A productivity pinch is hitting Europe, according to new research commissioned by Canon Europe – world leader in imaging solutions.

The research found that office workers are only working at full capacity for 75 per cent of their working day – leaving them unproductive for a quarter of the time they spend at work.

Conducted by ICM Research, the survey looked at the factors that influence worker productivity, examining the attitudes and experiences of around 5,500 office workers across 18 European countries. While incentives such as financial rewards and bonuses were found to make 80 per cent of workers more productive, a staggering 85 per cent of employees believe that simply feeling appreciated would increase their productivity.

Applying a more flexible approach to the working week could also provide the answer, with 68 per cent of staff stating that flexible working hours would make them more productive at work. A further 58 per cent claimed they would be more productive if they worked shorter days, and 44 per cent said working from home would increase their efficiency.

Analysing the working week, the research found that while a third of respondents claimed there was no difference between days, 24 per cent across Europe named Tuesday as their most productive day, while Brits claimed Monday to be the most productive (22 per cent). Unsurprisingly perhaps, Friday is the worst day of the week for productivity in most European countries, with the exception of Italy, Portugal and Germany, where Monday was named as the least productive day.

Workers were generally more productive early in the day, with productivity dipping immediately after lunch and late in the afternoon. Almost a third of workers are least productive immediately after lunch (rising to 51 per cent in France) and in the late afternoon (rising to 46 per cent in The Netherlands) citing reasons of tiredness and fatigue. For the 19 per cent of workers who were least productive in the morning, the principle reason was the time it takes them to wake up.

Similarly, 25 per cent of European office workers singled out July and August as the least productive months of the year, with Italy, Spain and Portugal selecting August as their most unproductive time and July being chosen by Sweden, Finland and Norway. On the contrary, 24 per cent of office workers in the UK claim to be least productive in December.

In office hours, catching up on office gossip, exercise and a cup of tea or coffee were rated as the three top “perfect breaks” to increase productivity at work. Danish office workers strongly believe (28 per cent) that a chat with colleagues will aid your work, while 27 per cent of Poles opt for a cup of tea or coffee.

In spite of our ever-growing reliance on technology, workers claim they do not have enough knowledge to get the most from office IT systems. Three out of five of workers across Europe think that better IT knowledge would allow them to work more productively.

A further 46 per cent of respondents said that improved printers would make them more productive at work and this figure rises to almost three out of five in Portugal, Spain and Hungary.