Productivity boosting widely misunderstood

JAKARTA (JP): The idea of improving productivity has been widely misunderstood by companies in Indonesia, says a businessmen.

Vice Chairman of the Supervising Board of Strategic Industries (BPIS) Giri S. Hadihardjono said that companies have introduced various modern and sophisticated equipment thinking that they could quickly improve their workers' productivity.

"But, unfortunately, that target cannot be fully achieved," Giri said at a seminar to discuss productivity enhancement.

"In many cases, the investment even backfires resulting in lower productivity because the purchase of the new equipment is not accompanied by a higher volume of work."

The equipment eventually becomes idle and unused, he added.

Other speakers during the seminar which was jointly organized by the Ministry of Manpower and the Pan Asia Research and Communication Services, had earlier suggested that productivity is an acquired culture which can only evolve over time.

Giri said the introduction of computers at companies provides a striking illustration for his point.

Many companies have invested heavily in computer equipment but the sophisticated programs installed remain largely unused since most companies only used the computers for word processing purposes.

Realizing their mistake, companies then began hiring foreign consultants to give an overview of their operating system and organization with a view to enhancing their productivity.

"Such a situation makes Indonesia 'a fertile ground' for foreign consultants to operate," Giri said.

He warned that resorting to foreign consultants very often did not lead to a satisfactory outcome because their suggestions were mostly unworkable.

Giri agreed that Indonesia must act now to improve the productivity of its workers.

Any lingering doubts in the minds of foreign investors could push them to turn to other countries, he said.

He proposed a more comprehensive way of looking at enhancing productivity.

"The time has come for the country to develop a new approach that should be deployed to improve its productivity," he said.

He said that not only the government but all sides or groups in the country are responsible for making endeavors to enhance the national productivity.

"Of the utmost importance is the commitment by all organizations and leaders to consistently apply the new approach to enhance the national productivity," he said. (rms)