Happiness is the most common emotion experienced by employees at work (28%) according to a UK-wide survey of more than 2,000 working-age professionals by career and leadership experts Right Management.
But happiness is closely followed by boredom and a lack of motivation (21%), while pride (20%) is the third most common emotion experienced by British employees.
The survey engaged with 1,700 employees including senior managers, executives and HR professionals, plus 250 business leaders, to understand how both employees and leaders are faring across Britain, and where they could benefit from additional support in the workplace.
The age group who are most likely to be bored at work are those aged 18 to 24, otherwise known as Gen Z (23%). Yet the survey also finds that it is 18-24 year old leaders who are most concerned about reduced employee productivity (37%) because of hybrid-working. Gen Z leaders place this concern much higher than having no clear distinction between home and work life (11%), which is considered the biggest challenge by leaders aged 55+ (33%).
The Right Management survey also finds that 91% of leaders believe they have earned their right to be in their position. Unsurprising perhaps. But if this is the case, why is imposter syndrome currently so rife amongst leaders?
Breaking it down further still, one in five company leaders (20%) believe that because they are self-made they do not need to partake in leadership programmes designed to develop and enhance their skills. Business owners are more likely to be divided on their stance to leadership development – with a quarter (27%) saying they are keen to do more leadership development programmes alongside a similar number (23%) saying they are self-made and therefore do not feel they need any support.
Two in five (40%) company leaders said they would consider paying for their employees to join a leadership development programme (43% of Directors and 37% of Business Owners), while one in five (21%) say they would not be the leader they are today if they hadn’t been on leadership development programmes in the past (24% Directors and 19% Business Owners).
Jacques Quinio, Leadership Solutions Director at Right Management, adds: “We’re seeing signs of a very muddled workforce; it seems that nobody quite knows what they want from the workplace at the moment. Employees are telling us they’re happy and bored at the same time. Younger employees especially say they’re experiencing boredom in work but their generation has been a key catalyst for social media trends such as acting your wage, quiet-quitting and Bare-Minimum Monday’s. The majority of leaders meanwhile tell us they’re confident they’ve earned their position at the boardroom table, and yet we know from other research including a YouGov survey last year, that one in five leaders admit to feeling like a fraud in the workplace.”
“On the whole, our workforce is showing signs of confusion and contradiction. When you take into context the upheaval and transformation that has taken place across nearly every workplace in the past few years, this is perhaps not entirely surprising. As the debate about hybrid-working rumbles on (we’ve found 70% of employees feel they work better as a team in-person but only 1% say face-to-face time with colleagues contributes to their wellbeing) bigger concerns are transpiring around the future of work and issues such as AI and automation.
“While there is acknowledgement that leadership development training is key to building an effective workforce, there is also seemingly a worrying lack of commitment from senior professionals that is preventing support from being delivered to help people and businesses reach their full potential and desired outcomes.”
Jacques Quinio, Leadership Solutions Director at Right Management, adds: “It’s crucial for organisations to understand the importance of ongoing development support for their leadership population. The world of work is constantly evolving, and the skills that were of value five years ago have changed – and will change again in another five years. Leaders have to remain agile and adaptable to these changes, but its only through understanding where their development needs lie and having access to the necessary support that leaders can futureproof themselves for long-term success.”
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