For businesses and for our economy productivity is the key to competitiveness. Canada relies on the productivity of its workers to keep us competitive in the global marketplace. If we increase our productivity, our entire economy and social structure benefit. If productivity slips we all lose, and pay for loosing.
Variability in employee productivity influences the economics of an organization. Employers who can select more congruent (right person in the right job) employees from a better applicant pool have a distinct advantage over their competitors. After conducting a meta-analysis of 85 years of research on personnel selection, Schmidt and Hunter (in press) conclude that person-job congruence benefits the worker, the company, and the nation.(27) In Po Bronson's words, "We are sitting on a huge potential boom in productivity - if we could just get the square pegs out of the round holes."(28)
Canada's annualized Gross Domestic Product as of the second quarter of 2002 was $1,138.2 billion.(29) A 1 percent increase in productivity would result in an increase of over $11 billion in goods and services in 2002. Better mechanisms for helping people connect with work roles they like and in which they excel would have profound ramifications for Canadian society. A modest 1 percent increase in productivity through better matching of individual Canadians' skills and workforce requirements could generate as much as $10 billion annually in increased gross domestic production. What if, over time, we could achieve a 5 or 10 percent increase in productivity, or more, across the country? Any gain would favourably impact Canada's international balance of payments and would be felt in standard of living improvements in communities from coast-to-coast.
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