Employers are not getting the most out of their workers. This is the result of a major new survey of more than 2000 workers to come out of the Work Foundation, UK. It’s a concern not just because we are in a recession and jobs are companies are losing staff members left, right and centre, but because a worker knows when they aren’t giving everything they could be. The fact is not likely to keep them happy, nor to keep them in their job.

The survey found:

• 40% of employees have more skills than their jobs require
• 65% of workers said the primary characteristic of the organisations they worked for was ‘rule and policy bound’ – though just 5% said this was their preference
• 40% said they had little or no flexibility over the hours they worked
• 20% of graduates are in ‘low knowledge content’ jobs

‘So far in this recession employers have been reluctant to lose the skills, talents and experience of their workforces. Yet at the same time they seem to be failing to make the most of them. Many people could be doing more, but are denied the chance to do so,’ said Ian Brinkley, co-author of the Knowledge Workers and Knowledge Work report, and associate director at The Work Foundation.

‘To keep job losses to a minimum, organisations should be taking full advantage of widespread opportunities to give people more responsibility, move away from rules and procedure-based workplace cultures, and re-organise work and use new technologies to give individuals more flexibility over hours. More autonomy for people and less intensive management should be the order of the day – in other words greater use of the principles of good work. Trapping so many workers in roles in which their skills and abilities are poorly matched with their jobs is a waste both of economic potential and human possibility.’

Employees who are maximising their capabilities on the job and are in flexible working environments are more motivated, happier, more likely to return quickly and successfully after illness or injury, and, obviously, are more productive.