Case study: the impact of undervalued employees

Valued employees help your business’ bottom line. Without them, your culture, your productivity, your finances and your reputation are at risk. So, it only makes sense to do everything in your power to ensure your employees leave feeling appreciated, right?

Sadly, that’s not always the case. According to our research, more than two in five employees finish the working day feeling unvalued. And the effects can be disastrous…

Case study

We recently spoke to an employee who feels unappreciated in their current job, to get a true understanding of the knock-on effects.

What went wrong

The employee said: “When I first joined the company, everything was plain sailing – perhaps I was in the ‘newbie bubble’. My colleagues would moan to me about this and that, and I couldn’t understand where they were coming from – their frustrations soon became apparent though.

“My manager quickly became very complacent. I was giving my all day in, day out, and getting next to nothing back in terms or recognition. That alone was demoralising. I felt like they were taking credit for all my hard work and reaping all the benefits.

“When I took the role, I was told there’d be lots of scope for progression, but I’ve not been given any opportunities to advance my skillset or knowledge, and feel like I’ve completely stagnated since I joined. I’ve tried to raise my concerns when we have one-to-one sessions, but it’s like it goes in one ear and out of the other.”

The snowball effect

“It took me a while to see the effect it was having on me at first, but bit by bit I began feeling like my job and everything it involved me doing was worthless, which made me question my capabilities in general,” the employee told us.

“I certainly don’t see a future with the business I’m currently with, so their long term success means very little to me. Because I don’t feel invested or bothered about the business, I care less and less about what I’m doing and actively put less effort into what I do.”

A completely different work ethic

The employee expanded: “I used to have passion and drive, but now I just do the bare minimum. I start and finish on the dot, I don’t do any more work than I’m asked to do, and I don’t feel like it matters whether I do a good or bad job anymore.

“That alone is a big struggle for me. I love to work hard and normally go above and beyond, but I feel like that work ethic has been ground out of me over time.”

Upping sticks

“I’m actively looking for jobs elsewhere, and will be leaving my current employment as soon as I find something suitable,” the employee spoke.

“The sense of lack of worth has started to bleed into my personal life and really take its toll on my wellbeing and outlook, which isn’t something I can put up with any longer.

“While the company I work for offers a good product and I got on with my colleagues well, I certainly wouldn’t recommend the company to people I know as a good place to work.”

And that’s just one employee. Can you imagine the detrimental impact of having a handful of employees – or even an entire workforce, manifesting similar outlooks?

It’s not too late

If you’re worried about your workforce, it’s not too late to turn things around. To get you started, we recently took a look at why employees feel unvalued, and shared 14 tips to help boost their appreciation levels.

If you’re in need of some hands on help on how to roll out a healthy working environment, then our HR experts are here to do just that.

To find out just how much we could start helping you today, get in touch with the team on 0345 844 1111 or hello@citation.co.uk.