Poor leadership in UK businesses is damaging employee productivity

Study shows

Almost half (45%) of employees say their employer does not know how to improve productivity, as new research from Canada Life Group Insurance suggests poor leadership is damaging workers’ performance in UK businesses. The survey of 1,000 employees shows staff take pride in their work but enthusiasm and trust in leadership teams is low, preventing workers from doing their best.

Productivity is a major economic and business issue, with the UK falling behind the average for the other six members of the G7 group of industrial nations¹ by 15% when it comes to productivity performance.

There is a clear disconnect between workers’ perceptions of productivity and economic output, as almost nine in ten (88%) respondents rate their levels of productivity at 70% or above. Of the three quarters (76%) of staff who feel their productivity is being negatively impacted at work, a fifth (22%) blame workplace culture including poor management and lack of recognition. This is topped only by a negative working environment (29%).

When it comes to workplace culture, almost three quarters (70%) of employees don’t feel like they belong to a team or their role in that team is valued. An even higher proportion (81%) do not agree that their line manager or boss motivates, empowers or supports them, while 78% do not feel they are involved in decision making and have a ‘voice’ in the workplace. Only 26% respect their senior leadership team and less than a third (29%) understand the values that form their organisation’s culture.

Table 1: UK employees’ opinions on their work and organisation’s culture