Organisations across the private and public sectors are losing up to $A17 million in productivity each year as staff waste time finding and saving information, a survey by Brisbane-based information management specialists Glentworth has revealed.

Based on the minimum award wage of $A16.87 per hour, combined with the average time it took survey respondents to find and save information at work – 44.36 minutes to find and 43.57 to save – the survey found an organisation of 3000 staff could be saving up to $A17 million each year.

An organisation of 1000 staff could save over $A5.7 million, and those with 100 staff up to $A570,000.

Glentworth director of enterprise information management Renee Pera said more organisations were realising the many benefits of making it easier for staff to access up-to-date data and information at work.

“It is amazing how quickly the dollars add up when you look at how much time an organisation’s staff spends looking for, or saving information,” Ms Pera said.

“Some of the most common ‘information’ saved or lost are things like up-to-date contact details, reports, procedures and guidelines, and even just the final version of a shared document.

“We’re seeing more and more organisations, both large and small, realising the importance of information as an asset to their business, and jumping at the chance to improve their productivity.

“Putting that importance on information itself can mean thousands of dollars worth of savings each year – it’s as simple as making it quicker and easier for your staff to access up-to-date information, which we regularly see improves staff satisfaction and retention.”

Respondents across various organisations in Queensland and New South Wales were asked to average the amount of time they spent each working day looking for or saving information needed to do their job.

Using the minimum hourly wage as the lowest possible baseline, the results revealed a cost per day in lost productivity, equalling around $A5,700 per employee, per year.

Glentworth is a specialist information management consultancy working with organisations across the commercial, not-for-profit and government sectors. www.glentworth.com