Deloitte reveals compelling statistics for capital efficiency in new MENA white paper

4 June, 2014 - In the post-downturn economy businesses are looking to deliver more for less, but while most companies place great emphasis on driving efficiency out of their business process and built assets, they tend to avoid the more challenging aspects of people and culture. A new white paper released by Deloitte Middle East, titled ‘Capital Efficiencies: Assessing the optimal solution to your Capex Program’, provides compelling insight and statistics on how employee performance and operational efficiency can make a measurable difference to costs.

“In today’s climate companies recognize the need to become more agile, flexible, resilient and responsive to change, and also recognize the competitive advantages that can arise from working smarter,” said Ben Hughes, director, Infrastructure and Capital Projects at Deloitte Corporate Finance Limited. “However, while most focus on their business processes and built assets when looking to drive efficiency, they are ignoring their most critical asset and cost item: i.e. their people.”

According to the white paper, staff costs generally equate to approximately 80% of corporate expenditure, while process costs equate to 12% and property to 8%, making it clear that the greatest investment impact is to be gained in creating environments that benefit the organization’s people.

Recent research suggests that there are clear links between motivation and productivity, absenteeism due to illness, involvement in the organization and employee satisfaction. Although there are no reliable industry standards as yet to assess productivity and its link to the workplace, some researchers have opted for the measurement of occupier satisfaction within the working environment – the theory being that a more motivated and engaged employee will be more productive and committed.

One of the more reliable indicators of people performance in the workplace relates to productive working hours. An approach that has been developed by Deloitte quantified the average number of productive working days for an employee (excluding holidays, sick leave, training/administration) alongside the real cost to the organization for each productive day (including salary, insurance, car allowance, housing allowance, gratuity payments and other on-costs such as training and office overheads). In this instance, the number of productive days was determined to be 160 per annum and the real cost of each day was AED 3,620 or about $985. Hence a 1% increase in productivity would represent 1.6 additional days per annum with a ‘value’ attributed to that 1% increase of AED 5,790 or around $1,576. When extrapolated across an organization of say 500 people, the metrics become quite compelling – an additional 800 days of work with a value of AED 2.9M or $780,000 for a given year. Although this will obviously vary from organization to organization, the statistics remain compelling.

People performance cannot be considered in isolation, however, and in terms of operational efficiency it is inextricably linked to the measurement of the cost of property, which is arguably more straightforward to calculate. Here, the design of a new building or spatial arrangement that promotes operational efficiency often manifests in savings. This could be in the form of readily accessible light fittings, standardization across the building, use of energy efficient equipment and consumables, or more rudimentary measures such as passive ventilation which reduces maintenance annually. Indeed, simple measures such as the physical location of photocopying stations or stationery stores can often result in improved efficiency from an operational viewpoint.

The Deloitte white paper gives the example of an organization that occupies around 6,250 sqm of leased office space, at a cost of AED 1,500 or circa $400 per sqm per annum, and whose annual rental bill would equate to AED 9.37M or $2.5M. Assuming that, as a result of capital efficiencies being applied to this workspace, there is an area reduction of 25% through improved spatial planning and business process mapping, it could theoretically translate to a reduced annual rental bill of AED 4.34M or $1.9M.

“Worth noting is that while there are clearly tangible savings that can be derived through the application of capital efficiencies in the workplace, these are still likely to be less than a 1% increase in staff productivity and efficiency across the organization,” said Hughes. “Ironically, a 3% increase in productivity would virtually wipe out the entire rental cost of the built asset. All of this, though, provides a compelling argument for any business to undertake a capital efficiencies review, not just of an organization’s expenditure program but also its operational composition and efficiency.”

To read the full report, visit the following link http://bit.ly/1iOaAkw

About Deloitte

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee (“DTTL”), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms are legally separate and independent entities.  DTTL (also referred to as “Deloitte Global”) does not provide services to clients.  Please see www.deloitte.com/about for a more detailed description of DTTL and its member firms.  

Deloitte provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. With a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories, Deloitte brings world-class capabilities and high-quality service to clients, delivering the insights they need to address their most complex business challenges. Deloitte’s more than 200,000 professionals are committed to becoming the standard of excellence.

About Deloitte & Touche (M.E.)

Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) is a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) and is the first Arab professional services firm established in the Middle East region with uninterrupted presence since 1926.

Deloitte is among the region’s leading professional services firms, providing audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services through 26 offices in 15 countries with more than 3,000 partners, directors and staff. It is a Tier 1 Tax advisor in the GCC region since 2010 (according to the International Tax Review World Tax Rankings). It has received numerous awards in the last few years which include Best Employer in the Middle East, best consulting firm, and the Middle East Training & Development Excellence Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).