Partner Article

British workers miss fewer days compared to Europe

…but Brits were the least engaged and had the smallest proportion of employees who were happy and motivated

Ayming, the business performance consultancy, has released its 8th absenteeism barometer, analysing workplace absenteeism and employee engagement across Europe.

The research has revealed that UK workers missed fewer days at work last year than anywhere else in Europe, with 84% of workers in the UK at work every day. That compared to 72% in the rest of Europe, and just 71% in France.

By gender, the proportion of women in the UK who were at work every day was 88% surpassing that of men (83%). Employees aged 26-30 had the lowest attendance record – only 71% missed no days at work – while employees aged 51-62 had a near perfect attendance record of 92%.

Despite the fact that UK workers took less time off work than any other country in Europe, British workers had the smallest proportion of both happy and motivated employees, at just 23%. In contrast, 46% of German employees and 54% of Dutch employees regarded themselves as both happy and motivated.

In addition, at 42%, British workers were the least engaged with the future of the business they work for, with employee engagement an increasing concern for UK-based businesses.

Of those British workers who were happy and motivated, they were typically male, aged 31-40, located in London, and employed for the company for less than six years.

86% of workers who are happy at work said the content of their work was the factor that was keeping them motivated, while those who were unhappy, 36% said they were demotivated by the lack of personal development and work recognition.

Martin Hook, Managing Director at Ayming UK, commented: “This research shows that even though we’re geographically close to our European neighbours, UK employers face an increasingly unique and complex set of issues. Whilst employees in the UK spend more days at work than anywhere else in Europe, they are also the least engaged.

“Clearly more needs to be done in the UK to address employee engagement – especially as there is plenty of evidence to suggest that low employee engagement can have a very real effect on business profitability.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Lucy Blanchard .