How much are we spending on stats?!
I read the following stats on the 1st page of an HR website and was amazed at the monetisation of just about every conceivable aspect of human life.
Commuting and traditional working costs the U.K. economy £1.21bn per annum;
Snow estimated to cost £3.5bn in lost productivity this year;
Staff who smoke cost U.K. economy "billions" in lost productivity through sickness absence;
Chatting at work costs U.K. £2bn per annum
That's before we add in the cost of public holidays for Royal weddings and strike action.
Writing this blog cost me around £12 in opportunity costs - I could have been doing something else and getting paid for it.
How valuable are these stats?
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Colin, the good news is that you and your blog provide huge value over and above the cost so rest assured that the value of the above article is worth more than £12!
Personally I have doubts about these numbers since who can prove that the money saved through less chatting, commuting etc falls to the "bottom line"?
:-) Thanks Vince. It does seem incredible that we make any money at all given these stats and the sheer plethora of similar stats promulgated at regular intervals.
I wonder the cost to the U.K. for time lost by managers and others reading stats. Billions likely (as seems to be the vogue)!
I'm sure there are 'valuable' stats available out there somewhere and they're likely lost in the galaxy of stats produced. The other issue is the subjectivity and bias captured in these stats. Non-smokers are likely to put a higher estimate on the impact smoking has to someone's productivity; those who're 'perpetually present' will over estimate their productivity (and there's stats on the effect of presentee'ism) and so it goes on.
They may have went to reasonable lengths to remove all possible subjectivity and bias but you can never be sure unless there's a full report on how they came to these stats.
All in, I think good leaders and managers will ignore the stats and will work and make relevant decisions 'in situ'?
"Lies, damn lies, and statistics"
You do know, Colin, that 97.2% of all statistics are made up....... including that one!!
As Einstein is reported to have said. "Not everything that is counted counts, and not everything that counts is counted". I use this consistantly when delivering financial management training.
The tendancy seems to be to count that which is accessible, rather than that which is meaningful or will drive improvement. Does chatting stop producitivity or improve it? Has anyone bothered to establish a link?
No problem about the monetisation (as you might expect) but very cynical about the cause and effect. As Vince said - how could you verify bottom line improvements?
And if this only cost you £12, you fees are too low! :-)
I'll be reviewing my pricing structure forthwith!
I remember hearing from the lady who introduced the myth about how many spiders you consume (unconsciously) whilst sleeping.
The figure varies from urban legend to urban legend but the reality is that they lady who came up with the story has absolutely no evidence that you ever consume any. She made it up as an experiment to see how quickly such myths travel.
It's since became a 'stat'.
I wonder how much eating a spider in your sleep's worth? :-D