Britain is home to some of the best work environments in Europe when compared to other major economies, a new study has revealed.
Despite a third of Brits saying they don’t get enough recognition from their boss, some 67 per cent say they think their manager has a genuine interest in their wellbeing and happiness at work.
Almost half say they get on well with their boss on both a professional and personal level and two thirds agree they deserve to be in the position they are in.
But top brass on the continent come off far worse.
Research of 5,000 workers in France, Germany and Italy has revealed over a quarter of European employees feel their bosses have no genuine interest for their wellbeing, with Italians feeling the most underappreciated followed by workers in France and Germany.
In contrast just 22 per cent of Brits would say the same, the lowest number of all four major economies.
What’s more, the survey, commissioned by employee engagement platform Perkbox, found 44 per cent of European employees don’t believe their bosses would be able to complete a day’s work in their job.
This could be due to a lack of interest or effort to engage with them, with 36 per cent of workers on the continent saying their boss has no idea what they do on a day-to-day basis.
Saurav Chopra, Co-founder and CEO of Perkbox, said: “The workplace has a profound effect on shaping the beliefs and values of employees.
“In fact, a key differentiator separating highest performing companies from the rest is the way they look after the wellbeing of their staff.
“It signals ‘the right way’ of doing things and becomes self-reinforcing – you care for them, they will care for your business in return.
“The case of France is an interesting one because most businesses are obliged to provide employee benefits by law.
“But as these stats show, this doesn’t necessarily evidence a ‘genuine interest’ for employee wellbeing.
“Amongst other things, Perkbox France wants to help employers change this perception by supporting them with an extra layer of benefits to give to their teams, catering for the full spectrum of their wellbeing better and out of genuine voluntary interest, not just as a box-ticking exercise.”
According to the research fewer than 17 per cent of EU employees admit to getting on very well with their boss on a professional and personal level.
This is particularly the case in Germany where less than 15 per cent of employees say they have a poor relationship with management.
Only in France is this figure slightly more promising – over a fifth of employees there feel that they get on very well with their bosses both professionally and personally.
The study also found over a quarter of EU employees say they don’t get any form of verbal recognition for doing their job well done.
Italy was worst performing in this regard, where almost a third say they don’t feel they get the recognition.
That compares to just one in five employees in Britain, where workers feel the most appreciated on the continent.
Saurav Chopra added: “It’s worrying to see the lack of recognition being made at a European level based on these findings.
“For a team that is working hard, it can be a long and hard slog to consistently hit targets to the finish line.
“Employee recognition is fundamental to confirm their work is being valued and to keep their employees motivated and engaged.
“Perkbox believes that happy and engaged employees perform better and stick around for longer. To that end, our mission is to ‘build a better society one relationship at a time’ starting from the UK workplaces, but we’re ready for more, our next challenge – France!”
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