Only 4 in 10 UK employees would recommend their company as a place to work.

That’s the headline from the latest Employee Pride Index 2025, and while it’s an improvement from last year, the truth is that employee pride is still dangerously low—and leadership is the problem.

Leadership Failures Are Killing Pride

The data is damning:

• Only 53% believe their leaders care about motivation or making the business a great place to work.
• Barely half feel understood by their employer.
• And a staggering 60% wouldn’t recommend where they work.

Leaders talk a good game about “purpose” and “values,” but the reality is that too many employees see a disconnect. 81% know their organisation’s purpose—but just 65% think their leaders act on it. And the same tired company values like “trust” and “integrity” fail to spark any real pride when they’re not backed by behaviour.

The Missing Link Between Employee Experience and Customer Experience

Once again, the Index reinforces the known—but often ignored—truth: employees who are proud of their companies deliver better experiences to their customers. Brands that truly invest in employee experience unlock loyalty, advocacy, and productivity. Those that don’t will stagnate.

AI: The Unexpected Hero

Amidst all this, there’s one surprise bright spot—AI adoption. Despite media scaremongering, most employees see AI as a positive force:

• 78% say it’s improved their job.
• Excitement about AI outweighs fear by a healthy margin (39% vs 27%).

As AI becomes more embedded in the workplace, it’s increasingly being seen not as a threat but as a tool for better work and  smarter outcomes.

What Needs to Happen Now

Andy Milligan, Co-founder of The Caffeine Partnership, doesn’t mince words:

“We know productivity increases among people who take pride in their work and in the company they work for. More companies need to up their game in investing in what matters most to people if we want to tackle the UK’s chronic productivity problem.”

The bottom line? It’s time to stop treating employee engagement as an HR task and start treating it as a strategic imperative.

If you’re a leader, ask yourself:

• Do your people feel trusted?
• Do your actions match your values?
• Do your employees feel motivated—or merely managed?

But better still, ask your people how they would answer those questions. Most importantly ask them ‘what matters most to you?’. The way to build pride in any organisation is to make people feel that they matter and that starts by understanding them. Pride will drive productivity and productivity will drive performance. So if you’re a leader of any organisation, make sure you know the answer to this simple question: ‘what makes people proud to work for you’. If you can’t answer that question, you have a problem.