Half of UK office workers believe HR teams make no difference to their jobs, a survey has revealed.

The employee engagement survey, by HR service provider Ceridian, also found that 22 per cent of workers feel the HR function actually makes them less satisfied at work, due to HR mistakes that are being made.

Doug Sawers, managing director of Ceridian in the UK, remarked that this makes “grim reading” for the HR function.

“Just 3 per cent of employees surveyed considered the function as important as their manager, which reinforces the view that HR should make sure they get the basics right and provide line managers with the necessary tools to deliver effective people management,” he said.

“HR can then concentrate on innovating in critical areas such as employee acquisition, retention and performance to allow the function to deliver business-led strategic initiatives, which keep their organisations ahead of the competition.”

The survey also showed that, when it comes to differences in age and gender, 26 per cent of male workers were more likely to feel dissatisfied with HR, while 19 per cent of employees aged 16 to 24 were a bit more positive, saying they could see some benefits from introduced HR initiatives.

Plus, older workers aged over 45 were more than twice as likely to look for a new job in the next year because they had a really poor manager.