Just half (51%) of British employees revealed that they are frequently happy at work, according to new research by Reward Gateway | Edenred.
For its Bridging the ROI gap report, which explores four key employee trends for employers to consider in the next year, it surveyed 2,003 UK employees and 1,000 HR managers.
The findings highlighted that a quarter (25%) of respondents said they do not often feel valued.
While 74% of employees stated that they were more productive when they feel supported, only 58% of employers were found to be currently tracking motivation and productivity.
The research found that 25% of employees often do not feel appreciated, while 22% do not feel valued in their workplace. This increases with age, as 35% of those aged 55 and above said they often do not feel appreciated and 30% of those in the same age group said they often do not feel valued.
While 66% of HR managers who track support and wellbeing regularly measure the relationship between the emotional capital metric and business outcomes, 53% of those who track employee happiness regularly measure the relationship between employee happiness and business outcomes.
Suzanna Kemal, head of HR at Reward Gateway | Edenred, said: “The link between happiness and productivity is undeniable, and it’s essential that businesses and HR teams recognise this. With almost half of the UK workforce feeling generally unhappy in their place of work, the country is losing out on the creativity, determination and resilience found in a thriving workplace.
“It’s not just happiness that needs to be tracked, but wellbeing overall. Employers need to take stock of absenteeism, performance and participation, as well as assess emotional capital metrics such as happiness and enthusiasm through pulse surveys and one-to-one communications. Without taking these tangible measures, organisations will only fall behind and have their workforce move onto greener pastures without them.”
