Timewasters cost UK managers 26 days’ work a year, according to a new global survey.

Research commissioned by the psychometric assessment company SHL in seven countries found that companies are compromising their productivity levels to deal with underperforming staff.

Kevin Kerrigan, UK managing director UK of SHL, believes that a failure to match people to the right job is the main problem.

Kerrigan said: “Due to a lack of research in rigorous employee selection, organisations are failing to select the right candidates.

“Our research aims to quantify the actual cost from these person-to-job mismatches.”

Hong Kong came out worst in the survey, with 12 weeks a year wasted on poor employees. Swedish staff were found to be the most productive, with just four weeks a year lost to bad performance.