British Employees Care Passionately About Business Success but Lack the Support to Achieve It

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Mindjet

21 Jan, 2013, 08:00 GMT

LONDON, January 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Research from Mindjet reveals that a lack of motivation, senior direction and inefficient communication is holding back businesses

  • Half of British office workers (54%) care passionately about helping their employer to be successful and they take their role in their employers' success seriously (49%)
  • British CEO's have been striving to achieve operational efficiency and consolidation over the last year, as well as growth in emerging markets , which according to the Cebr, hasn't gone well
  • This is no wonder when one third of workers (32%) think they need to change their everyday working practices in order to be more successful in their role but a quarter (24%)"haven't got round to it" and 19% feel unmotivated to succeed
  • We're looking for better support - lack of resources (24%), senior direction (23%) and inefficient communication (18%) is holding them back

LONDON

At the start of another economically challenging year, research from collaborative work management software provider Mindjet encouragingly reveals that over half of British office workers (54%) say they care passionately about helping their employer to be successful and consider their role in this success seriously (49%). However, after two years of tough times some seem to be feeling battle weary - a third (32%) of UK office workers recognise they need to change their everyday working practices to drive success but 19% are happy to admit that they lack the motivation to do their job to the highest possible standard.

Many businesses set themselves tough goals at the start of this financial year - further research by Mindjet shows that FTSE100 companies are striving to achieve operational efficiency, consolidation and growth in emerging markets, amongst others[1]. The results of this research of over 2,000 British office workers[2], conducted by Opinium, goes some way to explaining why they've struggled to do so. Whilst individuals recognise a need for change, a quarter of those asked said this hadn't happened because they "haven't got around to it".

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1. Opinium Research questioned 2,012 office workers in the UK on 13th December 2012 (http://www.opinium.co.uk)

2. Opinium Research questioned 2,012 office workers in the UK on 13th December 2012 (http://www.opinium.co.uk)

This attitude isn't going unnoticed - almost a third of managers (30%) know they need to improve the way their team works but struggle to motivate them to do so.

Tim Ohlenburg, Senior Economist, Centre for Economics and Business Research, reflects on UK business performance as we enter the last quarter: "As this research shows, UK businesses have been working towards clear goals. However, economic growth has been disappointing this year, which has dramatically limited business profits and constrained expansion. The Eurozone crisis has also hampered aims to expand in emerging markets. Unfortunately the outlook for 2013 is still lacklustre. Given that the fourth quarter GDP growth is likely to be negative at the end of this this financial year, businesses are looking at a slow start. At a time when businesses are still striving to do more with less, they need the full support of their employees to do so, which means they need to address the issues identified by Mindjet as a priority."

Efficient working practices and communication are clearly key to achieving those all-important business goals and making 2013 a more positive year. Aside from motivation, the research also showed that 24% of office workers feel that a lack of resources, senior direction (23%) and inefficient communication (18%) is still holding them back from fulfilling their potential; which in turn means they're enjoying their job less (27%) and feel stressed (27%).

According to Professor Nelson Phillips, Chair in Strategy and Organisational Behaviour, Imperial College London, "Motivated and engaged employees are at the heart of business success, and there's no time when this is more true than in tough economic conditions. Yet, it's just at this moment that employee motivation and engagement drops as their employers' lack the resources to support and reward them, while constant cost-cutting and pressure undermines morale and enthusiasm. The key to turning things around and getting 2013 off on the right foot is to focus on improving and developing working practices and efficient communication. Business leaders must not get bogged down in cost-cutting, but should strive to communicate a vision that moves employees beyond the current downturn and excites them about the future. This two-pronged approach will help re-engage a workforce badly affected by years of recession."

Chris Norfolk, UK Director at Mindjet, which focuses on helping businesses to generate better ideas and improving how people work together, comments: "Our research shows that UK businesses have spent the last year striving for clear goals. With so many employees

saying they lack resources, senior direction, efficient working practices and communication, alongside crippling economic issues, it's no wonder many are struggling to achieve these. With all signs pointing towards a slow start in 2013, it's essential that businesses and individuals address these problems, and consider how they can inspire employees and work smarter to achieve clear business success."

You can find out more by visiting http://www.changechallenge.co.uk to read the full report.

Mindjet helps people generate better ideas and work smarter that aids brainstorming, the organisation of plans and the management of projects - anytime, anywhere. Both corporate (50%) and enterprise (38%) organisations say they found Mindjet to be really effective at helping them to achieve their objectives. For a free trial go to http://www.mindjet.com.

EDITOR'S NOTES:

1. Mindjet analysed 50 randomly selected CEO statements from FTSE 100 2012/2013 annual reports and found that priorities in order of importance are:

  1. Operational efficiency
  2. Consolidation
  3. Expansion in emerging markets
  4. Reorganising the business
  5. CSR
  6. Risk management
  7. Product innovation
  8. Delivering shareholder value
  9. Sustainable growth
  10. Top-line growth

[2] Opinium Research conducted an online survey amongst 2,012 office workers in the UK between 30th November and 11th December 2012 (http://www.opinium.co.uk)

About Mindjet

Mindjet helps people generate better ideas and work smarter through software that aids brainstorming, the organisation of plans and the management of projects - anytime, anywhere. Our interactive environment uses a visual framework to keep teams on point, on task, on time. Not surprisingly, 83 of the global Fortune 100™ companies use Mindjet to get work done. Find out why.

Mindjet. Work Inspired[TM]. Mindjet and Work Inspired are trademarks of Mindjet which may be registered in the U.S. and other countries.

About CEBR

The Centre for Economics and Business Research is a consultancy organisation that bridges the gap between economics and business. It looks into global market forecasts, predications, business outlook, projections and the UK outlook.

For more information visit http://www.cebr.com

About Professor Nelson Philips

Professor Nelson Philips is the Chair in Strategy and Organisational Behaviour at Imperial College London. Prior to joining Imperial, Professor Philips was the Beckwith Professor of Management Studies at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge from 2002 to 2005 and an Associate Professor in the Strategy and Organisation Area at McGill University in Montreal, Canada from 1993 to 2002.  He has published more than 75 academic studies and book, including articles in the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Management Science, Sloan Management Review, Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Organization, Organizational Research Methods and Organization Studies. He teaches courses in strategy, organisation behaviour, innovation, and leadership at the undergraduate and graduate level.

For more information visit http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/n.phillips