41% of energy workers observed colleagues hiding failures: report

Recent research commissioned by regulatory and compliance software company Ideagen has found that 41% of workers in the energy sector have seen colleagues hiding failures. Naturally, this has concerning implications for industry compliance.

The ‘Resilience nation report’ collected insights from over 4000 individuals in Australia, the US and UK working in critical industries such as manufacturing, aviation, health care and financial services, in addition to the energy sector.

Its findings reflect some of the major threats and macroeconomic factors affecting today’s workers, providing perspectives on resilience across global landscapes.

The comparative study found that over a third of energy workers report seeing colleagues take risks with their personal safety — especially in the UK, where 41% reported seeing colleagues putting themselves in physical danger in the workplace.

In relation to cybersecurity, 47% of energy workers said they saw people not following processes and more than half of the respondents noticed risky behaviours taking place, such as leaving laptops unattended and falling for phishing scams*. The energy sector was more likely to report siloed working environments (40%), and decisions based on incomplete data (41%), particularly in the US.

Ben Dorks, CEO of Ideagen, suggested that growing pressures faced by people in and out of the workplace could be a factor in risk-taking behaviour at work. External pressures affecting energy workers include rising costs of living, energy prices and healthcare access.

“People are being asked to deliver more at work when their resilience is being challenged by economic and political headwinds,” Dorks said. “Ultimately, this is having a determinantal impact on business productivity, workplace health and safety and the quality of work produced, as well as further reducing the resilience of the nation at large.”

Dorks added that workers were optimistic that emerging tech and AI would ultimately lighten the load, but they were not yet feeling the benefits. “It’s a gap that now, more than ever, business leaders must look to close and support their workforce to ensure their staff remain safe and compliance needs are met across the business,” he said.

Almost a third of respondents also cited social media and crime rates as additional stressors affecting the sector. In the US, 27% of energy workers reported feelings of loneliness and isolation.

Energy sector under strain

Respondents across nations appeared to be facing a ‘big squeeze’ at work, where they were being asked to deliver more despite reduced capacity. This is leading to an energy workforce under strain, with 61% reporting increased workloads and expanded job scopes.

The report identified another potential problem for the sector: ‘quiet quitting’, where employees perform only the minimum required tasks and don’t take on extra responsibilities. This was seen by over half of those surveyed, with the highest significance in the US (61%), followed by Australia (50%) and the UK (39%).

Supply chain challenges were a key issue affecting job performance, with US energy workers feeling this more keenly (44%) than those in the UK (24%) and Australia (28%). Unsurprisingly, due to the impact on infrastructure, more workers in the energy sector reported negative impacts from climate and weather events compared to those in other industries.

A workforce calling for change

Despite the challenges faced by the sector, the research revealed evidence of growing resilience. 74% of workers said they felt more resilient now than last year, driven largely by respondents from the US, where 85% reported increased resilience.

While its benefits aren’t yet being felt, artificial intelligence (AI) was considered by respondents to be the top investment for boosting resilience, with 38% of US workers advocating for more AI usage to help alleviate workplace pressures.

Safer working environments were another priority, particularly for US respondents, who surpassed both industry and overall averages in calling for this.

Additionally, 36% of UK respondents viewed talent management as an important area for investment, while many US respondents called for investment in data and analytics.

The full report can be downloaded here.

^{* While survey respondents were asked if they were seeing people take cyber risks in the workplace, such as leaving laptops unattended or falling for phishing scams, the data didn’t reveal the specific behaviours they had observed.}

Image credit: iStock.com/Tomwang112