Download The Stoddart Review Sunday Times supplement

Productivity: the answer is in the workplace

According to the UK and Ireland Leesman Index, only 53% of respondents currently agree that their workplace allows them to work productively. The recently launched Stoddart Review reveals this statistic and provides resounding support that UK businesses can no longer ignore the importance of their workplace in the productivity discussion.

Through a collaborative process that spanned almost twelve months, the review has uncovered an explicit link between how well a workplace supports employees undertake the requirements of their role and the extent to which they believe their workplaces help them to perform productively. A somewhat simple statement, however as suggested by one of the key authors, Alison Nimmo CEO of The Crown Estate, why is it that so few organisations place sufficient strategic importance on the physical working environment as a key driver of organisational performance?

Reporting on the issues and touching on solutions, the overall purpose of the report seeks to encourage executive leadership teams to ask deeper and more probing questions of how well their workplaces are contributing to the success of their organisations. And with leading economist Duncan Weldon stating that a 1% rise in UK productivity could add £20 billion to the UK economy this is a poignant point to progress the dialogue around the workplace from a cost, to a key performance tool.

Rethinking how we use and evaluate the workplace has been a consistent focus for Lendlease throughout our developments around the globe which is touched on by Duncan Young, Head of Workplace Health & Wellbeing in the review itself. Duncan is quoted stating that, ‘The physical workplace provides an enormous opportunity for organisational change.'

Aligning closely to our own view at International Quarter London of the enormous potential workplaces hold for business, we were proud to sponsor The Stoddart Review supplement published in the Sunday Times. As productivity continues to rise on the agenda we ask businesses the question mirrored at the summary of The Stoddart Review, is your workplace fit for purpose?

Download the Stoddart review supplement featured in the Sunday Times here.