Key findings from The Global Workplace Joy Index

At Reward Gateway | Edenred, we believe happiness is serious business, and a core driver of performance for individuals, teams and organisations. But its the everyday moments of joy that can unlock this power and help employees to feel energised, appreciated and connected.

Our latest research, The Global Workplace Joy Index, set out to explore what joy at work looks like, what drives it and its effect on retention, advocacy and productivity. Drawing on insights from more than 26,000 employees and HR leaders across 27 markets, including the UK, the report examines how employees experience joy and how their perspectives compare with HR leaders’ views.

In this blog post, we’ll dive into the key findings from the UK workplace , explore where HR leaders’ perceptions differ from employees’ experiences, and consider what organisations can do to build and sustain joy at work.

Workplace joy is clearly linked with retention and productivity

The global findings point to a business case for workplace joy as a strategic business imperative.

Among workers reporting high levels of joy, 84% expect to stay with their employer over the next year. Among workers with low levels of joy, that drops to 63%.

There is also a substantial difference in how productive people feel, as 73% of High Joy workers say they feel more productive than they did a year ago, compared with 27% of Low Joy workers - a 46-point gap.

These findings highlight why joy deserves a place in boardroom conversations, with its data-proven impact making it the strategic lever organisations can't afford to ignore. 

The workplace joy gap is at its widest in the UK

Workplace joy is more than a nice-to-have. It can shape how people feel about staying with their employer, how productive they feel, and whether they believe their organisation is listening.

But there can be a disconnect between what HR teams think employees are experiencing and what employees actually say for themselves.

Drawing on findings from employees and HR teams across the world, The Global Workplace Joy Index uncovered that this disconnect is particularly striking in the UK where HR believe their people are more engaged, better supported and more  than workers report feeling.

HR leaders in the UK estimate employee joy at a score of 7.4 out of 10 on the index.  In reality, UK workers paint a different picture with an average rating of 6.2 out of 10 - a 1.2-point difference and the biggest disparity in the global study.

The data suggests that organisations across the country are currently missing out on the opportunity to unlock the tangible impact that joy can bring. 

The gap extends to engagement and performance

We also see a similar disparity when looking at the data around employee engagement and performance. While 71% of UK HR leaders believe employees are more engaged than they were a year ago, just 35% of UK workers say the same.

At the same time, 83% of HR rate the quality of feedback and performance conversations as good or excellent. But among employees, that figure falls to 54% - a 29-point gap.

This suggests that even when HR teams believe programmes and conversations are working well, employees may be experiencing them differently. Listening to workers directly can help organisations understand where their approach is connecting and where it may be falling short.

With these perspectives diverging, it's clear that many HR teams may not have the full picture of what is helping or hindering their employees at work. For UK employers, closing the workplace joy gap starts with grounding people strategies in employees’ lived experience, not just HR’s view of it.

HR priorities and employee experience aren’t always aligned

Compounding this disconnect is that many people professionals are already looking ahead and preparing their organisations for the future, without awareness or alignment to the employee experience of today.

When asked about their top priorities, 33% of HR leaders in the UK selected employee development and 26% answered AI implementation and training. With these two occupying the first and third slots on the priority list, it's clear that a focus on the future is dominating the conversation after the last few years of rapid transformation. 

At the same time, employee engagement sits much further down the list in sixth place.

Those priorities matter. But the findings raise a question for HR teams: while organisations invest in future skills and new technology, are they paying enough attention to how people feel at work today? And crucially, could a better use of employee feedback help to guide where support and investment are most needed?

Download the report to uncover the full findings, uncover the evidence behind workplace joy and explore what it could mean for transforming culture and performance within your organisation.