A ‘bubble of neutrality’ has burst since the pandemic as employees become more sceptical of their company’s direction and more polarised over their workplace experiences.
New benchmark data from Culture Amp, the employee experience platform, gathered from nearly 5,000 companies globally, suggests that company executives and HR leaders face a battle to maintain confidence in their leadership. More than a quarter (26%) of respondents were from the UK.
Culture Amp found that between 2020 and 2022, employees were more likely to be neutral about the direction of their organisation and workplace experiences.
In 2020-21 for example, more than half of employees wrote in neutral terms about four indicators of their experience in workforce surveys: level of autonomy, salary, perceptions of their company’s leadership and compensation.
Employee scepticism
Employees are sceptical about corporate ‘purpose’
Ambulance services told to address workplace culture issues
Brand and belonging: why workplace culture is key to retention
In 2024, less than one-third of respondents described their experience in a neutral way on these same four factors.
How leaders are perceived by workforces has also deteriorated. After peaking at 79% in 2021, employees’ overall confidence in company leaders has continued to decline to 74% in 2024, slightly higher than the 73% in 2019, before the pandemic.
For UK respondents specifically, confidence in leaders declined from 75% in 2023 to just 68% in 2024.
Employee engagement levels are also falling globally. After hitting a high of 74% in both 2020 and 2021, engagement scores decreased to 71% in 2024.
UK employers recorded a four percentage points fall in engagement, from 70% in 2020 to 66% in July 2024.
In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, engagement fell even more sharply, from 69% to 61% over the same period.
However, Culture Amp’s data showed that employees do remain positive about the meaningful aspects of their work, how it is adding to their company’s success, and relationships with their teams.
Six in ten employees discussed workforce survey results with their manager in 2023-24 – up from 55% in 2022-23 – while almost four in ten (39%) of respondents had seen positive changes in their place of work in 2023-24 compared with 37% in 2022-23.
Dr Arne Sjöström, lead people scientist at Culture Amp, said: “The phase of ‘wait and see’ is over as employees hold increasingly polarised views on workplace matters.
“Particularly concerning for company leaders are today’s leadership perceptions, where the progress made during the pandemic seems to have regressed, making employees feel disconnected from their leaders. These findings should be a wake-up call for senior executives and HR leaders.
“It is imperative for leaders to focus on what truly matters to move forward. Investing in methods to better acknowledge employees and make them feel valued for their contributions is crucial. This approach will also play a significant role in overcoming the ‘us versus them’ divide prevalent in recent years.”
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
