North West leads UK manufacturing

THE North West is the top UK region for manufacturing performance, new government statistics reveal.  The latest Annual Business Inquiry data from the Office of National Statistics shows that the region leads the country in the 3 key areas of manufacturing turnover, approximate gross value added (an indicator of profitability) and net capital expenditure.  The figures, which cover the period up to the end of 2004, show that the North West’s manufacturing turnover during the year was £61.0 billion – amounting to 13.5% of the UK total. The South East achieved £56.8 billion, with the West Midlands 3rd on £46.2 billion.

The same 3 regions make the biggest contribution to the manufacturing economy. The North West is top for gross value added with £18.7 billion, or 12.7% of the total UK figure, knocking the South East into 2nd place (£18.6 billion). The West Midlands was 3rd with £14.9 billion.  The North West’s manufacturing dominance is sealed by its performance in terms of net capital expenditure, totalling an impressive £1.8 billion of investment in the region, and accounting for 15.7% of the UK total. This was £0.5 billion ahead of any other region and showed a rise of 2.0% between 2003 and 2004, contrasting with a general UK average decline of 7.8%.

"This is extremely good news for the North West economy," commented Dr Julie Madigan, chief executive of The Manufacturing Institute, which is celebrating the success of the regional economy at its UK/US Manufacturers’ Summit in Manchester this week.  "Manufacturing is alive and kicking in the region. Our businesses are showing the way for the rest of the UK by developing a skilled workforce, exploiting innovation and transforming their manufacturing processes to create nimble companies that are competing across the globe."

The Summit, which runs from 31 October to 2 November, will bring together best practice companies from both sides of the Atlantic, featuring many North West success stories, such as Jaguar, Flowcrete, ColorMatrix, Hitachi, James Walker, Siemens, BAE Systems and PZ Cussons.

The Manufacturing Institute delivers the DTI’s Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) in the North West and over the past four years has helped the region’s manufacturers to reap £215m worth of savings.

Bullies use psychological tactics to intimidate colleagues

BULLIES in UK offices are using a range of subtle tactics and behaviour to intimidate colleagues at work, according to research by the Chartered Management Institute. The survey also suggests that their ability to torment is enhanced by increased levels of organisational change and ineffective action by employers. 

Findings from the research, which are being released in the run up to national ‘Ban Bullying at Work Day’ (7 November), reveal that the harassment is often social in nature. Asked about behaviour witnessed in the workplace, respondents identified eleven types of intimidation. The top forms included:

Power play: misuse of power or position was cited by 70%. Respondents claimed they were also aware of overbearing supervision (63%) and undermining by overloading and criticism (68%)

Career closure: 47% said they knew of incidents where opportunities for promotion or training were blocked. A similar proportion (43%) also suggested they had seen threats made about job security

Word of mouth: 69% said they heard verbal insults aimed at specific individuals and 53% also identified spreading of malicious rumours as a key tactic used by bullies.

The research uncovers a perception that the problem is growing. 60% of respondents feel that workplace bullying is increasingly common across the UK. 36% believe the situation is worsened because their organisation is ineffective at deterring bullying behaviour.  Asked about how they deal with the problem, only 1% said they turn a blind eye to incidents. However, 71% of managers admitted to spending 1 day or less dealing with the problem. Fewer than half will confront the person behaving in a bullying manner (40%), 11% will involve a senior manager and just 5% seek help from HR teams.

Additional research published by the Chartered Management Institute suggests that the extent of organisational change is a factor leading to examples of bullying behaviour. The ‘Quality of Working Life’ report (March 2006) revealed that 89% of managers experienced some form of workplace change in the past 12 months, resulting in behaviour associated with workplace bullies. The research showed people admitting to becoming angry with colleagues (55%), irritable and intolerant (30%) and avoiding contact with them (26%).

Jo Causon, director of marketing and corporate affairs at the Chartered Management Institute, says:- “There is a major gap between what managers say they do to deal with bullying and the experiences of those who have been bullied at work. No single off-the-shelf policy will suit every organisation, but the organisational culture and management style should make it clear that bullying is unacceptable. Shying away from the issue is no excuse and involving senior staff and other departments is essential to protect staff, performance levels and productivity.”

The Institute’s research shows that where organisations have a formal policy, 70% of managers believe they are effective at deterring bullying. Where all staff are trained about acceptable levels of behaviour and who to turn to if they feel bullied, 83% of managers suggest their employer deals with the issue.

Responding to these findings the Institute has published a free-to-download guide providing advice on how to identify bullying and deal with it. Available at www.managers.org.uk/bullying it has been endorsed by ACAS and Unison.