Reflections on Productivity: Is the Foundation Being Overlooked?

The current political and economic context (tariff threats from the United States) and past events (the pandemic) show us that the operational resilience of Quebec organizations is regularly put to the test. Quebec is experiencing a productivity gap , and every market disruption, in all its forms, reminds us that it is becoming essential to take proactive steps to strengthen our tools and strategies in order to mitigate the effects of these disruptions.   

Visionary managers (far too few) will take advantage of these crises to invest in improving productivity (through various means) so they’ll be ready for the recovery, while others (far too many) will cut every budget they can (training, labor, subscriptions, …) to weather the crisis and hope to come out alive… until the next one, which may well be the final nail in their coffin. 

Organizational Excellence is this broad discipline (read: objective) that encompasses productivity improvement. It is based on a logical sequence of activities, including digital transformation and artificial intelligence. Although these areas receive significant media attention and substantial financial support, it is essential to follow a structured and successful approach. 

This approach aims to 1. understand, 2. standardize, and 3. optimize the processes before transforming them through 4. digitization, 5. automation, and 6. integration. 

Ignoring the first three process-oriented steps onlyexacerbate the productivity deficit and lead to increased debt for businesses (and the government), since this amounts to encapsulating chaos within an IT structure that will be even more difficult (and costly) to untangle later on—putting the cart before the horse! 

Quebec SMEs in the manufacturing and service sectors—most of which have a small number of employees—do not have the same resources as large companies.    

• Digital transformation, often seen as a magic wand, takes a long time to yield a return on investment.  The success rate is relatively low, especially if the current technological infrastructure is outdated. If the only option is to develop interfaces that only a programmer will be able to fix in the future, you’ll hit a wall before long!   
• Process optimization—an often-overlooked area—requires no investment other than the time employees spend learning the techniques and tools and carrying out small projects, the cumulative effect of which will yield significant results.  During an economic slowdown, this time becomes available, and the most forward-thinking leaders will take advantage of it. 

In your opinion, do Quebec companies place enough importance on these basic steps before rushing headlong into automation and AI?