Seven in ten employees happy at work
It turns out, according to Edenred’s Annual Wellbeing Barometer, that just over seven out of ten UK employees (71%) do in fact feel positive about their workplace. Crucially, the key driver for this feel-good factor about work is a leadership team that cares and creates a culture of motivation and reward.
Positivity on many levels
The survey, which quizzed 14,400 workers across the world, shows that well over half of UK employees (60%) enjoy coming to work in the morning, with even higher numbers stating their job is interesting (70%) and gives them a sense of personal fulfilment (64%). Significantly, the UK seems to be getting the work/life balance right, with two thirds (74%) of employees saying they are satisfied with the balance between work and private life.
The difference good management makes
Some of the most overwhelmingly positive results, however, came in response to questions asked around the importance of good management and leadership, especially in the context of emotional wellbeing.
The message from the research is that strong, supportive management skills are more important than ever in motivating and incentivising employees and creating a contented workforce, with almost all UK workers considering leadership (94%), honesty and fairness (95%), an ability to listen (96%) and an ability to trust (95%) as important qualities in their managers.
A big endorsement of the wellbeing movement
The results of the Edenred barometer show that it’s really quite simple to get people feeling good about their workplace: caring for your employees is what matters most to them above almost anything else.
Motivating, incentivising and rewarding them creates an atmosphere of appreciation and positivity. Expressing gratitude or listening to and understanding a problem is a failsafe way to ensure your people feel valued. Crucially, offering a wide and varied range of personalised benefits really does play a significant role in workers feeling motivated about their jobs, their management and their companies.
The global context: how do we stack up?
From a global perspective, the results show that the mood among UK employees is largely in line with similar economies in Europe as well as Brazil, Chile and China. By contrast, Japan and India show the most extreme spikes in the survey, with a meagre 44% of the Japanese workforce feeling positive about their wellbeing at work versus an impressive nine out of 10 (88%) employees in India enjoying their jobs and getting personal fulfilment from it.
This is likely to reflect the kind of work ethic that is common in Japan, where productivity and performance are valued above anything else and engagement levels among workers are traditionally low. Only 32% of Japanese workers feel their supervisor has the qualities of a good manager.
And what about that “thirsty third” of the UK workforce?
While we deserve a pat on the back for creating a largely happy, positive workforce in the UK, we mustn’t rest on our laurels.
The potential to increase wellbeing for the remaining third remains significant. The UK’s “thirsty third” of the workforce that feels negative about their wellbeing at work is further represented by a similar number (32%) that claim not to feel proud of their company, showing there are needs that many employers are not yet meeting.
Just over a quarter of employees (26%) feel that their employer is not doing enough to promote wellbeing at work, with a similar number (32%) expecting better training and skills development and more support at the end of their career (30%).
So organisations must not become complacent: the “thirsty third” can’t be ignored and efforts to improve wellbeing at work need to be increased in order to influence and convert this group.
Read more about the Edenred Ipsos Barometer 2016.
This article was provided by Edenred.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Edenred
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