Bosses worse at motivating since the recession

More than half the UK's bosses - 52 per cent - have got worse at motivating their staff since the recession began, according to a survey of over 1,600 workers by the campaign Keep Britain Working, published today (Monday 15 June 2009).

The campaign, which promotes innovative ways to preserve and create jobs, calls on people to share their motivational ideas on KeepBritainWorking.com

Specific examples of de-motivating boss behaviour revealed by the Keep Britain Working survey include:

a charity boss who brought in his hunting rifle and pretended to fire it at staff to make them work harder

a boss who made staff clean toilets because she had sacked the cleaners to save money

a boss who cut staff hours and pay while boasting about using his bonus to re-decorate his house

a public sector boss who advised a worker that people were queueing up for her job

a telecoms boss who chanted "hit this target, keep your job...hit this target, keep your job"

One in three bosses have increased their criticism and blaming of others, nearly a third have hidden themselves away, more than one in four have simply become indifferent, a quarter have pretended that nothing's happening, while 17 per cent have started shouting and raging.

Only one in six bosses have done more to motivate staff since the recession began, according to the Keep Britain Working survey.

More than half of all workers believe bosses failing to motivate staff lowers productivity, and more than a third think it makes company failure more likely.

So, we at ChristmaspartiesUK feel that there is a stronger argument than ever for giving the company a deserved end of year celebration! It's a very small price to pay for such a boost in morale and motivation and the cost in lost productivity and motivation could damage any business well into 2010. And finally remember that the benefits of holding a party start as soon as the event is announced!

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