS alone the sickness absence rate for England is 5.5%. Clearly those working in health care are exposed to working conditions that put them at a higher risk of both physical and mental illness, however research shows that NHS employees, and particularly those working in hospitals, engage in lower levels of physical activity than the population in general.
Other industries that have above average sickness absence include Education, Utilities, Wholesale and Retail, and Public Administration (Government). With a significant proportion of roles in those industries being within the public sector, the government is clearly seeking ways of improving wellbeing and reducing absence. As an employer, government departments must lead the way in harnessing and encouraging the benefits of a physically active workforce.
The recent report by the McKinsey Health Institute further illustrates the scale of the issue but also makes clear that physical activity is part of the solution.
The research, which is part of a collaboration with the World Economic Forum, shows that improving employee health and wellbeing could generate up to $11.7 trillion in global economic value.
There is most definitely an important role for government in supporting and advocating for physical activity and active wellbeing as part of its mission to increase productivity and growth. But industry needs to play a part too. My colleague, Clare Dunn, wrote about the importance of sport and physical activity as a foundational sector and the vital role we play in enabling other sectors to function.
The McKinsey research is clear that organisations who invest in the health and wellbeing of their employees reap the benefits, and productivity is increased:
“Organisations that prioritise health often see marked improvements in productivity, reduced absenteeism, lower healthcare costs and heightened employee engagement and retention. They are better placed to adapt to increased regulatory pressures on workplace health and safety standards and withstand greater focus from investors and the public on how organisations are meeting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria. Moreover, a healthier workforce is a more resilient and adaptive workforce, more capable of navigating the uncertainties and challenges of a rapidly changing world.”
Various pieces of research published in the past ten years suggest that for every £1 an employer spends on employee health and wellbeing, they gain between £4 and £6 in benefit.
Crucially, the benefits of physical activity on workplace productivity extend well beyond just preventing illness.
Studies by RAND have found that employees experiencing poor sleep is costing the UK economy between £34 and £37 billion a year in lost productivity. And we know from extensive worldwide studies that physical activity improves the duration and quality of sleep.
In addition to the productivity benefits of improved sleep, research shared in the Harvard Business Review found that physical activity improved employee energy and vitality, as well as increasing cognitive resource that supports enhanced information processing, attention, and concentration. The productivity benefits are amplified due to individual’s perception that the sleep quality, cognitive and vigour related benefits, increase their capacity to do their job:
“Job self-efficacy, which reflects an employee’s perception of their capacity to perform their job, amplifies the resource-generating benefits of daily physical activity on sleep quality and task focus. People with higher levels of self-efficacy tend to hold stronger positive beliefs in their motivation and ability to acquire work-related resources from daily physical activity.”
So, what does all this mean in practice?
Our sector needs to work hand in hand with employers and professional bodies across all sectors of industry to improve the health and wellbeing, and productivity, of their workforce.
Here’s a great example…
Buckinghamshire Council recognised that many of the taxi drivers operating in their area struggled to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The nature of the job means that drivers are sedentary for most of their working day, often work long hours and experience sleep related issues, are exposed to stressful situations with traffic and customers, and often do not have the time or facilities to maintain a balanced diet. This puts them at high-risk of cardiovascular disease. The council has worked to support and encourage taxi drivers to access physical activity provision.
In 2019, Public Health England estimated that cardiovascular disease cost the health service £7.4 billion. However, the annual cost to the wider economy, including loss of productivity from those with the condition, was £15.8 billion.
The solution used here is pretty simple – identify individuals and roles that are at higher risk due to lifestyles and/or the nature of their work. Make activity accessible and appealing for them in relation to their daily life. Get them more active. Get them healthier.
One factor that employers and policymakers really do need to consider in relation to productivity and is that the nation’s workforce is aging.
A growing proportion of the workforce is over 50 years of age and this is a trend that is expected to continue. Active Lives data shows us that as people get older, their engagement in physical activity reduces, but studies from Moving Communities highlights that older people gain the most benefit from being active in terms of preventing health conditions which require NHS intervention. This highlights just how vital it is that serious focus is given to getting and keeping older workers active, healthy and productive with the study finding that in one cohort it examined, physical activity prevented over 4,700 cases of depression, over 1,100 cases of type 2 diabetes, and over 2,600 cases of coronary heart disease. With diabetes alone costing the NHS over £10bn per year, and each case costing £1,800–£2,500 per year in inpatient costs, plus £300–£370 per year in medication and outpatient monitoring, the financial saving benefits are immense.
The benefits that being physically active brings to workers and their productivity cannot be underestimated. In addition to all the research, there is an undoubted boost when someone who has done some physical activity feels energised. Of course, there can be a more negative impact if an individual over does it on exercise or injures themselves, but the benefits far outweigh those risks. And those risks significantly reduce when that activity is led and managed by a recognised professional who is skilled and deployed appropriately.
But let’s not forget what’s at the heart of this – that human being. If they are feeling more energised, have better sleep quality, motivation and cognitive function, the impact on productivity won’t only be felt in their work life. The benefits will translate to other parts of their life – to the time that they spend with family and friends, to hobbies and interests, to any voluntary work or learning that they are engaging in.
So, while it’s important for us to showcase the benefits of physical activity for those who are economically inactive, it’s vital that we continue to champion the holistic benefits of physical activity for the entire population.
Whether it’s to policymakers or the leaders of organisations and businesses in any industry, we need to ensure that the power of the sport and physical activity sector and our profession is clear.
We’ve got the code to that safe – we just need to be invited into the vault to open it.
So, we’re asking for your help to get us invited into the vault. We need as many examples as possible of where our sector is working in partnership with businesses, organisations and other industry bodies from across the economy to help them create and maintain an active, healthy workforce and therefore increase their productivity. We’re building a repository of the work that is taking place across the sector to highlight to policymakers and industry leaders how powerful physical activity is, and how scaling up our work would have incredible economic benefits to UK Plc. Get in touch with communications@cimspa.co.uk to share your work and join us in demonstrating the power of our sector in cracking the code to increased national productivity.
