A survey of 2,000 British employees shows that a lack of engagement is costing the UK economy £270 million a year. Additionally, only 20% of employees care enough about their jobs to develop their roles.

Maverick, a brand engagement agency, documented the rates of engagement in different sectors and found that a 10% investment in staff engagement would yield additional profits of £2,700 per employee per year.

“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,” Simon Kenwright, director of engagement at Maverick, says. “Businesses need to wake up and see that investing in their people isn’t just a fluffy nice-to-have. It can be worth a fortune, not just to their own bottom line, but to the health of the UK economy as a whole.”

The Engage for Success organisation, set up last year and backed by the Government, aims to increase awareness of the impact employee engagement can have on productivity and performance. It points to strategy, engaging managers, employee voice and integrity as the core themes to improving engagement. Engage for Success says engaged employees lead to an 18% improvement in productivity and 35% more efficiency.

On another note, organisations in the bottom ranks of employee engagement document 62% more health and safety related accidents. The Maverick survey says that 63% of workers had never been trained in the importance of their organisation’s values, particularly in the retail sector.