16/06/2023
Gallup’s 2023 edition of its annual State of the Global Workplace reveals that the UK remains one of the least engaged workforces in Europe, ranking 33 out of 38 among peer countries. With only a slight increase of 1% compared with the same data last year. The poor state of disengaged workforces is not unique to the UK, with just 13% of employees across Europe feeling engaged at work, and the lowest rates of engagement were reported in France (7%) and Italy (5%).
Over the last year, negative news has been abundant in the UK around the cost-of-living crisis, climate change and the mounting pressure on the NHS. These are all possible triggers for people in the UK reporting growing levels of worry, stress, and anger at work.
The survey results reflect this bleak picture of the current mood of the UK workforce, with 38% experiencing daily stress. Nearly a fifth (19%) of UK professionals have reported feeling angry at work, a significant 4-point increase year-on-year, putting the UK well above the European average (14%).
With employee engagement at an all-time low and rising levels of anger and stress, companies must act fast to turn the tide on this trend. Amid economic instability, employers may not be able to incentivise their employees with renumerations and benefits, so leaders must work to fully understand the reasons behind this and identify things they can do to create a working environment that people enjoy and can thrive in.
“The UK continues to perform poorly on employee engagement. To tackle widespread disengagement, businesses need to be championing employees and giving them the right tools and resources to be productive and purposeful. Additionally, it’s important for employees to spend time together,” said Anna Sawyer, Gallup Partner. “The value of real human interactions can’t be overlooked – it’s crucial for career development, productivity and wellbeing, amongst other outcomes Companies that fail to make employee engagement a priority risk losing talent and ultimately jeopardise their overall success.”
Brits are pessimistic about the UK job market
Gallup’s annual State of the Global Workforce Report also revealed that confidence in the UK’s current job market has declined by four points since last year’s report, with just 36% of people believing that now is a good time to find a job. Falling UK confidence bucked the trend of growing job-market confidence in the rest of Europe, where over half of the population (56%, up 12 points year-on-year) believe now is a good time to look for a job.
There has been speculation about an impending recession and against this backdrop, this could perhaps explain why job confidence in the UK is considerably lower than much of the rest of Europe. People may be opting to stay in their current role as this is the ‘safer’ option, rather than risk being last in-first out if a recession hits.
Echoing this sentiment, the survey also revealed that the majority of Brits (76%) label themselves as quiet quitters which is significantly higher than the rest of the world (59%). As the UK workforce grows increasingly angry, stressed, and pessimistic about their future, now is the time for organisations and business leaders to listen to the needs of their people and act to re-engage them.
Original Article: HRnews
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