Most
employers do not have a clear picture of their employees’ skills or how hard
they work, research claims.
A
survey by workforce consultancy Netengines claims poor management means UK
businesses – by their own admission – are running at just four-fifths of their
full potential.
The
research finds one in five companies have no idea how many people work for
them, half don’t know what skills they have on board and three in five don’t
know how hard their staff work.
Netengines
CEO Andrew Binns said: "Workers used to resent being ‘just a number’, but
now millions of employees aren’t even that, as far as their bosses are
concerned.
"Employers
don’t know they are there, what they are good at or how much work they are
doing.
"Two
in three firms told us this sloppiness was harming them – but they don’t have
plans to do anything about it."
The
study claims businesses’ lack of knowledge about their staff also wastes skills
and money.
Two
in three companies can’t efficiently match employees to jobs ñ despite a
greater need to in the current economic climate. Instead they spend money
recruiting new staff.
Binns
added: "Companies admit they could step up output by a quarter. Businesses
can’t afford to lose staff they could use better, because the cost of
recruitment is rising."
