The results from our latest survey across Europe shows that 33% of UK workers have gone as far as looking for a new job due to frustrations around operational inefficiency.
We talked to 3,000 workers from across the UK, France, and Germany. The findings highlight frustrations over inefficiencies at work and the worrying impact this is having on how engaged, productive, and happy employees are in their roles.
We conducted the Wrike Digital Work Report 2018 to better understand the knock-on effect of operational inefficiencies on workers, and ultimately businesses. Nearly a third (29%) of UK workers say that they have become disengaged due to inefficiencies at work. Of those who were feeling most stressed, 66% said that over the last two years they’ve seen increased expectations around the speed at which they must deliver work. Added to that, 59% of all UK workers said that their workload has gone up since 2016, with a negative impact on stress levels (69% said it had increased).
With an ever-increasing workload and a seemingly endless desire to have work completed ‘yesterday,’ here are the reasons UK workers are citing for their frustrations:
- No clear direction on projects or tasks (31%)
- Using slow or outdated technology (38%)
- The company’s way of working demonstrates outdated thinking (39%)
- New processes and changes to processes spark anxiety (34%)
- For those who are already stressed, lengthy approval cycles are adding to the frustration (45%)
In addition to these functional frustrations, 50% of the most stressed UK workers said that they felt undervalued by their boss, despite the fact that 67% of them are doing more hours in the office, 46% are working more on weekends, and 56% are taking fewer breaks. 47% of the most stressed respondents believed, given the opportunity, they could do a better job than their managers.
Demands on businesses to offer top-rate services or products, personalised to individual requirements, and delivered in real time are the reality of today’s business environment. It’s down to leadership within companies to figure out how to keep up with these demands without burning their employees out.
Of UK workers who’ve admitted to looking for another job, 81% also experienced rising stress levels (this figure was 77% in France and 76% in Germany), suggesting there is clearly an emerging issue that needs to be addressed immediately.
So, if you’re aware that your team is super stressed, maybe the starting point is to look at ways to genuinely help them be more efficient – simplifying approval processes, using the latest technology and ensuring they have crystal clear direction.
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