Global productivity study

Global productivity study
May 2017

Executive summary

expect to see it within the next year or sooner
On average across all of the countries included in this study, office workers spend approximately 552 hours a year completing administrative or repetitive tasks; the equivalent to 69 eight-hour working days. Management Company size Office workers in Singapore, spend only 60% of their time on their primary job role – the lowest amongst all countries included. This is compared to a high of 81% for respondents from Norway. Those respondents who don’t manage anyone (471 hours annually) spend significantly longer on other administrative tasks than those who manage one other person (285), two to five others (279) and 6 or more people (289) Office based employees in companies employing (378 hours annually) and (410) people spend significantly longer on other administrative tasks than those who work for a company employing (253) people Overall, 80% of the office workers interviewed as part of this study would trust technology to manage their administrative tasks. Furthermore, 75% of office workers would support the use of technology to automate some or all of their own administrative burden, and 74% said it would improve their productivity if introduced. 38% expect to see it within the next year or sooner “Automation could really make my work a lot easier and free me up to focus on more important and cognitively demanding tasks.” 3

Administrative costs to service businesses by country
Service sector businesses in the United States ($2.87 trillion) bear the largest cost annually in terms of spend on administrative man hours, based on responses to this study combined with official figures. Singapore ($26.3 billion) has the lowest administrative costs in monetary terms. Administrative costs to service businesses by country 4

Administrative costs to service businesses by country
The chart below shows the same data as the previous, but with results for the United States removed to aid readability. Administrative costs to service businesses by country 5

Administrative costs to service businesses as percentage of GDP
In terms of the relationship between GDP and the cost of administrative man hours, Spain and the Netherlands are spending in excess of 20% of GDP on administrative tasks. Whilst businesses in the US, Germany and the UK all have large costs in monetary terms, they perform better in terms of efficiency vs. GDP. Businesses in Singapore have the lowest costs due to time spent on administration in terms of both real value and as a percentage of GDP. Administrative costs to service businesses as percentage of GDP 6

Norway’s GDP per capita reached $74,500 in 2015; with 90% of time in service industries being spent on more productive primary roles, this could reach $80,700. Singapore’s GDP per capita stands to increase the most - by $21,400 – if 90% productivity can be attained, whilst France’s GDP per capita would increase the least ($4,900) with a similar increase in productivity. Potential increases in GDP through a rise in productivity in service industry People currently spend a significant amount of time on tasks other than their primary role. Reducing time spent on administrative tasks could help increase productivity, and thus GDP per capita. 80.7 74.3 67.5 65.4 56.5 53.8 53.3 52.6 48.5 41.3 31.3 7

Background, objectives & methodology

Overarching research objective
Research objectives Unit4 is a software company that provides enterprise software and ERP applications and related professional services to organisations across professional services, education, public services, not-for-profit, real estate, wholesale, and financial services. Unit4 commissioned DJS Research to understand the amount of time office workers spend on a range of administrative or repetitive tasks, and their views on how adopting technology could help them be more productive. To gain an understanding of how much time office workers spend carrying out administrative tasks and the impact automation of these might have Overarching research objective Specific areas: 1 To quantify the time spent annually on administrative tasks in offices 2 To assess if office workers’ experience of work would be improved by the automation of administrative tasks 3 To gather feedback on whether office workers think automation is necessary to remain competitive 9

1,505 interviews in total Methodology Online survey North America 401
201 USA Canada Online survey 1,505 interviews in total Europe 200 100 UK France Germany Netherlands A 5 minute survey with office based employees in 11 countries/markets: Survey participants screened from panels held in each market Participants invited to complete the survey online at their convenience Short pilot phase conducted, gaining 10% of the interviews per market to test the questionnaire, before fully launching the survey Survey delivered in native language where appropriate Norway 100 Spain 102 Sweden 101 Fieldwork took place between Tuesday 18 April and Tuesday 25 April 2017 Asia Pacific 100 Singapore Australia 10

Sample profile 20% 52% 99% 31% 48% 1% 49%
All respondents screened to establish they are working in an office environment in the relevant countries 20% employees 52% Male 99% Full time workers 31% employees 48% Female 1% Part time workers 49% employees 11 C01. Please select the gender which you most identify yourself with. S02. Approximately how many employees work for your company? S06. Please tell us whether you are currently contracted to work... *Note: Throughout, some NET scores may not tally due to rounding.

Results

How frequently do office workers conduct repetitive tasks?
More than half of the office workers (52%) we interviewed spend time producing reports at least once a week, with the same number completing Other administrative tasks daily. Once a month is the most common frequency for expense submission. Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 33% 28% 26% 24% 15% 25% 32% 20% 12% Daily 17% 8% 22% 42% 23% 27% 7% 52% Twice a week 9% 6% 11% 13% 10% Once a week 16% Once a fortnight 5% 4% Once a month Once every two months 3% 1% 2% Once a quarter Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable How frequently do office workers conduct repetitive tasks? 13 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: All respondents (1505); Mean average.

Average time spent in hours annually (Median)
Respondents in Sweden spent around a third as much time again on administrative tasks, as the UK, Netherlands and Germany - driven largely by ‘other’ administrative tasks. Those in France and Singapore spent the least amount of time conducting administrative or repetitive tasks. Average time spent in hours annually (Median) Australia Canada France Germany Netherlands Norway Singapore Spain Sweden United States United Kingdom Mean Invoice handling 36.00 13.33 15.30 47.20 12.00 11.98 24.95 47.60 23.50 20.00 23.20 25.01 Expense submission 6.00 4.90 7.34 2.00 10.16 13.05 7.77 Timesheet entry 16.00 20.83 19.67 24.00 7.97 16.63 14.28 21.54 12.29 16.11 Project status tracking 48.00 62.50 32.51 25.60 27.94 74.85 42.05 47.00 24.57 38.67 42.81 Collating and entering data 96.00 125.00 45.90 196.67 220.00 95.60 49.90 95.20 94.00 81.90 139.20 112.67 Producing reports 50.00 22.95 52.00 66.67 49.14 58.00 49.04 Checking others’ availability 25.00 7.65 39.33 29.75 28.08 Travel planning / booking 8.16 6.82 4.00 19.00 5.00 11.60 10.42 Data analysis 94.40 120.00 79.13 117.50 98.28 77.33 86.46 Other administrative tasks 240.00 114.75 110.13 239.00 62.38 119.00 376.00 176.09 232.00 174.03 Total 636 560.82 308.68 619.8 606.94 543.62 379.62 474.08 812.26 497.84 636.67 552.39 14 Q01_Q02_1 Hours - Time spent on average annually doing each activity (in hours). Base: All respondents (1505); Median average.

Average time spent in hours: Other administrative tasks
There is a trend toward employees of larger companies spending significantly longer periods of time on an annual basis engaged with ‘other’ administrative tasks not asked about specifically in this study. Average time spent in hours: Other administrative tasks Respondents in companies employing (378 hours annually) and (410) people spend significantly longer on other administrative tasks than those who work for a company employing (253) people 15 Q01_Q02_1 Hours - Time spent on average annually doing each activity (in hours). Base: All respondents (1505).

Average time spent in hours: Collating and entering data
Considering both mean and median scores, there tends to be a higher overall time taken by older respondents when collating and entering data. Those aged (341.36), (305.41) and 60+ (313.13) spending significantly longer collating and entering data than those aged (215.70). Average time spent in hours: Collating and entering data Those aged above 50 spend significantly longer collating and entering data compared to those age 36-40 16 Q01_Q02_1 Hours - Time spent on average annually doing each activity (in hours). Base: All respondents (1505).

Norwegians estimate they spend over four-fifths (81
Norwegians estimate they spend over four-fifths (81.28%) of their time on primary duties, followed closely by office workers in Sweden and France, who approximate they spend 78.46% and 76.41% of their time on their primary duties. Those respondents in Singapore (60.44%) suggest that markedly less of their time is spent performing the primary duties of their role. Percentage of time spent on primary duties on average per country during a working week On average, respondents aged 41 and above estimate they spend significantly more time on their primary duties compared to those aged 26-30 17 Q03 Please can you give us a best-guess estimate of the percentage of your work week which is taken up by the primary duties of your role? Base: All respondents (1505)

With the exception of those aged 21-25, there is a general increase in the amount of time spent on primary duties as age increases. Those aged (67.26%) report the least amount of time spent on primary duties; this is significantly less time than those aged (72.49%), (72.19%), (76.55%), (76.65%) and 60+ (76.28%). Percentage of time spent on primary duties on average per country during a working week - Age On average, respondents aged 41 and above estimate they spend significantly more time on their primary duties compared to those aged 26-30 18 Q03 Please can you give us a best-guess estimate of the percentage of your work week which is taken up by the primary duties of your role? Base: All respondents (1505)

Technology to aid productivity
Across the majority of countries, more than three quarters of office workers feel that they are provided with the technology to allow them to do their job. However, around one in six in Germany, Sweden, Norway and the UK do not feel they are provided with the appropriate level of technology to be most productive in their role, rising to a quarter of office workers in France and the Netherlands. Technology to aid productivity “Our level of automation is determined by our supervisors. We have been trying to update the way we do things for years now. I think we'll have to wait for certain people to retire. They do not trust technology.” Significantly more respondents who don’t manage anyone feel they are not provided with the technology to do their job in the most productive way possible compared to those managing 2-5 and 6+ people 19 Q07 Do you feel that you are provided with the technology to allow you to do your job in the most productive way possible? Base: All respondents (1505)

Spain has the highest percentage of office workers very likely to recommend their company to someone with a similar skillset to themselves. France has the highest percentage of those very unlikely to recommend their company to someone with a similar skillset, with fewer than three-fifths (58%) being at all likely. Recommending a role NET Likely 79% 77% 74% 62% 71% 73% 69% 63% 58% Those without management responsibilities are more unlikely to recommend working at their company when compared to those with management duties Respondents on a lower wage are more unlikely to recommend their company than those on a higher wage 20 Q08 How likely would you be to recommend working at your company to someone with a similar skillset to yourself? Base: All respondents (1505)

Supporting technology
Spain (46%) has a much larger majority of respondents strongly supporting the use of technology to automate tasks. On average across all countries, three quarters of respondents would support the introduction of technology to automate administrative or repetitive tasks. Supporting technology NET Support 88% 75% 77% 76% 73% 67% 81% 72% 69% 70% Younger respondents aged are more likely to support automation when compared to those aged and 56-60 “I would like to see automation take over the workplace as soon as possible, but do not expect it at my job any time soon due to the resistance to technology here.” 21 Q09 Would you support the use of technology to automate some or all of those tasks and reduce the amount of time you were required to spend on them? Base: All respondents (1505)

How would technology help?
Large numbers of Spanish office workers felt they would see improved productivity, fulfilment and satisfaction through the introduction of more automation. Across all countries, two thirds or more office workers felt that automation of administrative tasks would improve their productivity. How would technology help? Younger respondents are more likely to think their happiness will be improved compared to older respondents NET IMPROVED Productivity Happiness Fulfilment Satisfaction Focus Spain 88% 66% 81% 75% 72% Canada 78% 63% 52% 55% 64% United States 77% 51% 60% Sweden 53% 62% United Kingdom 76% 58% 57% AVERAGE 74% Singapore 69% 59% Germany 71% 61% 38% 43% 44% Netherlands 68% 42% 56% 50% Australia 67% Norway 35% 28% 49% France 65% 45% “I would like automated assistance as it would help me be more productive.” “Automation could really make my work a lot easier and free me up to focus on more important and cognitively demanding tasks.” 22 Q10 To what extent would the automation of those tasks affect your working day in terms of … Base: All respondents (1505)

“I would really like to see this technology in action.”
Spain, Sweden and the Netherlands have particularly large proportions of office workers who would trust technology to manage their administrative or repetitive tasks (around 9 in ten). Only in Germany and Australia would fewer than three quarters of respondents trust software to manage their admin. Trust in technology NET Trust 94% 88% 83% 80% 79% 72% 73% 82% 77% 90% 76% “I welcome it.” Those with management responsibilities are more likely to trust technology than those without. “I would really like to see this technology in action.” 23 Q11 And to what extent would you trust technology – such as a digital / virtual assistant or software application – to be able to manage these more repetitive tasks for you effectively? Base: All respondents (1505)

Expectations on availability
At least a fifth of office workers in the US, Canada and the Netherlands think that technology to aid administration should be available now. More than half of respondents in Spain expect this type of technology to be available by April 2018; and more than half of office workers across all countries expect this technology by April 2019 (within two years). Younger respondents are significantly more likely to expect this technology to be available within the next year Expectations on availability “Some of these software automation process are already in place and available. Other might take longer to automate.” Respondents earning higher salaries (£105,001 – 155,000) are significantly more likely to expect this technology now than those on £ £45000 24 Q12 When do you expect this kind of technology to be available? Base: All respondents (1505)

Remaining competitive
More than a fifth of office workers across all countries apart from France strongly agree that implementing technology to aid administration is important for their company to remain competitive. In all countries apart from Germany (11%) and the Netherlands (10%) fewer than one in ten disagree with this statement. Remaining competitive Younger respondents aged are significantly more likely to agree that this technology is important compared to older respondents aged 56 and above Those with management responsibilities are more likely to agree than those without 25 Q13 To what extent do you agree that implementing this type of technology will be important for companies such as yours to remain competitive? Base: All respondents (1505)

Interestingly, those who manage between 2-5 office workers (59) spend significantly less hours annually checking other people’s availability than those who don’t manage anyone (100) Those aged above 50 spend significantly longer collating and entering data compared to those age 36-40 Respondents in companies employing (378) and (410) people spend significantly longer on other administrative tasks than those who work for a company employing (253) people Those respondents who don’t manage anyone (471) spend significantly longer on other administrative tasks than those who manage one other person (285), two to five others (279) and 6 or more people (289) 26

Methodological notes

Estimating time spent on administrative tasks
Comparing annual administrate time spend Respondents were asked to estimate the frequency with which they completed different administrative tasks – i.e. daily, weekly, monthly, etc. We then asked them to tell us how long they spent doing each of those tasks, on each occasion they did them. The time spent doing each task was then scaled up to provide an estimate of the annual time spent completing each task. For each country in the study, we utilised respected sources such as the World Bank Labour Market Regulation Data and the United States Department of Labour to provide statistics allowing us to take in to account issues such as annual leave entitlements, for instance, which would have an impact on the time spent completing many of the tasks included in this study. When comparing the annual time spent completing a range of tasks across countries, we have utilised the median result rather than the more typical mean. In this instance, we feel the median provides a better approximation of central tendency as it is not influenced by outliers – i.e. individuals who spent a disproportionate amount of time conducting some of the tasks in question (i.e. someone working in the finance office would spend longer handling invoices than a typical office worker). 28

Estimating cost of administrative man hours
Providing an estimate of value-add to GDP Our estimate of the cost of administrative man hours takes, for each country: The total amount of hours spent on administrative tasks as provided by respondents. This is then multiplied by the number of people working in service industries as a percentage of the total working population for that country. This provides an estimate of the total number of hours spent on administrative tasks across the service industries annually in each country. This figure is then multiplied by the average hourly wage for that country, to give an overall estimate for the total annual spend on administrative man hours by service businesses in each country. GDP per capita was divided by the average number of hours worked to ascertain a value for GDP per capita per hour. Utilising survey data for the average amount of time spent on primary role, we were able to ascertain the time spent on a non-primary role, synonymous with administration for the purpose of this calculation. This allowed for the calculation of ‘productive hours worked’ (as opposed to ‘administrative hours worked’) and thus a revised figure for GDP per capita per productive hour. We then utilised this figure to provide an estimate of a revised GDP for each country if employees within the service industry were able to spend 90% of their time on their primary roles, using the proportion of the workforce employed in primary roles. The figures for the proportion of the population working in primary and secondary industries remained unchanged, and the combined figure is provided in this report. 29

Appendices

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 36% 27% 18% 24% 16% 15% 25% 33% 8% Daily 12% 31% 19% 49% 28% 29% 6% 42% 65% Twice a week 10% 5% 3% 11% 7% Once a week 13% 9% 4% Once a fortnight Once a month 2% Once every two months 1% - Once a quarter Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 17% 31 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: Australia (100)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 31% 25% 24% 15% 18% 20% 8% Daily 14% 6% 26% 42% 33% 9% 36% 53% Twice a week 5% 7% 10% 12% 3% Once a week 19% Once a fortnight 2% 4% Once a month Once every two months 1% Once a quarter Twice a year - Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 13% 16% 32 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: Canada (201)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 34% 28% 36% 16% 14% 27% 23% 8% Daily 9% 6% 13% 31% 17% 21% 12% 32% 52% Twice a week 11% 4% 3% 10% Once a week 15% 5% Once a fortnight 2% Once a month Once every two months 1% 7% Once a quarter - Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 33 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: France (100)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 31% 39% 16% 28% 8% 21% 32% 35% 27% 24% Daily 23% 3% 44% 60% 25% 29% 4% Twice a week 6% 10% 9% 7% Once a week 17% 5% 11% 13% Once a fortnight 2% 1% Once a month 18% Once every two months - Once a quarter Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 34 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: Germany (100)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 45% 32% 38% 22% 12% 20% 29% 51% 26% 9% Daily 10% 14% 52% 25% 3% 36% 57% Twice a week 6% 8% 7% 11% 18% Once a week 16% 15% 13% 5% Once a fortnight 1% 2% - Once a month 4% Once every two months Once a quarter Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 19% 35 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: Netherlands (100)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 32% 30% 29% 25% 14% 18% 22% 27% 9% Daily 13% 7% 19% 43% 21% 4% 53% Twice a week 6% 5% 12% 10% Once a week 3% 11% 1% Once a fortnight 2% 8% Once a month 17% Once every two months Once a quarter - Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 15% 36 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: Norway (100)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 20% 18% 11% 9% 2% 13% 19% 8% 7% Daily 12% 26% 30% 22% 17% 25% 31% Twice a week 10% 15% Once a week 6% 14% 16% Once a fortnight Once a month Once every two months - 3% 5% 1% Once a quarter Twice a year Once a year 4% Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 37 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: Singapore (100)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 23% 21% 22% 10% 9% 5% 25% Daily 33% 14% 36% 47% 34% 29% 11% 52% Twice a week 7% 20% 18% 13% 16% Once a week 4% 8% Once a fortnight 6% 3% Once a month Once every two months 2% - Once a quarter 1% Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 12% 19% 38 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: Spain (102)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 41% 49% 50% 20% 21% 39% 31% 11% Daily 10% 13% 17% 34% 22% 26% 4% 30% 67% Twice a week 16% 6% 12% 9% Once a week 7% 15% 8% Once a fortnight 2% 3% - 1% Once a month 5% Once every two months Once a quarter Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 39 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: Sweden (101)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 26% 14% 21% 22% 17% 25% 8% Daily 19% 10% 23% 47% 33% 9% 35% 64% Twice a week 12% 5% 6% 11% Once a week 16% 18% 13% Once a fortnight 4% 2% 7% Once a month Once every two months 3% 1% Once a quarter - Twice a year Once a year Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 40 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: United Kingdom (200)

Invoice handling Expense submission Timesheet entry Project status tracking Collating and entering data Producing reports Checking office worker’s availability Travel planning / booking Data analysis Other admin tasks Never 40% 31% 24% 28% 18% 17% 37% 22% 16% Daily 5% 19% 39% 23% 26% 4% 32% 48% Twice a week 9% 6% 11% 13% 12% 3% 10% Once a week 15% 7% 8% Once a fortnight Once a month Once every two months 1% 2% Once a quarter Twice a year Once a year - Less often than once a year Don't know Not applicable 41 Q01sum How frequently would you say you undertake each of the following activities at work? Base: United States (401)

Average time spent in hours annually
We have included mean scores for annual hours spent for completeness. However, given the influence of outliers we suggest using the Median figures in the main report. The mean figures below include some instances where the total time spent on all administrative tasks is larger than the number of hours available in a working year, for instance in Singapore. Mean Scores Australia Canada France Germany Netherlands Norway Singapore Spain Sweden United States United Kingdom Invoice handling 83.9 59.3 132.1 160.5 52.0 99.9 155.2 79.0 89.1 134.0 Expense submission 34.1 29.6 24.9 23.6 36.1 36.7 283.1 58.6 48.5 36.3 40.7 Timesheet entry 49.3 33.0 59.7 146.6 17.0 130.0 64.3 41.8 53.5 43.0 Project status tracking 95.5 117.2 107.3 95.7 91.3 111.7 606.5 134.7 152.2 102.0 95.4 Collating and entering data 231.0 284.9 190.3 375.3 381.5 301.9 373.2 198.0 187.8 286.2 276.8 Producing reports 127.3 126.9 140.6 131.7 141.1 196.0 258.9 124.4 147.6 128.4 Checking office worker's availability 85.3 252.8 36.8 85.6 126.2 46.8 261.8 66.7 113.1 97.0 75.7 Travel planning/booking 37.0 62.2 57.6 38.5 196.5 22.8 88.0 64.8 31.1 27.0 43.2 Data analysis 234.2 721.8 212.2 172.6 240.8 257.2 323.9 227.4 389.4 257.8 197.4 Other administrative tasks 390.8 381.4 341.9 249.5 328.0 467.9 377.3 269.4 556.5 346.2 367.0 Average time spent in hours annually (Base All participants n=2010) Percentages in Green = statistically significantly higher than other countries. Percentages in Red = statistically significantly lower than other countries Key 42 Q01_Q02_1 Hours - Time spent on average annually doing each activity (in hours) Base: All respondents (1505)

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