Workforce Management Report - Poor UK Employee Engagement

New Gallup figures show UK employee engagement rate is one of the lowest in Europe, and declining

The 2022 State of the Global Workplace Report has been released by Gallup, providing an insight into employee engagement and staff wellbeing. Gallup refers to this data as “an important predictor of organisational resilience and performance”.

Approximately 1,000 people in the UK were surveyed to capture these results, which paint a grim, if not altogether unexpected, picture of employee engagement in the UK compared to the rest of the world.

 

Out of 38 European countries, the UK is ranked just 33rd for employee engagement levels, putting it in the bottom 16%. Perhaps even more worrying is that the UK engagement rate is down two points compared to previous years, with only one other European country experiencing a larger drop.

 

Only 9% of employees report being engaged in their daily work, 5% less than the European average. It’s worth considering that there are three states of engagement: engaged, disengaged or actively disengaged. Although the survey doesn’t break down the remaining 81% of UK workers into disengaged or actively disengaged, it’s important to remember that this group is very likely to contain those proactively working against your organisation’s goals.

 

When it comes to wellbeing, although the figures aren’t exactly positive, the UK fares slightly better in comparison to the rest of Europe. 41% of UK employees report experiencing stress daily, compared to a European average of 39%. Daily worry is experienced by 33% of UK workers, which is actually an improvement over an average of 37% across Europe.

 

 

For workers, the currently buoyant job market means that low engagement is potentially a driver to look for another role. For businesses, however, this is something that needs to be rectified as a matter of urgency in order to retain and attract skilled staff. Jon Clifton, Gallup CEO, further highlights the importance of employee engagement, saying:

 

“Business units with engaged workers have 23% higher profit compared with business units with miserable workers. Additionally, teams with thriving workers see significantly lower absenteeism, turnover and accidents; they also see higher customer loyalty. The point is: wellbeing at work isn’t at odds with anyone’s agenda.”

 

This win-win position is something that all organisations should keep in mind when considering whether to take steps to improve employee engagement; there’s little doubt that doing so will increase productivity without needing to increase staffing costs.

 

Bodet can help with your employee engagement and wellbeing strategy. Employee Engagement can be boosted through the increased communications capabilities offered by Bodet’s modern Time & Attendance Systems and advanced Clocking In Terminals, and through the application of Employee Self Service.

 

Wellbeing can be improved by offering flexible working, without any loss in workforce visibility or productivity. Absence Management can also be used to identify absence patterns commonly linked to stress, enabling you to detect it in your staff and ensure you offer the correct support path before long-term absence occurs. 

 

To discuss how our Time & Attendance Solutions can help employee engagement in your organisation, please contact us.