We here at More than a living tend to bemoan the state of the workplace in the United States. It’s what we know, so it’s where we focus our critique.

A while back, Toby highlighted the level of dissatisfaction in the workplace.

Well, I thought I’d pile on–expanding the realm of dissatisfaction, as it were–with a recent article out the UK, “A third of employees are unhappy at work.”

Some of the highlights from the survey of 1000 UK workers:

• Fewer than half are satisfied with the training opportunities they are given
• More than a quarter say their potential is withering on the vine because their skills are underused
• Human resources managers, lawyers and secretaries were least satisfied
• Less than five per cent of workers in the £40,000 to £45,000 income bracket gave their workplace a ten.
• [Which brings them to this not-so-startling conclusion:] This indicates, and it may come as a surprise to some, that financial reward doesn’t always mean a happier working environment or employee.

Bloody hell! It’s as broken over on that side of the pond as it is over here.

The advice on how to fix it? Probably spot-on for us, as well:

Think about how you engage with your employees – how much control do they have over the job they do? How involved can they be in establishing work practices or in helping assess changes to their roles? How in control do they feel in terms of their ability to do the job? How relevant is the training they receive? Employers who aim to keep staff happy just by giving them unsuitable training are doomed to spend lots of money without getting any return for their investment.