Society: Survey: Only 48 percent do their best at work

Many people in Germany lack motivation at work. This is shown by a survey by the auditing and consulting company EY. Not even every second employee (48 percent) says they do their best at work. The level of motivation in this country is therefore below the international average of 54 percent. 17,350 people worldwide took part in the survey in August. 1,000 of them in Germany.

According to the information, employees in France (37 percent), the Netherlands (36 percent) and Japan (19 percent) were in some cases significantly less motivated. In contrast, employees in India (67 percent), China (59 percent) and the USA (57 percent) felt more motivated at work.

According to the survey, older employees are the most motivated: 63 percent of the “baby boomers” surveyed said they were doing their best with their current employer. Among younger employees from the so-called Gen Z, the proportion was 43 percent. And recommend your employer to a friend? Only 44 percent of those surveyed in Germany would do this. A below-average value compared to the rest of the world.

EY expert: Results should give us something to think about

EY partner Nelson Taapken said: “If people in countries like India and China – sometimes under significantly worse conditions – go about their work with more motivation than employees here, we as a society, but especially employers, should think about it give”. It’s understandable that you can’t be equally motivated every day. From the management’s point of view, it becomes problematic when unmotivated work becomes a permanent condition. However, this is never a coincidence.

According to Taapken, there are always reasons why employees develop such an attitude. And for some factors there is no management panacea. But: “Companies can work on the vast majority of the causes, such as poor leadership, a poor company culture as well as a lack of communication or stress caused by too much work.”