Only half (51%) of British employees surveyed say they are frequently happy at work, according to Reward Gateway | Edenred’s Bridging the ROI Gap Report, which explores the four key employee trends for businesses to consider in the next year, while a quarter (25%) do not often feel valued.
51% of employees surveyed say they are only frequently happy at work
A quarter of employees (25%) feel unappreciated, and 22% feel unvalued
As we close out 2025, this poses significant challenges for businesses in the New Year as the report reveals a clear link between under-appreciated employees, low morale and productivity. Despite this, only 58% of employers are currently tracking motivation and productivity, posing a risk to their bottom line. This is especially pertinent as 74% of employees stated that they were more productive when they felt supported.
The research found that 25% of employees often don’t feel appreciated, while 22%2 of employees often don’t feel valued in their workplace. This rises with age, as over a third (35%) of those aged 55+ say they often don’t feel appreciated, and 30% say they often don’t feel valued.
A major driver of this could be because emotional wellbeing simply isn’t high on the list of priorities when it comes to employees – while 66% of HR managers surveyed who track support and wellbeing regularly measure the relationship between this emotional capital metric and business outcomes, over half (53%) of those who track employee happiness regularly measure the relationship between employee happiness and business outcomes.
Suzanna Kemal, Head of HR at Reward Gateway | Edenred, comments: “The link between happiness and productivity is undeniable, and it’s essential that businesses and HR teams recognise this. With almost half of the UK workforce feeling generally unhappy in their place of work, the country is losing out on the creativity, determination and resilience found in a thriving workplace.
“It’s not just happiness that needs to be tracked, but wellbeing overall. Businesses need to take stock of absenteeism, performance and participation, as well as assess emotional capital metrics like happiness and enthusiasm through pulse surveys and one-to-one communications. Without taking these tangible measures, organisations will only fall behind and have their workforce move onto greener pastures without them.”
