Although the report is aimed primarily at small businesses, much of what it has to say will be of interest to people in bigger firms – not least because successful innovation is hardly a monopoly of SMEs.

The two charts below are drawn from the report. Both are interesting in their own way, but both require a little unpicking.

The first shows how the relative output per hour worked of the UK's main competitors has declined over time, not as an absolute measure, but relative to that of the UK. Picture a fourth set of bars alongside those for France, Germany and the US, but fixed at 100 for each year and it becomes clearer.

Of course, what this also shows is that UK output per hour worked remains some way behind that of the other three.

The second chart shows both employment growth and productivity increases side by side, and should provide some sort of warning that productivity growth alone is not a great economic goal.

As our experience of the early 1980s and early 1990s shows, productivity growth (per hour worked) is most rapid when employment levels are falling – not surprising since this largely involves more marginally productive individuals being thrown out of work.

The real trick, of course, is to grow the numbers in work without compromising on productivity improvements.

A recent IRS Employment Review survey on productivity (subscription required) reveals both how UK employers measure productivity (customer satisfaction being the most common, followed by labour cost per unit of output) and the steps they are taking to raise it.

It is interesting to note from this survey that employers generally believe that they can best do this by improving performance management techniques and building company cultures that stress the importance of innovation and productivity.

Employers that engage with employees also seem to get the most out of them, with many involving unions or staff councils in their plans. The problem they face is that, even in tougher economic times, finding employees with the right skills and aptitudes remains difficult.