Employers fail to recognise and harness talent

March 21, 2002

Employers fail to recognise and harness talent

According to new research, UK workers feel that their talents are under-used, and yearn to do more at work. Many blame their bosses for under-estimating their abilities or being uninterested in finding out about their career hopes. Over one in five crave more challenging work and nearly a quarter want to play a bigger part in their organisation.

Bringing out the Best, a new report published today (21 March 2002) by HR consultancy Chiumento, catalogues the findings of street interviews during February 2002 with over 1000 people of working age in Birmingham, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.

The results uncover a world of frustrated potential. Almost a third (29%) of workers feel their boss underestimates their abilities. A quarter (25%) has given up making suggestions, claiming that no one would take any notice. Nearly a third of employees (31%) believe that there is a lot of wasted talent in their organisation. Many workers want their bosses to give them more responsibility: nearly a quarter (23%) wants to play a bigger part in their organisation, and over one in five (22%) would like to be given more challenging work.

Nearly half of employees (43%) claim to receive little or no coaching to draw out their talents and over a third (34.9%) rarely or never have reviews to discuss career progress. 47% say that public praise or thanks are rarely or never given in their organisation.

However, it isn’t all bad news: nearly two-thirds of the workforce still say they feel motivated at work, and just over a quarter (27%) feel very fired up at work.

Tim Morris, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at Imperial College Management School comments:
“The results should be seen as encouraging news for employers. They show that many of their employees are willing to take on more responsibilities at work. Employers can respond by providing opportunities for challenging assignments, coaching staff effectively and training, measures which are usually cheaper and more effective than trying to poach good people from other firms to improve productivity.”