Employers must address the increasing dissatisfaction of their workforce if
they want to close the productivity gap between the UK and its main
competitors.
This is the conclusion of a report by the Work Foundation, formerly the Industrial
Society, which reveals employee satisfaction has plummeted over the past
decade.
The report claims the only way to improve productivity is by developing the
social capabilities of staff – by recognising and rewarding creativity,
delivering service-centred leadership and creating a coaching culture.
It shows only 15 per cent of employees are very satisfied with their job
prospects this year compared to 22 per cent in 1992.
Staff are less satisfied with almost every aspect of work including pay,
prospects, hours, workload, job security, variety and training.
Chief executive of the Work Foundation, Will Hutton, said that while job
satisfaction has roughly halved over the period, productivity per head has
stagnated.
He said improvements such as increased R&D expenditure, the development
of no- blame working cultures, knowledge management and autonomous working have
not been enough to buck the trend.
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"The UK’s yawning productivity gap has dogged successive governments.
People, their creativity, ideas and talent, hold the key to making Britain a
more productive nation," he said.
The figures contradict the CIPD’s employee attitudes survey and Mike Emmott,
CIPD employee relations adviser, said: "The figures are surprising."
