Productivity in the UK is low. In fact, it is so low the UK stands nearly at 20% below the average for G7 countries. The government has put a Fixing the Foundations plan in place to help tackle the problem. Many organisations have also started to consider what they can do to alleviate the issue.
The Employee productivity: the hygiene factors affecting the UK workforce report, by Red Letter Days for Business, looks at the working week of an engaged and disengaged employee to discover what motivates them, when they are likely to produce a better output, and what factors get in the way of them generating good work.
The working week
Monday is the day engaged employees feel most driven at work; however disengaged employees said they feel more productive on a Friday. Nearly all employees said the morning slot from 8am until 10.30am each day was when they got the most amount of work done, yet a majority of staff confirmed themselves to be least efficient on a Thursday.
Working environments
A large percentage surveyed (57%) said they are allowed to work at home. More than a third (39%) of this group said they are more productive at home compared to working in the office, and only 15% said they were more productive in the office.
Engaged employees are given more freedom when it comes to choosing their working environment because 66% said they are allowed to work at home, compared to just over a third of disengaged employees. Interestingly, just 2% of these disengaged employees said they get distracted by things in the house to stop them working.
Time wasting tasks and office distractions
The top five office tasks staff said they feel waste too much time were meetings, administration, emails, people management to curb misbehaving colleagues, and a micro-managing boss.
When it comes to personal admin, such as checking social media accounts, engaged employees actually spend more time doing these jobs. A third of staff with high engagement (that do check their social media accounts) admitted to spending two hours every day at work doing so, compared to just 11% of disengaged employees.
There is a similar comparison when it comes to chatting to colleagues on a personal level. Some 16% of engaged staff will chat to colleagues for two hours every day, whereas just 4% of disengaged staff will spend that long conversing.
How to engage employees and increase their productivity
It is surprising to see that engaged employees are not sat at their desk with their heads down for every hour of the working day. When asked why they perform personal tasks in the office, such as spending time on social media, engaged employees said they do so because they believe taking short breaks is a good thing.
There are many interesting factors to consider when it comes to getting the most out of a workforce. However, the main message is clear: trust.
We all know the higher engaged an employee is the more output they will achieve. So if we want to alleviate the poor productivity rate the government, along with UK employers, should reassess the working nine until five rule that has been adhered to for decade after decade.
If we threw away the rule book and give staff more autonomy to self-govern whether they work from home, come into work late and leave early to fit around their lifestyle, take part in personal tasks in the office, and allow more of a flexi-time approach to working hours, the engagement and productivity impact on the economy could be huge.
Bill Alexander is chief executive officer of Red Letter Days for Business
Box: Key points: (Can be cut to fit on page)
- Engaged employees feel more productive on a Monday compared to disengaged employees who produce more on a Friday. Almost all staff said Thursday was the day they feel the least productive, and all employees said they were most efficient in the morning.
- A large percentage of engaged staff are allowed to work from home, compared to just a third of disengaged employees. However, nearly half of disengaged employees said they are more productive when working at home.
- Employees who are trusted to have flexibility and freedom with their working hours and environments are likely to have a higher engagement rate than those who do not receive such things.
- Trust is the key to increasing engagement, which in turn has a positive impact on productivity.
