If your office is full of stags rather than bucks you may be in trouble – at least according to a new survey of British workers that has concluded nearly a quarter of workers may be stagnating in their jobs.
Stags, or workers coasting in jobs because they are overly reliant on their wages and personal benefits, are costing employers millions of pounds in lost productivity time or redundancy packages, HR consultancy Rialto has suggested.
It has calculated that approximately 22 per cent (or six million people) in the UK workforce are "stags".
What's worse is that such workers, often some of the most long-standing employees, no longer motivated or inspired to work hard and find it easier to sit tight, so blocking the career ladder of the younger "bucks" trying to make headway in their organisation.
The bucks as a result are forced go elsewhere to advance their careers, so losing your organisation valuable talent.
Organisations with stagnation problems find it difficult to retain young, highly motivated employees and to remain competitive in the marketplace, said Rialto.
For many employers, the solution to stagnation is to make redundancies, but this is often a costly and unnecessary solution, it added.
Richard Chiumento, chief executive of Rialto, recommended employers would be better advised to work with their staff to identify the changes needed to re-inspire and re-motivate them before drastic actions are made.
"Stagnation is already endemic but it is set to become an increasing problem in the future with the rapidly aging workforce," said Chiumento.
"By 2006, there will be more 55-64 year olds than 16-24 year olds in the population, presenting a serious problem if the same conditions continue," he added.
"Businesses are failing their shareholders and staff by failing to address this issue. The company that gets 110 per cent out of 100 per cent of its employees is the one that is going to succeed," he recommended.