New UK research from AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, found that accounting and finance professionals in the private sector are more likely to be measuring productivity than peers in the public sector.
“Management accountants in the private sector are much more likely to focus on making productivity improvements,” a news release said, detailing that 53% of public sector workers say their organisation does not track productivity, compared with 26% in the private sector.
The report, Improving Public Sector Productivity, said the public sector would benefit from “centralising the responsibility” for tracking productivity.
“The private sector relies on finance professionals to measure productivity, whereas in the public sector, this responsibility could be spread across multiple functions with little clarity of the role,” the report said.
A comparative analysis was conducted on data from 444 responses received in an online survey distributed to CIMA members in the UK in private and public sectors. One example of the stark differences between the measurement of productivity: 39% of respondents from the private sector said their organisation tracks revenue per employee while only 4% of respondents from the public sector said that was the case.
Andrew Harding, FCMA, CGMA, chief executive—Management Accounting at AICPA & CIMA, said in the news release that the outcome of the survey report “fuels doubts about the long-term sustainability of our public service provision and value being delivered to taxpayers”.
Harding also said: “Implementing better measurement and tracking of outcomes, both quantitative and qualitative, would help drive more effective decision making, resource allocation, and performance. These are critical elements as public services are being financially squeezed whilst more [is] being asked of them.”
The report makes several recommendations, including an emphasis on staff training. “Investment and focus on people and skills is as important as investment in technology to improving productivity,” the report said.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Steph Brown at Stephanie.Brown@aicpa-cima.com.
