A study of 2,000 office workers found that 90% believe regular praise is crucial for productivity, staff retention and team morale.
A unique new tool has been developed to help you choose the right words when you suspect a colleague of pretending to be sick, not pulling their weight, or consistently making terrible tea.
The generator simply requires you to input the workplace situation you’re dealing with and then provides a tactful response.
This comes as a survey of 2,000 office workers revealed the top 20 factors most likely to demotivate them at work, including rude managers, inadequate technology, and pointless meetings.
The research was commissioned by Brother UK, which has launched its Fabulous Feedback Formula to explore the impact of praise and criticism in the workplace.
Greig Millar, from Brother UK, said: “Many common aspects of the working day, from back-to-back meetings to out of date tech, have a big impact on staff’s motivation levels and general mood, and this is impacting UK companies’ productivity.”
“Managers play a central role in creating an environment that allows staff to flourish, and that includes how they deliver feedback on performance – whether good or bad. This tool is a helpful asset for workers of all levels who are working out how to approach colleagues and best deliver feedback.”
A quarter of those surveyed believe that regular insights from their manager or senior colleagues, whether positive or negative, could boost their motivation levels. When feedback is received, employees reported feeling motivated (44%), encouraged (43%) and happy (38%).
The study revealed that positive feedback kept 46% of employees motivated for a week or more, yet three out of 10 workers feel demotivated by solely negative comments without any positive reinforcement.
A fifth of the workforce barely gets any performance insights more than once a month, and 23% find it hard to get updates outside formal meetings. Consequently, 20% are buoyed by their ‘office cheerleaders’, while nearly half frequently offer encouragement to peers themselves.
An overwhelming 90% agree consistent praise is key to boosting productivity, retaining staff, and upholding team spirit. Preference for feedback methods showed over half favour in-person conversations at work, whereas email is the choice for 16%.
Discussing performance issues was difficult for one in five, and over a third of managers find it tough to give any sort of feedback.
Greig Millar commented: “Giving feedback is an important skill in the workplace for everyone, but particularly managers. “Many common aspects of the working day, from back-to-back meetings to out of date tech, have a big impact on staff’s motivation levels and general mood, and this is impacting UK companies’ productivity.”
“Many common aspects of the working day, from back-to-back meetings to out of date tech, have a big impact on staff’s motivation levels and general mood, and this is impacting UK companies’ productivity.”
While they could love their role and enjoy working with colleagues, if an employer is rude or doesn’t offer positive or constructive feedback regularly it’s likely to put people off. “.
Top 20 things that demotivate employees:
- Rude managers
- Poor technology to work from
- Constant calls/meetings with no time to do actual work
- Lack of flexibility
- Only ever getting negative feedback, rather than positive
- Hearing others got a pay rise when I didn’t
- Managers/senior staff not sharing any updates/news with me
- Not getting the recognition I deserve from a team project
- Colleagues regularly moaning about work
- Repetitive tasks
- Being stuck in the office when it’s nice outside
- Seeing others get promoted while I’m still in the same position I always have been
- A boring/long commute
- Never/rarely getting feedback from my manager
- When there’s a domino effect of people leaving to go elsewhere
- Having to work in silence – chatting/music is banned
- Running out of annual leave too soon into the year
- A bland/outdated office space
- Seeing others get shoutouts on social media / internal emails while I don’t
- Eating lunch at my desk
