USA 
United Kingdom
Business productivity is being stunted by a mountain of unnecessary ‘badmin’, threatening business performance as the UK enters recession.
That’s according to new research from Personio, Europe’s leading HR software company for SMEs, which finds that nearly half (44%) of employees report that their business is being slowed down by inefficient processes, admin, and too many repetitive tasks – and a further 42% say too much of their time is taken up by workplace tasks that have nothing to do with their job.
On average, employees are spending just over 3 hours per week on these tasks. For someone working full time at 37.5 hours per week, this equates to over 8% of their working week – and means one working month of the year, on average, is lost to workplace tasks unrelated to an employee’s core role.*
Not only is this deluge of ‘badmin’ damaging productivity, but it’s also threatening employees’ experience at work. 1 in 4 (24%) employees say they are unhappy with their employer and nearly 4 in 10 employees (37%) are still planning to look for another job in the next 6-12 months.
The 2026 Employee Engagement Impact Report
Terryberry surveyed 1,000 full-time U.S. employees to understand how engagement programs affect retention, motivation, and performance—and what separates effective programs from those that fall short.
Our employee engagement survey report found:
- 91% of employees agree that their workplace engagement programs would be more effective if they were better connected.
- 70% of employees with well-connected workplace engagement programs say those programs have significantly influenced them to stay at their job.
- Remote employees are nearly 20% less likely than hybrid and in-office employees to say their organization’s engagement programs work well together.
- 59% of employees experience at least one obstacle to participating in workplace engagement programs.
The report breaks down key findings across industries and work environments, with practical takeaways to help HR leaders strengthen program participation and maximize the impact of their engagement initiatives.
The research reveals that employees want more time to do their job properly within their working day. When asked what their employer could do to improve their experience at work, a quarter (25%) want more time and resources allocated to enable them to get their job done more efficiently, whilst 37% of employees say they want a better work life balance.
Pete Cooper, Director of People Partners, Planning & Analytics at Personio, commented: “As recession sets in in 2023, businesses cannot afford to waste staff’s time with unnecessary admin. The bottom line is that whilst staff are having to spend their time on admin tasks unrelated to their core roles, they’re unable to spend time on creative or strategic work – the value-adding tasks that will ultimately boost productivity, engagement, and growth.
“Automation is key here. By digitising processes that remove unnecessary admin for employees, their time can be freed up to focus on the tasks that matter. Not only will this improve job satisfaction in the short run, but businesses will also be better positioned to succeed in the months ahead.”
