Nearly a third of UK staff feel disengaged and stressed due to inefficiencies at work

Nearly a third (29 percent) of UK workers say that they have become disengaged and a third (33 percent) have gone as far as looking for a new job due to the frustrations of dealing with workplace inefficiencies. Alongside functional frustrations, 50 per cent of the most stressed UK workers said that they felt undervalued by their boss. With 67 percent of them doing more hours in the office, 46 per cent working more on weekends and 56 per cent taking fewer breaks, nearly half (47 per cent) of the most stressed respondents believed, given the opportunity, they could do a better job than their managers. These are some of findings of the Digital Work Survey 2018 which was commissioned by Wrike that highlight frustrations over inefficiencies at work and the worrying impact this is having on how engaged, productive and happy employees are in their roles. Of those who were feeling most stressed, 66 per cent said that over the last two years they’ve seen increased expectations around the speed at which they must deliver work.

Added to that, 59 per cent of all UK workers said that their workload had gone up since 2016, with a negative impact on stress levels (69 per cent said it had increased). With an ever-increasing workload and a seemingly endless desire to have work completed ‘yesterday’, the reasons UK workers are citing for their frustrations include:

• No clear direction on projects or tasks (31 percent)
• Using slow or outdated technology (38 percent)
• The company’s way of working demonstrates outdated thinking (39 percent)
• New processes and changes to processes spark anxiety (34 percent)
• For those who are already stressed, lengthy approval cycles are a key frustration (45 percent)

In addition to these functional frustrations, 50 per cent of the most stressed UK workers said that they felt undervalued by their boss, despite the fact that 67 percent of them are doing more hours in the office, 46 per cent are working more on weekends and 56 per cent are taking fewer breaks. 47 per cent of the most stressed respondents believed, given the opportunity, they could do a better job than their managers.

Andrew Filev, founder and CEO of Wrike comments: “Demands on businesses to offer top-rate services or products, personalised to individual requirements, and delivered in real-time are the reality of today’s business environment. It’s down to leadership within companies to figure out how to keep up with these demands without burning their employees out. We need to find solutions that are relevant to today’s market, with new processes that suit customer demands, and use the powerful technology available to us.”

Of UK workers who’ve admitted to looking for another job, 81 per cent also experienced rising stress levels (this figure was 77 per cent in France and 76 percent in Germany) suggesting there is clearly an emerging issue that needs addressing urgently.