A third of British workers could not care less whether their company succeeds or fails as long as they get their pay cheque at the end of the month, according to new research.
A study of 15,000 UK workers by consultancy International Survey Research found that while the overwhelming majority – 85 per cent – enjoyed their work, a significant minority feel unengaged and indifferent about their organisation's success..
Nevertheless, nine out of 10 said they got on well with colleagues, three-quarters felt their skills and abilities were being well used and more than seven out of 10 felt they were doing something worthwhile.
But, worryingly for employers, the UK still comes only seventh on ISR's Employee Engagement Index of the world's 10 largest economies.
Such low levels of engagement are bad news financially, with companies that have low levels of engagement reporting net profits falling by 1.38 per cent and operating margins down by 2.01 per cent over a 36-month period, said ISR.
In firms with above average levels of engagement, by comparison, profits rose by 2.06 per cent and operating margins by 3.74 per cent over the same period.
Nick Tatchell, project director at ISR said: "It is encouraging that Britons enjoy their jobs but disappointing that such a high percentage of employees are indifferent to their organisations' success.
"The worrying thing for UK companies is that this indifference can lead to a reduction in profits," he added.
"Leaders and managers can make a difference by ensuring that all employees understand the contribution they make to the success of an organisation."
The key elements of good employee engagement were having clear, long-term career opportunities, confidence in the quality of products and services being offered by your organisation and how much respect people are shown in their workplace, ISR added.