Although the value is still very high, there was an improvement compared to 2018 due to the application of technology
Sage, a reference company in cloud management solutions, has just released the second part of the annual Productivity Thermometer for MSEs study, which analyzes how much time and money micro, small and medium-sized companies spend on bureaucratic activities in 12 major markets, including Brazil.
Research shows that the global productivity puzzle is far from being solved and has, in fact, gotten worse. In the 12 consecutive months, ending in March, that this survey evaluated, the value dedicated to administrative activities in the world in a working week was 446 billion pounds (about 2.7 trillion reais), a volume 2.6% higher in compared to the previous period.
In Brazil, the country is expected to dedicate R$ 77 billion to backoffice activities in 2019, a slightly lower amount than the forecast for 2018, of R$ 79 billion. From January to mid-August of that year, the volume spent by Brazilian MSEs on these activities reached R$ 48.7 billion. That's R$ 2,442 per second, R$146,539 per minute and R$ 8,792,366 per hour. The most time-consuming activities for Brazilian women are accounting (13%), tax accounting (13%), payroll (13%) and issuing invoices (13%).
According to the executives interviewed, the investment in technology in the last year was largely responsible for the small improvement, optimizing the work time of teams and improving the performance of organizations in the period. They reported that the strategy increased profit by 62%, improved customer service by 60%, increased productivity in the workplace by 59%, made work more flexible and engaged employees more (50%).
The global ranking of the most bureaucratic markets according to Sage is headed by Spain. The Iberian country spends 10.2% of its working time on administrative activities that could be greatly reduced with the use of technology and digital tools. Next come France (7.5%) and Switzerland (7%), closely followed by Brazil (6.2%). At the other end is Canada with just 1.7%.
For the president of Sage Brazil and Latin America, Jorge Santos Carneiro, the data represent a challenge for entrepreneurs and professionals in small and medium-sized companies. “We are seeing a greater awareness of entrepreneurs that the adoption of technology contributes, and a lot, to the performance of their organizations.”
He, however, considers that this digital transformation should occur much faster. “It is a warning sign that in 2019 the growth of small and medium-sized companies, which are responsible for 52% of formal jobs in Brazil, is still limited by the non-use of digital tools and skills. As this gap is closed and bridged, the benefits will be felt by all.”
Sage's Productivity Thermometer was made in partnership with YouGov and calculates time and money spent from an online survey of 2,994 senior SME representatives from 12 markets — UK, US, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France, Brazil, South Africa, Switzerland and Malaysia.
Thermometer information can be tracked in real time on the Sage website www.sage.com/company/business-builders/reduce-your-admin-burden
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