Globoforce, a leading provider of social recognition solutions, today announced the results of its 2013 UK Workforce Mood Tracker. The survey found that 66 percent of UK workers surveyed do not believe that yearly performance reviews are an accurate appraisal of their work, and more than 75 percent place greater value on peers’ opinions versus managerial feedback alone.
The second annual Globoforce UK Workforce Mood Tracker provides key insights into the UK workforce, including attitudes and perspectives on employee engagement, recognition, reward, and performance. This year’s survey indicates that annual performance reviews are failing to sufficiently engage UK employees. Forty-four percent of respondents feel annual performance reviews fail to motivate them, and 65 percent indicated they actively dislike the process. When asked about the potential of adding crowdsourced data to the review process, 47 percent stated a more accurate picture of performance would result.
“The survey shows that traditional performance reviews are failing to depict a true picture of performance,” said Derek Irvine, vice president of client strategy and consulting, Globoforce. “The opportunity exists for employers to incorporate more collaborative ways to acknowledge workers’ efforts. Crowdsourcing provides employees with feedback that is much more accurate, and is an approach workers are prepared to embrace.”
The Globoforce UK Workforce Mood Tracker also revealed the effect that recognition has on employees. Seventy-seven percent of workers like to have their efforts at work recognised, and 73 percent say that recognition motivates them to do a better job. One-fifth of respondents feel that recognition is the most important part of a job, ranking it higher than job title.
Findings also revealed that failing to show appreciation can have a negative impact on employee motivation and retention with 29 percent stating they have left a company because they were not recognised for the work they do. In addition, 42 percent are looking for a new job due to a lack of recognition in their current role.
The survey also addressed the topic of the annual bonus and discovered that frustrations around executive bonuses still exist. Among those surveyed, 81 percent believe recognition and reward should be distributed more fairly throughout organisations, instead of being confined to senior executives. Similar to findings from last year’s survey, the research shows that 45 percent of UK employees prefer more frequent recognition versus a yearly bonus.
