Employee engagement figures have been low across much of the world for some time now, and there seems to be little sign of things improving. A recent survey conducted by ADP has found that 40% of UK employees are unhappy with the leaders in their company.
What’s more, similar dissatisfaction emerged across Europe, with employees in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands also largely unhappy with their leaders. A similar proportion also reported feeling that their boss didn’t know them well enough to appreciate their potential, with this feeling extending to their employer as a whole. This translated into many employees feeling their employer regarded them as an expendable ‘number’.
“Management and leadership has a direct and tangible impact on employee engagement. Our research has shown that too many companies across Europe are still getting it wrong. It’s important that managers, leaders and HR teams take the time to understand their employees properly. Workers are clear that they want to be valued and treated as individuals and so by knowing your employees, from their abilities to their desires, you can truly inspire, nurture and engage, which in turn will drive productivity and business success,” ADP say.
Lack of support
The survey revealed a number of other factors that underpinned the disenchantment with leadership. For instance, nearly half of workers reported feeling uncomfortable at work in the past year, due in large part to things such as stress, a poor working environment or bad relationships with colleagues.
This was compounded by a general lack of support offered to employees to support their mental wellbeing. Very few respondents reported having access to things such as mindfulness training or counselling services.
This general lack of care also materialized in terms of the physical wellbeing of employees, with respondents saying that not enough is done to ensure the workplace is safe, and few channels existing for employees to report concerns.
“There are a number of measures that HR teams can take to ensure that employees feel safe, comfortable and happy in their roles. It’s important to give your workforce the opportunity to contribute their thoughts on how well you support their physical and mental wellbeing. More importantly, you need to take the time to consider how you could be doing better,” ADP conclude.
