A new global study from Fauna, the creative employee experience consultancy, shows that having more headspace could transform the working day for thousands of employees, and that a lack of it is currently impacting performance.
Almost six in 10 (59%) say that having a good work-life balance is a core ingredient for their dream day, and when asked about one thing that would better enable them to do their best work, 51% said increased flexibility, work-life balance, and better overall wellbeing. Most employees (58%) say they ‘don’t have enough time to do great work’ and over a quarter (25%) feel deenergized by having no time to get work done.
“The importance of allowing employees to achieve “balanced headspace” came through strongly in the study,” comments Hattie Roche. “Allowing for headspace in our working lives means valuing rest, avoiding burnout and recognising that time away from a task can lead to better performance. It’s not about apathy or pullback from work amongst employees, but giving them the space to complete tasks. It’s understanding that we’re humans, not machines and we need to get on top of the overwhelm that so many people are facing at work”.
The WorkPossible global employee experience research project, in partnership with CultureCon, aims to enlighten organisations, giving them an overview of what people really want their experience of work to be. 5,411 employees across five continents were surveyed. By learning what could enhance employee experiences day to day, and how to implement the necessary changes, organisations can enable their teams to do their best possible work.
Overall, the study found that 1 in 3 (33%) say their employee experiences are currently overall low quality and that’s negatively impacting their performance. While nearly 1 in 3 people (29%) say their employer doesn’t support or think about them as a unique person.
The desire for more empowerment day-to-day also came through clearly in WorkPossible, with 61% of people stating that more empowerment, agency and ownership in their work day would lead to a better experience. The more empowered the person, the better their overall experience at work. The most empowered employees were twice as likely to say they had a good experience at work in comparison to the least empowered employees. Around a quarter of all comments given mentioned autonomy, flexibility to manage own time, and decision-making power.
The importance of recognition at work was also under the spotlight, with over half (52%) of people saying being recognized and valued for the work they do was a core ingredient of their dream day. However, fewer than half (46%) said that their experience of recognition at work was high-quality. And if people feel recognition is a high-quality employee experience, they are 40% more likely to describe their organization and culture as high-performing. And 34% more likely to say their organization supports and thinks about them as a unique person.
When it came to leadership, a gap emerged between what leaders are currently providing, and what their teams need them to provide to enable them to do their best work. The top things people wanted their leaders to do was recognise them, empower them and give them headspace. Whereas the top three things leaders thought they should provide is clarity, listening and human leadership.
A strong link emerged between high quality employee experience and a high-performance culture. 78% of people who describe their employee experiences as high-quality, also describe their culture and organization as high-performing. While 64% of people who describe their current employee experiences as low-quality, have an overall poor experience at work.
The report also covered areas including neurodiversity, with nearly half of all neurodiverse people rating their employee experiences as poor quality (against a figure of 33% overall).
“We know that people want to make an impact and do their best possible work, but the complexity of their employee experience, lack of clear expectations and feelings of overwhelm are getting in their way.” added Hattie. “What’s striking is that none of the things people ask for in the study are unachievable. In fact, there are fundamental human desires that can be addressed through overall changes to the employee experience.
“There’s a proven link between high-quality employee experiences and business performance, so it makes commercial sense for organisations to address these concerns.”
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