May 11, 2025 • 11 mins
Simon Hedaux, co-founder of Rethink Productivity, shares his expertise on implementing simple, actionable solutions to common workplace productivity challenges. Drawing from over 20 years of experience from the shop floor to productivity consultancy, Simon reveals how businesses can achieve quick wins through data-driven insights and practical process improvements.
- Understanding business operations through accurate, up-to-date data is fundamental to productivity improvement
- Small changes like optimising stock placement or redesigning store layouts can yield significant efficiency gains
- A retailer saved over £500,000 annually by simply redesigning till receipts
- Future productivity advances will focus on "intelligent stock" using video analytics and smart technologies
- The right work must be done by the right role at the right cost - expensive leaders shouldn't be performing basic tasks
- Productivity improvement is an ongoing process, not a one-time project
Listen to Episode 2 and Discover the People Powering Productivity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Welcome to Rethink.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Revealed a brand new podcast series from Rethink
Productivity that will delveinto the minds of our
productivity specialists to askthe deepest of productivity
questions.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm your host.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
James Bradbury-Willis , head of Business Development
at Rethink.
I'm a marketing and salesprofessional and I'm keen to get
the inside story from thepeople powering productivity.
And I'm keen to get the insidestory from the people powering
productivity.
After the incredibly successfulglobal hit.
That was episode one, welcometo episode two of Rethink
Revealed.
This episode is going to be acracker.
Let me introduce my guest.
(00:35):
He is the co-founder of RethinkProductivity and, with well
over 20 years experience withinoperations and productivity, he
is recognized as one of, if notthe authority within
productivity.
I should also say he's my boss,so I'll be on my best behaviour
.
It is, of course, simon Hedo.
Simon, welcome to RethinkRevealed.
And how does it feel to be onthe other side of the Rethink
(00:57):
mic?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, very strange.
Thanks for inviting me on andthanks for the intro.
I didn't pay you, to say thatclearly.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Well, today we're going to discover simple,
actionable solutions to commonproductivity challenges and
learn how to achieve quick winsin any workplace.
But before we do, simon, canyou tell us a bit about your
background and what led you tostart Rethink?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
So I'll keep it brief because, as you said, said over
20 years experience, whichmakes me feel old, so I am a
shopkeeper at heart.
So started off as a 16 year oldworking on the tills in DIY For
those of you that are oldenough, and it's probably before
your time, James remember Do itAll that then moved into Focus
Do it All and Focus DIY Moved upthe ranks, managed stores,
(01:42):
managed tech projects in headoffice.
Diy moved up the ranks, managedstores, managed tech projects
in head office, went to work fora tech vendor for a couple of
years, then worked at Bootsmanaging the labour productivity
department for pharmacy andretail and then, 15 years ago
this year, we set up Rethink.
And the reason we set it up wasbecause we used an agency and
(02:03):
dealt with some agencies in myboots days and there was always
that feeling of nice data.
What do I do with it?
Hence, Rethink was born.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Brilliant, Well, obviously massively experienced
when it comes to the world ofproductivity and with your
background.
But there must be a part ofyour role that you find the most
rewarding.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I think it's twofold for me.
One is seeing therecommendations that the team
may come to life.
So when we're working withclients and you know we might
recommend a tech solution or acertain way of doing a process
or even stop doing a process,and then we see that the next
time we go and work with them orthey write to us and say come
and have a look, that that'sreally rewarding.
And I think that the secondpart is developing the next
(02:47):
generation of productivityprofessionals.
So, as you know, james, we'vegot our academy.
We're acutely conscious it's anindustry that that is, is aging
and we're really, really proudthat we can bring through the
future talent brilliant.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
no, that's, that's great, and obviously I've taken
part on that Retime Academy andit is a fantastic, fantastic
thing you're trying to achievethere.
Those questions lead us on toone of my favourite rounds,
which is called the quickfirequestions.
So I'm just going to fire offsome quickfire questions to you,
simon.
I want some really quick firstthings that come to your mind.
(03:20):
So, quickfire questions what'sthe most unproductive habit you
secretly enjoy?
Eating chocolate.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Not productive in any way, other than it makes me
feel good, and it's certainlynot good for my hips.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
And I think, if it means anything, I'm really good
at that.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
So I'm properly good at eating chocolate.
I'm good at it.
I'm good at it.
There's no, I'm not saying I'mnot at that.
So I'm properly good at eatingchocolate, I'm good at it.
I'm not saying I'm not, but Ishouldn't be good at.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It is the reality.
There we go.
If you had to sum upproductivity in three words,
what would they be?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Probably, use data, insights and results.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Okay, fab, would you rather have an extra hour in the
day, or a superpower thateliminates distractions?
Definitely the superpowerDistractions all the way.
Leading on to the main Q&A,then, simon, what's the most
common productivity challengebusinesses face today and what's
the easiest way to tackle it?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So there's again a number of things.
So not having any Data ofunderstanding how your business
works is a real challenge forbusinesses or not up-to-date
data, having done all the easythings?
So in your productivity roadmapif it was that easy, you'd have
done it already.
And we're now at the point withkind of the economic climate
(04:39):
and all other things that arecoming in from a cost point of
view.
That means there's lots ofunpalatable things that people
are facing that they're havingto deal with Turning task into
digitized process as well.
So lots of organizations facingthe dilemma of do we just
digitize things, do we reviewthem before we do and stop doing
(05:00):
some stuff?
So yeah, for me it's all in thearea of we're at the point
where there's probably some ornot probably there are some
really unpalatable things thatpeople need to start to consider
to drive their productivityokay, fair enough.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, good answer.
Many businesses assumeimproving productivity requires
massive change.
Um, what are some small quickwins that make an immediate
difference?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
so we've seen things as simple as where colleagues
place the stock when theyreplenish the stock.
So placing it at the end of anaisle means they walk more.
So simple tweaks like thatcould be really really effective
and increase your productivityand reduce your replan time
through to layout in coffeeshops.
So again, as simple as wherethe syrups are placed so that
(05:47):
people aren't moving andreaching.
So it can get really complex,but those are just two really
simple examples.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Okay, great.
What's one outdatedproductivity myth that needs to
be retired.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I'm probably guilty of saying it as well, and lots
of other people say it soold-fashioned time and motion.
So people say that a lot say itso old-fashioned time and
motion.
So, uh, people say that a lot.
It's not old-fashioned.
It is an up-to-date methodologythat can drive loads of value.
But for some reason there'sthis, this picture in people's
minds of a person with a, astopwatch and a pen and paper,
and it's a.
It's a million miles away fromthat now yeah, it is absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Um, obviously you've worked with some big brands.
I'm just just wondering can youshare an example of a simple
fix then?
In that case, that had a hugeimpact.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yep, so I suppose a couple of simple ones.
There's some retailers we workwith and this sounds really
obvious, as some of these thingsdo, but it's a true story till
receipt.
So when you paid for something,you got a till receipt that was
as long as your arm, big spaces, huge huge print, big logo at
the top and again, just bysimplifying that, removing some
(06:57):
bits, saved kind of over half amillion pound a year in in paper
, which is incredible, good forthe bank and good for the
environment and yeah, otherexamples around.
We've worked with organizationsthat used to turn on in their
sports cafes 20, 30 tellies aday across so many locations
every day of the year, and wepointed that out and kind of
(07:18):
quantified the cost and quitequickly they found an IT
solution that does itautomatically for them for, you
know, a tenth of the cost theywere putting into it.
So therefore, a big saving.
How?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
do you then convince leaders to prioritise
productivity improvementsinstead of just you know, a lot
of the time, just instead ofputting up the price?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I think price is easy .
It's an easy answer, isn't it,to all the challenges that we're
facing.
We'll just keep putting theprice up, but customers will
only tolerate so much andthey'll.
We all want value as consumers,so if you're just increasing
the price, potentially peoplewill go elsewhere.
I mean back to some of theearly conversation.
There's some easy stuff.
When you've got the data youcan do.
(07:59):
Also, it's a long-term process.
This isn't a one and done.
This is something thatcontinues to live.
So actually it can be reallybeneficial to your bottom line
but maybe even free up time foryou to help serve more customers
or drive more averagetransaction value.
So yeah, it's not easy easy butactually if you buy into it the
(08:24):
benefits are ongoing,incrementally.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Okay, that's a really good point and I suppose, with
tools like new AI tools andautomation on the rise, what's
the next big thing in theworkplace of productivity?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
So I think it'll be around.
Intelligent stock so We've allbeen into shops now where
there's few checkouts, there'slots of self-scan.
That part of the operation hasbeen done, the part where most
of the money is spent nowoutside of kind of services
stock.
So I think you know.
Intelligent use of videocapture, video analytics,
(09:00):
intelligent use of electronicshelf edge labels.
There's cameras now that arelooking for gaps and prompting
smart replens, so you're notjust taking all the stock back,
shop stock out and trying towork at you really targeted.
So there's there's lots in that, as well as date checking, mark
downs, reductions, so thatthat's the big chunk of labor
(09:20):
that's left in most retailoperations.
So that's, in my view, whereit'll go okay, no, that's,
that's great.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Um, simon, that was the main discussion and I think
you answered those questionsvery well and hopefully people
listening into this will be ableto take some chunks of your
knowledge and be able to helpimplement them if they can.
On that point of view, if youcould summarise in a really well
worded section called the topthree tips, could you give us
(09:49):
your top three tips forbusinesses to make them more
productive, regardless of whatsector they're in, in three
understand your business throughdata.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So where are you spending your time, on what, and
for how long?
In number two understand howmuch it really costs to run your
business.
So not the budget you give thestores, but the we'd call it
workload, bottom-up budget.
So, based on all the things youdo, how long does it really
take and how much budget youneed, because there's normally a
big difference.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
And number one tip.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Make sure you're getting the right work done by
the right role at the right cost.
And what I mean by that is ifyou've got lots of expensive
leaders, because typicallythey're paid more than
colleagues filling shelves doingthings.
In the current climate, that'sa very expensive way to to fill
your shop.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Simon, that was really insightful.
Thank you ever so much.
Well, I hope you enjoyed beingon Rethink Revealed and that's
it for today.
So hopefully everyone can findsome useful information from
that.
But thanks, simon, for beinginvolved.
You're welcome, no problem.
Yeah, hopefully catch up withyou soon, take care, bye-bye.
Well, that's it for RethinkRevealed.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I hope you found it insightful and like me, you
learned something new.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
You can find great podcasts from Rethink
Productivity on our website,which I'll link in the show
description along with the musicwe used today.
I'll hopefully catch you againsoon for the next episode of
Rethink Revealed.
Until then, bye, bye.
Welcome to Rethink.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Revealed a brand new podcast series from Rethink
Productivity that will delveinto the minds of our
productivity specialists to askthe deepest of productivity
questions.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm your host.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
James Bradbury-Willis , head of Business Development
at Rethink.
I'm a marketing and salesprofessional and I'm keen to get
the inside story from thepeople powering productivity.
And I'm keen to get the insidestory from the people powering
productivity.
After the incredibly successfulglobal hit.
That was episode one, welcometo episode two of Rethink
Revealed.
This episode is going to be acracker.
Let me introduce my guest.
(00:35):
He is the co-founder of RethinkProductivity and, with well
over 20 years experience withinoperations and productivity, he
is recognized as one of, if notthe authority within
productivity.
I should also say he's my boss,so I'll be on my best behaviour
.
It is, of course, simon Hedo.
Simon, welcome to RethinkRevealed.
And how does it feel to be onthe other side of the Rethink
(00:57):
mic?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Yeah, very strange.
Thanks for inviting me on andthanks for the intro.
I didn't pay you, to say thatclearly.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Well, today we're going to discover simple,
actionable solutions to commonproductivity challenges and
learn how to achieve quick winsin any workplace.
But before we do, simon, canyou tell us a bit about your
background and what led you tostart Rethink?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
So I'll keep it brief because, as you said, said over
20 years experience, whichmakes me feel old, so I am a
shopkeeper at heart.
So started off as a 16 year oldworking on the tills in DIY For
those of you that are oldenough, and it's probably before
your time, James remember Do itAll that then moved into Focus
Do it All and Focus DIY Moved upthe ranks, managed stores,
(01:42):
managed tech projects in headoffice.
Diy moved up the ranks, managedstores, managed tech projects
in head office, went to work fora tech vendor for a couple of
years, then worked at Bootsmanaging the labour productivity
department for pharmacy andretail and then, 15 years ago
this year, we set up Rethink.
And the reason we set it up wasbecause we used an agency and
(02:03):
dealt with some agencies in myboots days and there was always
that feeling of nice data.
What do I do with it?
Hence, Rethink was born.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Brilliant, Well, obviously massively experienced
when it comes to the world ofproductivity and with your
background.
But there must be a part ofyour role that you find the most
rewarding.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
I think it's twofold for me.
One is seeing therecommendations that the team
may come to life.
So when we're working withclients and you know we might
recommend a tech solution or acertain way of doing a process
or even stop doing a process,and then we see that the next
time we go and work with them orthey write to us and say come
and have a look, that that'sreally rewarding.
And I think that the secondpart is developing the next
(02:47):
generation of productivityprofessionals.
So, as you know, james, we'vegot our academy.
We're acutely conscious it's anindustry that that is, is aging
and we're really, really proudthat we can bring through the
future talent brilliant.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
no, that's, that's great, and obviously I've taken
part on that Retime Academy andit is a fantastic, fantastic
thing you're trying to achievethere.
Those questions lead us on toone of my favourite rounds,
which is called the quickfirequestions.
So I'm just going to fire offsome quickfire questions to you,
simon.
I want some really quick firstthings that come to your mind.
(03:20):
So, quickfire questions what'sthe most unproductive habit you
secretly enjoy?
Eating chocolate.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Not productive in any way, other than it makes me
feel good, and it's certainlynot good for my hips.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
And I think, if it means anything, I'm really good
at that.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
So I'm properly good at eating chocolate.
I'm good at it.
I'm good at it.
There's no, I'm not saying I'mnot at that.
So I'm properly good at eatingchocolate, I'm good at it.
I'm not saying I'm not, but Ishouldn't be good at.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
It is the reality.
There we go.
If you had to sum upproductivity in three words,
what would they be?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Probably, use data, insights and results.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Okay, fab, would you rather have an extra hour in the
day, or a superpower thateliminates distractions?
Definitely the superpowerDistractions all the way.
Leading on to the main Q&A,then, simon, what's the most
common productivity challengebusinesses face today and what's
the easiest way to tackle it?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
So there's again a number of things.
So not having any Data ofunderstanding how your business
works is a real challenge forbusinesses or not up-to-date
data, having done all the easythings?
So in your productivity roadmapif it was that easy, you'd have
done it already.
And we're now at the point withkind of the economic climate
(04:39):
and all other things that arecoming in from a cost point of
view.
That means there's lots ofunpalatable things that people
are facing that they're havingto deal with Turning task into
digitized process as well.
So lots of organizations facingthe dilemma of do we just
digitize things, do we reviewthem before we do and stop doing
(05:00):
some stuff?
So yeah, for me it's all in thearea of we're at the point
where there's probably some ornot probably there are some
really unpalatable things thatpeople need to start to consider
to drive their productivityokay, fair enough.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
Yeah, good answer.
Many businesses assumeimproving productivity requires
massive change.
Um, what are some small quickwins that make an immediate
difference?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
so we've seen things as simple as where colleagues
place the stock when theyreplenish the stock.
So placing it at the end of anaisle means they walk more.
So simple tweaks like thatcould be really really effective
and increase your productivityand reduce your replan time
through to layout in coffeeshops.
So again, as simple as wherethe syrups are placed so that
(05:47):
people aren't moving andreaching.
So it can get really complex,but those are just two really
simple examples.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
Okay, great.
What's one outdatedproductivity myth that needs to
be retired.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I'm probably guilty of saying it as well, and lots
of other people say it soold-fashioned time and motion.
So people say that a lot say itso old-fashioned time and
motion.
So, uh, people say that a lot.
It's not old-fashioned.
It is an up-to-date methodologythat can drive loads of value.
But for some reason there'sthis, this picture in people's
minds of a person with a, astopwatch and a pen and paper,
and it's a.
It's a million miles away fromthat now yeah, it is absolutely.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Um, obviously you've worked with some big brands.
I'm just just wondering can youshare an example of a simple
fix then?
In that case, that had a hugeimpact.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yep, so I suppose a couple of simple ones.
There's some retailers we workwith and this sounds really
obvious, as some of these thingsdo, but it's a true story till
receipt.
So when you paid for something,you got a till receipt that was
as long as your arm, big spaces, huge huge print, big logo at
the top and again, just bysimplifying that, removing some
(06:57):
bits, saved kind of over half amillion pound a year in in paper
, which is incredible, good forthe bank and good for the
environment and yeah, otherexamples around.
We've worked with organizationsthat used to turn on in their
sports cafes 20, 30 tellies aday across so many locations
every day of the year, and wepointed that out and kind of
(07:18):
quantified the cost and quitequickly they found an IT
solution that does itautomatically for them for, you
know, a tenth of the cost theywere putting into it.
So therefore, a big saving.
How?
Speaker 1 (07:28):
do you then convince leaders to prioritise
productivity improvementsinstead of just you know, a lot
of the time, just instead ofputting up the price?
Speaker 2 (07:38):
I think price is easy .
It's an easy answer, isn't it,to all the challenges that we're
facing.
We'll just keep putting theprice up, but customers will
only tolerate so much andthey'll.
We all want value as consumers,so if you're just increasing
the price, potentially peoplewill go elsewhere.
I mean back to some of theearly conversation.
There's some easy stuff.
When you've got the data youcan do.
(07:59):
Also, it's a long-term process.
This isn't a one and done.
This is something thatcontinues to live.
So actually it can be reallybeneficial to your bottom line
but maybe even free up time foryou to help serve more customers
or drive more averagetransaction value.
So yeah, it's not easy easy butactually if you buy into it the
(08:24):
benefits are ongoing,incrementally.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Okay, that's a really good point and I suppose, with
tools like new AI tools andautomation on the rise, what's
the next big thing in theworkplace of productivity?
Speaker 2 (08:38):
So I think it'll be around.
Intelligent stock so We've allbeen into shops now where
there's few checkouts, there'slots of self-scan.
That part of the operation hasbeen done, the part where most
of the money is spent nowoutside of kind of services
stock.
So I think you know.
Intelligent use of videocapture, video analytics,
(09:00):
intelligent use of electronicshelf edge labels.
There's cameras now that arelooking for gaps and prompting
smart replens, so you're notjust taking all the stock back,
shop stock out and trying towork at you really targeted.
So there's there's lots in that, as well as date checking, mark
downs, reductions, so thatthat's the big chunk of labor
(09:20):
that's left in most retailoperations.
So that's, in my view, whereit'll go okay, no, that's,
that's great.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
Um, simon, that was the main discussion and I think
you answered those questionsvery well and hopefully people
listening into this will be ableto take some chunks of your
knowledge and be able to helpimplement them if they can.
On that point of view, if youcould summarise in a really well
worded section called the topthree tips, could you give us
(09:49):
your top three tips forbusinesses to make them more
productive, regardless of whatsector they're in, in three
understand your business throughdata.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
So where are you spending your time, on what, and
for how long?
In number two understand howmuch it really costs to run your
business.
So not the budget you give thestores, but the we'd call it
workload, bottom-up budget.
So, based on all the things youdo, how long does it really
take and how much budget youneed, because there's normally a
big difference.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
And number one tip.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Make sure you're getting the right work done by
the right role at the right cost.
And what I mean by that is ifyou've got lots of expensive
leaders, because typicallythey're paid more than
colleagues filling shelves doingthings.
In the current climate, that'sa very expensive way to to fill
your shop.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Simon, that was really insightful.
Thank you ever so much.
Well, I hope you enjoyed beingon Rethink Revealed and that's
it for today.
So hopefully everyone can findsome useful information from
that.
But thanks, simon, for beinginvolved.
You're welcome, no problem.
Yeah, hopefully catch up withyou soon, take care, bye-bye.
Well, that's it for RethinkRevealed.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I hope you found it insightful and like me, you
learned something new.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
You can find great podcasts from Rethink
Productivity on our website,which I'll link in the show
description along with the musicwe used today.
I'll hopefully catch you againsoon for the next episode of
Rethink Revealed.
Until then, bye, bye.
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