Is it time to stop measuring productivity by time?

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Business Thinker

Deep dives on business and leadership

By Josh Dornbrack

? The key to productivity: stop measuring work by time

In Belgium, Audi workers have taken a bold stand by stealing 200 car keys, refusing to let any vehicle leave the factory until rumours about its closure are addressed. The Times columnist Harry Wallop says this dramatic action may highlight a deeper issue plaguing workplaces everywhere: the theft of time. As fears grow over remote workers and ‘working time fraud’, the debate intensifies over whether we should be paid for hours spent or output delivered.

?? To build resilience, CEOs need to become supply chain experts

In the past, awareness of and engagement with the supply-chain function was a key expectation for CEOs. But in the wake of a series of global events, including the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and disruptions in the Middle East and the Panama Canal, is it now time for CEOs to be supply-chain-management experts themselves? A close examination of S&P 500 CEO career trajectories, as well as an analysis of financial performance metrics, suggests that CEOs with prior experience in high-level supply-chain roles might be the key to building more resilient supply chains and weathering unanticipated disruptions.

?? ‘There’s a war for the top 1%’: Inside French tech’s fierce battle for the best AI talent

Paris has become a battleground for AI talent as French startups including Mistral, Poolside and H compete with big tech firms for the brightest minds. With salaries surging and an exodus from established companies, France's AI landscape is experiencing a fierce struggle for top engineers and researchers, challenging the country's bid to lead in the AI race.

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Business Agenda

A summary of the most important business news

By Sarah Vizard

1. OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is planning to launch an AI product it says is capable of reasoning, meaning it will be able to solve hard problems in areas such as maths, coding and science. The models, known as 01, will be integrated into ChatGPT Plus and are designed to be used by developers and scientists, rather than general users. You can read more here.

2. Boots has named a new boss, with its retail and operations director Anthony Hemmerdinger appointed managing director. The current MD, Seb James, is leaving to pursue a role in the healthcare sector. Hemmerdinger will take over on 4 November. You can read more here.

3. Tesco has lost its legal battle in the UK over plans to “fire and rehire” staff on lower pay. The dispute with the shopworkers’ union Usdaw began in 2021 and centred on plans to use the threat of dismissal or dismissal to remove retention payments. The supreme court ruled Tesco could not terminate contracts to stop them receiving the payments, and then rehire them on new contracts without this payment. You can read more here.

4. Vodafone and Three have rejected claims by the UK’s competition watchdog that their proposed merger would lead to higher prices for customers. The Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally concluded the deal would weaken competition, with those least able to afford mobile services most affected. The regulator will now consult on its findings. You can find out more here.

5. Revolut founder Nik Storonsky has reportedly sold shares worth up to $300m (£230m) in the company he founded in 2015. The sale came as part of a secondary share sale by employees that concluded last month, with Sky reporting that Storonsky sold between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of that stock. He still retains a stake estimated to be worth around $8bn, with the company worth $45bn. You can find out more here and read our profile of Storonsky here.

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From Kindertransport refugee to business leader

Around a year ago, I was prepping for an interview with High Performance podcast host and Business Leader Expert Jake Humphrey. Scrolling through podcast episodes I came across one with Dame Stephanie Shirley. I wasn’t familiar with her name but gave the interview a listen. I was hooked for every second of the 58 minutes. It’s a story like no other and it’s one I believe everyone should hear.

The headline is that the company she founded was sold for £2.3bn. That made 70 employees instant millionaires via its employee ownership scheme – but Dame Stephanie is much more than that. She came to the UK at five years old with her sister on the Kindertransport to escape the rise of the Nazi regime.

Survivor’s guilt plagued her upbringing but her passion for education instilled by her foster parents saw her push hard at school, despite girls being discouraged to take certain subjects. This led her to get a job at the Post Office research station in Dollis Hill. The renowned north London operation was where Colossus, the world's first programmable electronic computer, was created.  

“The mechanical calculator on which I churned out my boring calculations was so basic that it hardly deserves to be called a precursor of the modern computer,” she recalls. “Yet even I could sense that, with sufficient brainpower, this simple concept could evolve into an unimaginably powerful computing device. I fell in love with computing.”

The concept for her company, Freelance Programmers, was born out of frustrations with sexism and inequality in the workplace. “Several of my colleagues, when told of my plan, laughed openly,” she says in her autobiography Let It Go: My Extraordinary Story – From Refugee to Entrepreneur to Philanthropist.