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Disengaged Retail Workforce Costs UK £628 Million a Year 

77% of UK retail employees are not engaged with their company brand values

The Budget’s failure to freeze the sharp rise on business rates has brought little comfort to UK retailers, yet the latest employee engagement figures highlight that the sector loses £628 million per year by failing to inspire its employees.

retail employees were some of the most disengaged in the country

Of the 2000 workers surveyed by brand engagement agency Maverick, retail employees were some of the most disengaged in the country. Of the 77 per cent that admitted to not engaging with their company’s brand values, a further 63 per cent of workers in the sector said they’d never been trained on the importance of these values.

The research also revealed that, by investing just ten percent more in staff engagement, UK businesses in all sectors could add £2700 per employee per year in profits. This could result in a staggering £49 billion growth across UK plc, equivalent to 3 per cent of the country’s current GDP.

Not aware of their firms’ promotional messages

Moreover, the study highlighted that almost a quarter of employees working for companies who regularly advertise weren’t aware of their firms’ promotional messages or what they were expected to do to support marketing campaigns at the point of sale. A further 60 per cent failed to understand how fundamental their employer’s organisational values were to their own job roles.

The findings throw light on an issue that is being closely scrutinised by the UK business community, following the launch of the Engage for Success taskforce, set up in 2012 by Nita Clarke and David Macleod. The government-backed organisation aims to raise awareness of employee engagement and its impact on productivity and performance across all sectors of the economy and its taskforce includes representatives from Barclays, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer.

Simon Kenwright, Head of Engagement at Maverick comments: “The amount of money that is being lost through something as simple as helping staff to understand and engage with the company they work for is shocking. Businesses need to wake up and see that investing in their people can be worth a fortune, not just to their own bottom line, but to the health of the UK economy as a whole.”

About Maverick
Maverick is a brand engagement agency which offers a wide range of integrated marketing and communications services to both UK and international companies.

Image courtesy of aopsan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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