13.11.19
More than a million public sector workers have never been thanked – is it time to show them some kindness?
Membership club Boundless calls for action on World Kindness Day.
Public sector membership club, Boundless, revealed shocking statistics ahead of World Kindness Day on 13 November, showing a fifth of the country’s public sector workers (over a million people) have never received a simple ‘thank you’ in their career.
The research, which polled over 2,000 UK workers, shows:
- 1 in 5 (20 per cent) of public sector workers say they have never received a thank you message in their entire career – that equates to more than a million people.
- 29 per cent in the civil service have never been thanked.
- 57 days is the average time since someone last said ‘thank you’ to a public sector worker.
- 90 days has been the wait for a thank you message for someone in the civil service.
- 7 per cent of all public sector workers haven’t had a thank you message in more than a year.
Boundless spokesperson Darren Milton said: “World Kindness Day is the perfect time for people to think about what a difference just saying ‘thank you’ could make to those around them.
“It might be nurse who treats you in hospital, the teacher who educates your children, those working in the emergency services who keep us safe or even administrators who make the system work.
“All these people work all their lives in public service but tell us they rarely get thanked, and that’s a real shame.
“As our research shows, a simple ‘thank you’, whether that is online, in a letter or in person, can go a long way and make those people feel more valued.”
The statistics also showed:
- 59 per cent of public sector workers say they don’t feel appreciated enough by the public.
- 26 per cent of public sector workers said being thanked by the public would make them happier in their job – higher than the result for working fewer hours.
- 21 per cent of teachers have never been thanked - and the rest have gone 65 days without a thank you.
- 10 per cent of NHS workers have never been thanked - and the rest have gone 43 days since their last thank you.
- 10 per cent of police have never been thanked – the remainder have gone 30 days without a thank you.
- Every fire fighter says they have been thanked at some time in their career – but it’s been 24 days since the last message
For more information, please visit www.boundless.co.uk.