UK businesses are suffering a plague of workplace interruptions that mean UK employees waste nearly an entire day per week, significantly impacting their productivity and profitability. That’s the worrying conclusion from Protime UK’s new study which examines how organisations can empower managers and employees to manage time better.

The research shows that the average full-time worker loses 7.5 hours each week due to “Productivity Killers”: disruptive and preventable interruptions such as unnecessary meetings, unhelpful emails, and workplace distractions.

At a time when the UK is playing catch up with the higher productvity rates of other comparable economies, that equates to a around 19 million wasted days per year across the natiions workforce,

The relentless barrage of disruptions is taking its toll on employees too:

• Working days are harder and longer: 46% say simple tasks take longer than they should
• Employees don’t feel in control: only 12% say they are fully able to stop interruptions
• Wellbeing and motivation takes a hit: 37% say that interruptions increase stress and anxiety

Unsurprisingly, employee engagement and retention suffers as a result of these impacts, with just under half (42%) of employees feeling dissatisfied and 21% saying their organisation is losing talent.

Businesses also pay a price in lower productivity and profitability: only one in three employees (31%) say their employer is focused on being as productive as possible while one in ten say (13%) the business is not as profitable as it should be.

The research is a wakeup call for organisations that need to optimise their workforce efficiency in challenging economic times, plus retain staff better amid a critical skills shortage and highly competitive recruitment market.

Here are the key areas they need to address to turn the situation around.

Pointless meetings and unscheduled interruptions

Employees spend the equivalent of 23 working days a year in unnecessary or unproductive meetings. That’s nearly 10% of their time. Meanwhile workers say that the top three unplanned interruptions come from the demand to respond to urgent emails which aren’t urgent (29%), non-work chatter (28%) and desk drop-ins (21%) – closely followed by last-minute requests to ‘jump on a call’ (18%).  These Interruptions are a common but predictable feature of work that employers must address urgently.  The first step is to quantify how much is wasted each day and qualify why.

Negative impacts on employee experience

With interruptions meaning simple tasks take longer to complete, 50% of UK workers regularly say they have to work overtime which contributes to them feeling more stressed and anxiious. Also 32% are unable to concentrate on the job in hand, 21% feel less motivated to work hard and, most worryingly, 42% feel dissatisfied with their work and employer. This situation is unsustainable for organisations that need to retain and develop staff more effectively. It must be become a key consederation in planning to improve employee experience and the overall EVP.

 Employees need help

Significantly a quarter of employees do try to minimise their time more effectively by ignoring instant messaging, declining meetings (19%) and saying no to extra tasks that threaten an existing deadline. However an overwhelming majority (84%) feel they have limited control over interruptions. Despite their desire to waste less of their day, employees often feel helpless and many of those that do try to take action feel they cannot address time drains by themselves: they need the explicit agreement of their manager to prioritise what they respond to and when.

Managers need to do more to support workflow 

Unfortunately only 6% say their manager acknowledges the impact of interruptions when setting and managing their workload. Over a third (35%) say this is sometimes a consideration, but 26% say its rarely or never taken into account. Clearly the time has come for employers to equip managers with the tools they need to understand time usage more effectively and enable more open and constructive conversations with employees.

The research highlights that constant workplace disruptions aren’t just a frustration – they directly impact the bottom line through lower productivity, engagement, and retention.

Organisations need to get a grip on the hidden time-wasters and back managers to help employees manage their work more effectively. Their ability to reclaim huge volumes of lost time and unleash their full potential depends on it.