Workers warned not to equate upturn with wage rises

Workers associating news of a more buoyant economy with long-awaited pay rises, team size increases and job moves could be disappointed in 2014, according to a new report from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).

While the UK’s managers are generally optimistic about economic prospects for the year ahead, the research conducted with more than 750 UK managers warns controlling costs is set to be bosses’ number one priority in 2014, with budgets for outgoings like employee pay and headcounts forecast to hold steady, or face cuts.

Despite 2013 being a more successful year for many organisations compared to the year before – 41% reported growth compared with 32% in last year’s report – the  findings suggest the upturn is yet to produce happier, more secure employees, and may not do so in the immediate future.

Managers are more pessimistic than this time last year about staff morale in their organisation in the coming year (up 5% from 2012 to 36%), and feel less secure in their own jobs than they did 12 months ago – 35% feel insecure, up 4%.

Ann Francke, Chief Executive of CMI, said: “After years of pay freezes and redundancies, many workers will be hoping to see the economic upswing improve their pay packets, but this is unlikely to be the case.  Instead, employers need to look at other ways to invest in their staff.  Motivation is about more than money – development opportunities and sought-after benefits like flexible working are much prized.”

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