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The simple answer to improving productivity: asking employees episode artwork

Sep 30, 2026 32 min

The simple answer to improving productivity: asking employees

from Eat Sleep Work Repeat - better workplace culture

Our jobs have turned into the place where we’re told what to do: show up and follow orders. That was the finding of the latest cycle of the long-running Skills and Employment Survey. When asked, only a third of UK workers say they are given the discretion to decide how to do their jobs, a number that has dropped from two-thirds in three decades. When we hear this it’s hard not to think of the two other issues of contemporary work that have come to define the era: low engagement and low productivity. Professor Alan Felstead was one of the leads of the research and I asked him to explain the disappearance of workplace agency. Check out the workplace quiz: How Good Is My Job There's a full transcript on the website. Sign up to the Make Work Better newsletter or check out the best ever episodes at the website. Eat Sleep Work Repeat is made and hosted by Bruce Daisley.

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The simple answer to improving productivity: asking employees

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This episode was published on September 30, 2026.

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