UK employees are feeling more broke than at any time in the last five years, fed-up with their jobs, disillusioned about their professional future and underpaid.

This is the picture of the average British worker that we can piece together from a range of research which came out this week, including our own annual Edenred Barometer of employee wellbeing.

First up, the TUC calculated that low pay growth and reduced working hours accounted for an erosion of 7.5% in pay over the last five years.

This was backed up by the influential Institute for Fiscal Studies whose research found that falls in pay were highest outside of London with employees in the North West and South West bearing the brunt of the wage drop.

When it came to the impact of all of this on the workplace, our research found the relationship between employers and employees very stretched indeed.

Barely a quarter of workers said they were fulfilled at work (27%) and only third said they regularly felt happy (35%). Nearly half (48%) said they would consider moving jobs today.

In terms of attitudes to pay, only 39% said they were satisfied with what they received and nearly half (44%) said their wages didn’t go far enough.

While the research didn’t ask whether pay was the prime driver of discontent, I think that when you look at the figures, you have to conclude that wage stagnation combined with a lack of confidence that employees can progress in their current organisation are the cause of the want-away attitude which now permeates the UK workforce.

This creates a big headache for any employer, big or small.

While an economic recovery may be in sight, money is still tight. In private sector organisations, conserving cash is a priority while the public sector has years of cuts to come.

Equally, doing nothing is not an option. An organisation with people who see their job as routine, uninspiring and feel underpaid is unlikely to thrive in the long term.

A sustainable solution will not, however, simply involve paying people more:  we need something more creative which ties people and their organisations more closely together.

One opportunity comes in the shape of variable or other forms of pay which are linked to the performance of an organisation – with just 30% of employees saying current arrangements are satisfactory there is much that can be done here.

A second opportunity comes in the area of benefits. Again, only 37% of employees think what is on offer meets their needs. Given other industry research in this area it is highly likely that they simply don’t know about what is on offer or understand the value of what they are being given. Communication and improvement of the benefits proposition come at a low cost to employers and deliver high value to employees.

Then there is innovation. Employers can cut living costs and improve quality of work-life balance with a creative approach to working hours, time spent at the workplace and other areas of employee support.  Considering how HR policy can amplify the pay and benefits mix is a last opportunity for organisations.

The findings of this week’s surveys may make for hard reading but there should be no reason for gloom. This type of insight gives every employer the opportunity to plan and act so they retain the people they need as we head into a long-overdue economic recovery.

The only thing you can’t afford to do is ignore it – if ever there was a chance for HR to show its influence and business value it is now.

Andy Philpott is sales and marketing director at Edenred – you can access more insights on our knowledge hub –  www.edenred.co.uk/ehub/ 

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