Proposer: Abdullah Sheldon
5% p.a. National Productivity Growth Goal via 1 Million Worker Participation QC Circles
Productivity growth in the UK is currently less than 1% a year. With this rate real living standards are likely to fall.
In China productivity improvement rates have had a run of 7% nearly 10 years in a row during which time some 20 million worker participation Quality Control Circles have been formed. This inclusive management technique was a factor in the economic recovery of both Japan & Germany following the 2nd World War. Worker participation in quality management throughout the process produces not just better products and services but increases real productivity through less rework or scrap.
In the UK an individualistic (opposite of collectivist) management culture has effectively skipped the most important step in the quality revolution attempting to apply the more popular Lean thinking without its apparently essential foundation of worker QC Circles.
Left & Right wing parties mostly focus on growing their share of the economic pie. The German, Japanese & Chinese model of socialism grows not just the size of the economic pie but the desirability of its output raising real living standards for all its citizens. Demand for exports is increased giving access to life enhancing imports (e.g. food).
As an election policy a workers’ party with a priority focus on raising productivity growth takes not just the center ground but potentially rises above the class divide. Many workers have pensions dependent on share performance which may also gain. QC Circles work well in all settings including manufacturing, services, agriculture, healthcare & software development.
This policy suggestion may be achieved by restructuring the current British Quality Foundation as a devolved virtual training organisation collaborating with Unions & Employers. Its pro-active hypothesis would be that 1 million active worker QCC may achieve a productivity growth rate of 5% p.a. This may include joining the International Convention on QCC “Quality Olympics” to compete with high growth economies including China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Thailand etc (https://icqcc2023.caq.org.cn/).
Productivity is not about working harder or longer hours, it is about organising work for efficiency. Engaging workers to improve productivity is a substantial motivator that may improve productivity in it’s own right (Hawthorne effect).
Very interesting!
Please may I propose and amendment to this motion for Workers Party to formally support the establishment of a Department Of Govnment Efficiency (DOGE) like the one Elon Musk is establishing in the USA to radically reduce waste and corruption in the Civil Service?
Since Musk made an idiot of himself by thinking that the British monarchy could use its formal power to dissolve parliament, he’s a bad model.
And on past form, expect absolutely no shrinkage of the state machine, but parts will be tax-funded enterprises doing the same job. Often doing it worse, as with water,
One can also confidently expect corruption to get worse, and intrusion to increase. Exactly what has happened after 45 years of Reagan and Thatcher. Call Trump’s people frauds on what they intend for the US working class. Their only positive is that they abandon the US drive for hegemony.
This does look very interesting but require a very special expertise to evaluate it’s validity which I don’t think most of the congress delegates have. And, on the other hand, what is it’s purpose? I don’t see any benefits if we accept it but if it appears to be wrong it will give the reason to political opponents to accuse the party in incompetency and pretentiousness.