Monday morning blues are nothing but a myth, according to research.
Almost two-thirds of UK workers actually like Mondays and feel positive about the start of the working week, the study by Chiumento HR consultancy found.
Only 5% of the 1,060 workers surveyed admitted to feeling anxious about the week ahead on a Sunday evening.
Chief executive, Sarah Chiumento, said: “Although employees seem to be generally positive about Monday starts, employee engagement, or lack of it, is still an issue for many organisations. Research by the CBI reports that as many as 13% of days lost to sickness in 2005 were considered non-genuine by employers. This is estimated to cost the economy £1.2bn.”
The smaller the company, the happier the worker, according to the survey, with workers in organisation with between 500 and 1,000 staff being twice as likely to get the Monday blues compared with those on businesses with between 20 and 100 people.
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Length of service was also a factor, with those affected by Monday blues rising to 12% for those with less than two years service.
Chiumento said: “Organisations must look for new ways of motivating and engaging staff by trying to remove the reasons why staff may be absent in the first place. Engaged employees will be more likely to embrace Mondays, thereby giving themselves a great head start mentally to tackle challenges and contribute more to the business as a whole.”