Almost one fifth (19%) of respondents aged 18-29 years old feel that access to instant benefits, such as retail discounts and cinema tickets, would increase their engagement with their employer, according to research by Personal Group.
Its Hapi survey, which surveyed 781 UK employees and forms part of its The business of engagement: improving productivity through people report, also found that more than a third (35%) of respondents believe they would be happier if they received more recognition in the workplace.
The research also found:
- 11% of all respondents feel that access to instant benefits, such as discounts, would boost their engagement with their employer.
- 23% of respondents believe that longer-term benefits, such as life insurance or private medical insurance, would make them happier at work.
- Almost half (48%) of respondents are not often happy at work, and 19% are rarely or never happy at work.
- 30% of respondents in frontline roles never feel enthusiastic about work.
- 70% of respondents in director roles feel enthusiastic at work.
- 60% of respondents over the age of 50 want to get to work in the morning, compared to 46% of respondents aged 18-29 years old.
- 52% of all respondents feel they are working as efficiently as possible, compared to 61% of director respondents, 53% of senior manager respondents, 44% of team leader respondents, and 52% of team member respondents.
Mark Scanlon, chief executive of Personal Group said: “It’s no surprise that there are variations in engagement and happiness between those in different roles: directors and senior managers tend to be much more positive than more junior team members. Efforts to increase engagement should therefore focus on the latter groups. Many of these people tend to be frontline [employees]; these [employees] are the engine room of the UK economy.”
“Our survey found that money and recognition seem likely to have the greatest impact but longer-term benefits like medical insurance and life plans are appreciated by around a quarter of employees. Ultimately, each organisation, and each group of employees within it, will have their own needs and wants. It is the responsibility of managers today to build engagement strategies and ensure their workplace is delivering its full potential and productivity.”
