A third of U.K employees are feeling uninspired in their workplace, weakening workplace culture, stifling innovation and destroying productivity. Just 19% of U.K. workers admit to thriving in their role, highlighting how organisations are missing the mark when it comes to inspiring their people to break new ground and aim higher.
These are the findings from O.C. Tanner’s Global Culture Report 2026, which gathered insights from more than 38,000 employees across 24 countries, including 1,668 from the U.K.
Robert Ordever, European MD of employee recognition specialist, O.C. Tanner, says, “When employees feel a distinct lack of inspiration, they’ll find it hard to give their best at work and are likely feeling disengaged, unfulfilled and disconnected from colleagues and managers. It’s therefore key that leaders find ways to energise and motivate their people, so they have a desire to innovate, experiment and learn.”
With 77% of U.K. employees wanting their experience at work to feel inspiring, there’s a clear mismatch between the desire and the reality.
To close this ‘inspiration gap’, O.C. Tanner’s Report recommends nurturing inspiration by giving employees regular opportunities to connect, collaborate, and share ideas with peers, managers, other teams and external sources. Encouraging employees to attend conferences, events, and training courses will help them to generate ideas and adopt new perspectives, while regular one-to-ones, team gatherings, and company events strengthen the sense of community that sparks fresh thinking.
According to O.C. Tanner’s research, 64% of employees often think of new ideas or ways to do their work during conversations with colleagues, and 68% have at least one coworker who inspires them in their work, highlighting how regularly bringing colleagues together can fuel innovation.
The Report also advocates a culture where employees feel safe and empowered to put ideas into action, and are recognised and appreciated when they do. In fact, when employees feel supported by both their leaders and teammates as they experiment, even when things don’t work out, they’re seven times more likely to keep trying new approaches.
Ordever adds, “Innovation can’t thrive in a culture of fear or blame. To spark new thinking, employees need to feel safe to experiment and recognised when they do. By acknowledging and calling out inventive ideas and celebrating effort as much as outcomes, organisations encourage people to repeat those behaviours and inspire others to follow.”
Source – https://hrnews.co.uk/inspiration-drought-33-of-u-k-employees-feel-uninspired-at-work/