Britain can climb from “productivity pit” if firms provide staff financial rewards

The British cities with the richest and poorest workers in the country

The study was conducted by incentive services firm Xactly which discovered that 34 per cent of British workers would be motivated by increased pay, followed by 27 per cent who want financial bonuses and commission, but seemingly this is falling on deaf ears.

Indeed, despite the desire, 45 per cent of respondents receive a fixed rate of pay and have no hope of securing a bonus, while a further 25 per cent said their performance will not affect their earnings.

The UK is experiencing a widely publicised productivity problem at present and Xactly believes that employers must pay to boost this and engage with staff. In fact, among those who have previously received a bonus, 69 per cent said it pushed them towards a new career goal within nine months.

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“The UK is currently experiencing a huge productivity challenge – UK productivity currently falls behind the likes of the US, Italy, Germany and France. The government is taking steps to address this with the Productivity Plan announced this year, but UK plc must play its part too,” said Tom Castley, ‎VP of EMEA at Xactly.

“These findings highlight the gap between what motivates employees and what businesses are doing to engage them. The best way to boost productivity is to boost employee engagement – financial incentives are key. Of course, this isn’t about throwing money at the problem – but smart, performance-based financial reward must be utilised to help the UK pull itself out of the productivity pit.”

Research also revealed that 33 per cent wouldn’t work if they didn’t have to, though 28 per cent claimed they would remain in a job.

It’s not all cash-related though. Answering what would help them go that extra step further for the business, an additional 27 per cent said that internal recognition would be welcome, 25 per cent would like flexible working hours and 23 per cent desire opportunities for personal career growth in order to remain on less pay.

Castley added: “This research shows the answer to boosting the UK workforce’s productivity lies with incentive and compensation schemes.

“While money is unsurprisingly a big driver in encouraging staff to go above and beyond the call of duty, it is not the sole motivator. It is vital for organisations to ditch the ‘one size fits all’ approach and tailor their compensation schemes to positively encourage their satisfied and motivated workforce.”

By Zen Terrelonge

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