Public Servant Lifestyle

While employees in the US and UK express about the same levels of overall satisfaction with their jobs – 67% satisfaction in the US and 71% in the UK – UK workers appear to be more content with many aspects of their day-to-day work life, according to a new survey.

The study – conducted in the US as People at Work and in the UK as Britain at Work – polled a representative sample of more than 5,700 workers about their perceptions of their job, organisation, work environment, compensation, benefits, and the management of their organisation.

The largest differences revealed in the survey (from Mercer Human Resource Consulting) relate to issues of cooperation, fairness, and quality, as well as the role and effectiveness of workers' immediate managers.

For example:

- 85% of UK workers, compared to 70% of US workers, say the people they work with cooperate to get the job done.

- 76% of UK employees, versus 64% in the US, feel personally that they are treated fairly in their organisation.

- 75% of UK workers, compared to 63% of US workers, say commitment to quality is a high priority in their organization.

Views Of Senior Management

Neither workers in the US nor the UK hold particularly positive views of senior management, although the US workers are less generous in their assessment of management's effectiveness.

According to Mercer's survey, fewer than half of the US employees say senior management does a good job of establishing clear priorities (47%) or establishing clear objectives (48%), compared to 54% and 57%, respectively, in the UK. And only 33% of the employees surveyed in the US and 37% in the UK say senior management does a good job of confronting issues before they become major problems. When it comes to managing the organization as a whole, 44% of US workers and 50% of UK workers say senior management does a good job.

In addition, just 34% of US workers and 39% of UK workers say they trust management to always communicate honestly. Only 40% of US employees and 45% of UK employees believe management's behaviors are consistent with organizational values.

Views of immediate managers

While senior management receive low marks, workers tend to hold their immediate managers (e.g., a department manager) in somewhat higher regard. In particular, UK workers gave more favorable responses on many aspects of their manager’s and their department's performance.

Workers giving a favorable response

- My department has a clear understanding of our customers' needs (UK 85% / US 78%)

- My manager has sufficient authority to effectively manage our group (UK 74% / US 64%)

- My manager encourages open, honest, two-way communication (UK 67% / US 60%)

- I believe that my department is well managed (UK 57% / US 50%)

- In my department, differing views are valued and openly discussed when making decisions (UK 56 / US 45%)

- My manager plays an active role in my personal career planning (UK 41% / US 27%)

"Workers in the UK and US share a similar view of top management, which perhaps shows the global influence of the recent corporate scandals in the US," says Rod Fralicx, PhD, global employee research director for Mercer. "But UK workers clearly have a more positive view of their immediate managers. This could be a difference of style or expectations. Either UK managers are more effective in some way, or US workers have higher – and unmet – expectations about the role and effectiveness of their day-to-day managers."

Reward alignment

While neither group of employees rate their employers high on the propensity to link rewards with performance, US employers were more likely to agree with the following:

– When I do a good job, my performance is rewarded (29% of US workers agree with this statement versus 20% of UK workers).

– In my organisation, teamwork and cooperation are rewarded (32% of US workers agree, versus 23% of UK workers). "This statistic contrasts with the finding that most UK workers consider their co-workers to be cooperative," Dr. Fralicx notes. "Their spirit of cooperation does not appear to be motivated by pay."

Opinion surveys

UK workers have a more positive outlook regarding employee opinion surveys conducted by their employer. More of them say they believe management would communicate the major findings to employees (56% vs. 43%) and take meaningful action on the issues identified (39% vs. 26%).

More information available in Work Environment