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One in three UK staff to seek new employment within the next year

London, 23 May 2008 - Research just released by GfK NOP has found that 17 per cent of UK employees intend to leave their current position as soon as the opportunity arises, while a further 12 per cent plan to move on within the next twelve months.

Intention to leave is unsurprisingly directly linked to overall satisfaction with the employer, with 69 per cent of dissatisfied employees intending to leave within the next 12 months.

The level of engagement of managers is also a key factor for employees in intention to stay or leave. Almost  half (44 per cent) of those who claim to  work for  a disengaged manager said that they would leave as soon as the opportunity arose, while a further one in five (20 per cent) said that they would leave within the year. This amounts to a huge 64 per cent of those with a disengaged manager suggesting they will move on in the next year.

The same proportion (64 per cent) of employees with a disengaged manager, given the choice, would not be in the job that they are in. This compares to just 19 per cent of those who feel they have an engaged manager suggesting an intention to leave their current role.

Sukhi Ghataore, Associate Director at GfK NOP Employee Research comments:

"These results make worrying reading for employers. On a more positive note, however, the good news is that often simple methods of engaging and rewarding employees can go a long way to enhancing satisfaction and improving loyalty.”

The research also revealed that while the majority of line managers feel that they have the skills to deal with their line management responsibilities, only 55 per cent and 53 per cent respectively feel that they have enough time to deal with these responsibilities or that high performance as a line manager is recognised.

The research was carried out in late 2007, by GfK NOP. A nationally representative sample of 1,535 employees aged 20+years was surveyed, using an online methodology.