Two-thirds of workers disengaged, exodus looming

12 October 2009 8:36am

Employees who don't have a clear understanding of "what is expected of them and what they are accountable for" are unlikely to care about their employer's success, says Right Management's Bridget Beattie, who warns that nearly two in three workers are at risk of fleeing their jobs within the next 12 months.

Beattie, the human-capital company's regional general manager, says that disengaged employees are seven times more likely than their engaged colleagues to look for alternative employment in the year ahead.

"Our research shows... that 64.3 per cent of Australian employees are disengaged," she says.

"There is a large proportion of the workforce with potentially itchy feet. Now that the job market shows signs of recovery, those people will feel more confident about making a move elsewhere."

"People systems" and leaders falling short

Beattie's comments follow the release of Organisational Effectiveness and Employee Engagement, a Right Management report based on a survey of nearly 29,000 workers from around the world.

It reveals that fewer than one in two employees believe they work in an organisation with the "people systems" and leaders capable of driving the "right behaviours", and only 54 per cent think their company has a "positive culture".

In Australia, some 36 per cent of workers are "committed to making the organisation a success", compared to 11 per cent in Japan, 43 per cent in New Zealand and 44 per cent in the US.

The transport, storage and communication sector has the lowest engagement levels (at 30%), followed by manufacturing (32%) and the retail trade (33%).

Mining has the highest engagement rates (48%), followed, at a distant second, by finance, insurance and business services (38%).

Tellingly, the survey also reveals a strong relationship between high levels of disengagement and low levels of perceived customer satisfaction, making it particularly difficult for employers to execute or achieve "steady business results".

Employers must strive to "engage and delight"

Employers must continuously "search for new and better ways to engage employees" and "delight customers and stakeholders", the report states.

But business leaders "have a long way to go to align and engage their employees to their strategy".

According to Beattie, engagement levels in Australia have been steadily declining over the last four years (from 38.1% in 2005 to 35.7% in December 2008).

"This decline in engagement isn't surprising, given the sense of dislocation during the global financial crisis," she says.

"However, it is concerning. Research has consistently shown that employee engagement is powerfully linked to a range of success factors, including productivity, customer satisfaction and staff retention.

"Employers battling their way out of the downturn really need to get it right. When the economy is tight... companies are even more dependent on the discretionary effort of their people; they need them to do more than simply turn up."

Beattie says employers must:

do more than just measure staff engagement - develop action plans and relentlessly follow them up; and

integrate action plans into leaders' KPIs.

According to the report, engagement - or the degree of employee/organisational alignment - is driven by the skill, alacrity and support of leaders, customer relationships, training investment and competitive pay.

Achieving a truly engaged workforce, it says, hinges on "investing in the selection and development of capable leaders, employees' learning and development and getting reward systems right".

Employers must strive for "a 'fit for purpose' organisational structure where people understand what is expected of them and what they are accountable for".

This, in turn, should create a positive workplace culture, it says, in which the "systems, symbols and behaviours that leaders and other employees are exposed to" are aligned with the business strategy.

If you have some HR news to share or would like to suggest a topic for an article, click here to email the editor.

Comments closed

Manager actions can safeguard resignation "triggers"
Culture must send messages to employees: Roche
Change relationship models or damage your business
High-engagement employers have better pay regimes: Hewitt
Leaders must "connect" and "inspire", before workers lose faith

Latest headlines

Advanced search

search for	from date

	to date