Many British businesses could be doing more to increase productivity in their workforce and get the best out of their staff, a new report suggests.

Hay Group published a study showing that nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of workers have the motivation to go beyond their formal job responsibilities, but 41 per believe they are not being given the chance to achieve peak productivity.

The consultancy firm's research was based on a database of information encompassing more than 400 organisations and 6.7 million employees across 46 countries.

One finding was that 45 per cent of UK workers think they face barriers to doing their job well, which could spur some employers to consider using tools such as staff rostering systems to increase efficiency.

A similar proportion (44 per cent) of respondents did not believe their company played its part in motivating them.

Mark Royal, senior principal at Hay Group, warned that many UK companies are facing a "motivation gap", which is having a negative impact on productivity and retention levels.

There were some positive results, with levels of employee engagement increasing by one percentage point from last year to 65 per cent.

More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of people said they felt proud to work for their employer, although half (49 per cent) expressed an intention to leave their current job within the next five years.

Mr Royal commented: "The UK is making progress on engagement. However, our research shows that 4.3 million UK workers will leave their organisations in 2015 alone, 765,000 more than in 2012.

"As a result, employers need to do more to help engage and enable staff. Otherwise, they face losing key talent as soon as the job market picks up."

A recent survey by recruitment consultancy Office Angels found that levels of happiness in the British workforce have increased by a fifth compared to last year, with more than half (56 per cent) of people saying they were happy at work.