A meagre 5 per cent of the country’s organisations have reported what they call smart, sustainable growth needed to see them succeed beyond the Mining Boom a Telstra survey has found.

The Towards a Clever Australia survey canvassed business, enterprise and governmental organisations with a series of in-depth interviews of over 1,000 of the nation’s top decision markers.

The survey concluded that:

  • 80 per cent of private and public organisations were Productivity Followers – because they either did not measure or had not reported achieving substantial productivity improvements over the past year, 
  • And 20 per cent of private and public organisations were Productivity Leaders – because they had measured and reported achieving substantial productivity improvement over the past year.

Telstra claims that an analysis of the report shows that the country’s top organisations are not keeping up with the challenges faced by the Australian economy, such as the uncertainty of the global economy, climate change and increased global competition.

Telstra’s Chief Executive Officer, David Thodey, said that the survey focuses on oerganisations qualified as ‘Productivity Leaders’.

The survey found that a quarter of Productivity Leaders – or five per cent of those surveyed overall – had reported not just achieving substantial productivity improvements, but wider organisational benefits as well.
The report categorises the strongest performers as Growth Champions and seeks to understand why they are successful. 
“As an organisation, Telstra is committed to being a leader in the debate on productivity, helping our customers identify ways to improve their own businesses and create clever growth,” Mr Thodey said.

The report categorises the strongest performers as Growth Champions and seeks to understand why they are successful. 

The survey found that Growth Champions shared three common traits. A strong focus on:

  1. Putting the customer first, 
  2. Workforce collaboration and, 
  3. Investment in data analytics, network speed, coverage and performance.

The full report can be found here