Research digested: Work on what matters, Ipsos Karian and Box UK
About the research
This research is based on a survey of 5,000 UK employees aged 18–75 working in organisations with 250+ employees.
Key findings
Employees can handle change – but question whether it helps
More than two in three employees say the pace of organisational change feels manageable, and 74% say they can keep up with it, but only 40% say recent changes have made it easier to do great work, while 44% believe the benefits outweigh the disruption.
The issue appears less about change fatigue and more about whether organisations are focusing change where it genuinely improves work.
Productivity problems are largely structural
A third of employees say their organisation makes it harder to do a good job. The biggest barriers are slow processes (28%), unrealistic workloads (28%), outdated systems (28%) and excessive meetings (27%).
Employees say better tools and systems as the biggest productivity improvement opportunity.
AI belief is ahead of AI confidence
While 55% believe AI could significantly improve how their organisation works, only 39% believe their organisation is using AI to solve the right problems.
Trust is a major barrier. Only 38% feel confident they would be supported rather than punished if they failed to spot an AI error. And concerns about privacy, accuracy and role relevance are also widespread.
Confidence in leadership is fragile
Only 48% are confident senior leaders are making the right decisions for the future of the organisation.
Employees say confidence would increase most if leaders explained the reasons behind decisions (37%), involved employees earlier in change (34%) and were more honest about uncertainty (33%).
There is also a significant perceived gap between what employees expect from leaders and what leaders currently deliver, particularly around listening to employee perspectives.
Management roles increasingly look unattractive
Only 15% of non-managers say becoming a people manager looks attractive based on what they observe inside their organisation, while 63% say it looks unattractive.
Managers describe broad, competing responsibilities spanning wellbeing, performance, workloads and organisational change.
Employees are prioritising stability and sustainability
Employees consistently favour flexibility, job security and manageable workloads over faster progression or high-profile opportunities:
- 60% prioritise job security over faster progression
- 50% prioritise flexibility over higher salary
A third say they often or always feel emotionally drained because of work.
What to act on
Organisations should focus less on launching more initiatives and more on fixing the practical friction employees experience every day. The report highlights workload, outdated systems, slow processes and unclear priorities as the biggest barriers to performance.
Leadership credibility increasingly depends on transparency and involvement rather than executive messaging alone. Employees want clearer explanations of decisions, earlier involvement in change, and stronger evidence leaders understand operational realities.
Finally, retention and engagement strategies should recognise that many employees are making pragmatic trade-offs around sustainability. Flexibility, manageable workloads and stability are increasingly valued more highly than future progression alone.
Read the report https://ipsoskarianandbox.com/report/work-on-what-matters/
