UK employees, more likely to leave their jobs than their European neighbours

One in four UK employees are thinking about leaving their job and this is more than in other major European economies, reveals new research by ISR. The research also reveals that too many employees in UK companies think that their organisation is doing a poor job at keeping its most talented employees.

The global employee research and consultancy firm believes that organisations are finding it hard to motivate and retain their talented staff because they arenít offering adequate development opportunities. Moreover, they conclude that this could be harming the financial performance of UK PLC.

ISR examined data that reflects the views of 262,799 employees in Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands. They then compared the results to data drawn from organisations with the strongest financial performance globally.

According to the research, just 13% of people in high performing companies are thinking about leaving their job. British firms are significantly lagging behind this benchmark, with 24% of employees holding this view. Italian (12%) and German (10%) employees are the least likely to be thinking about leaving their jobs.

French and British employees are the least likely to think that their firm is doing a good job at retaining talented people. The research reveals that nearly half of both UK (46%) and French (47%) employees think that their employer is not doing a good job of retaining its most talented employees. In the worldís best performing organisations only 29% of people hold this view. German employees are the least likely to say that their company is not doing a good job at retaining its employees.

The research also showed that UK firms are providing too few opportunities for personal development, and ISR concludes that this is preventing organisations from retaining talented employees.

ISR data revealed that:

33% of British employees say that their company isnít doing a good job at developing people to their full potential, and this is 10% points behind the global high performance benchmark.

26% of Britons say that they donít have an opportunity for personal development and growth in their company, and this is 9% points behind the global high performance benchmark.

The findings are significant because opportunities for personal growth influence the degree to which British employees are motivated, engaged and prepared to actively contribute to an organisationís success. If employees are not engaged they are less likely to be interested in the success of an organisation and ultimately this indifference can have a negative impact on an organisationís financial results.

Indeed, ISR research has revealed the difference that employee engagement makes to an organisationís financial performance. The firm compared the financial performance of organisations with a highly engaged workforce to their peers with a less engaged workforce, over a 12 month period.

The research showed that:

Operating Income in the group of companies with high levels of employee engagement improved on average by 19.2% over 12 months, while in companies with low levels of engagement it declined by 32.7%.

Over the same period, the group of companies with highly engaged employees saw a 13.7% improvement in their Net Income growth rate, and those with less engaged employees saw a 3.8% decline.

Nick Tatchell, Senior Project Director, ISR said:

ìAgainst a background where the traditional idea of career progression is increasingly obsolete, talented employees pay far greater attention to whether their employer encourages them to acquire new skills and develop their capabilities. Our research suggests that a workplace culture in which people can maximise their potential is still largely absent. Without it, there is high risk that people will either put minimum levels of effort into their job, or look for opportunities elsewhere. Both of these can have a serious impact on an organisationís financial performance.î