Leadership, HR practices, customer relationships gain high scores
After years of declining employee engagement levels around the world, there is a positive global shift in employee engagement, according to Aon Hewitt's 2012 Global Engagement report.
More than one-half (58 per cent) of employees were engaged in 2011, up from 56 per cent from 2010, found the analysis of employee engagement trends at more than 3,100 organizations representing 9.7 million employees worldwide.
There were improvements in employee perception scores in three key areas:
•Effective leadership at the business unit/division level was 61 per cent, up from 54 per cent in 2010.
•People/HR practices creating a positive work environment was 53 per cent, up from 47 per cent in 2010.
•Perceiving relationships with customers as rewarding was 75 per cent, up from 70 per cent in 2010.
There was also a decline in three key perception scores in 2011:
•Effective communication was 42 per cent, down from 46 per cent in 2010.
•Innovation was 52 per cent, down from 55 per cent in 2010.
•Workplace safety and security was 75 per cent, down from 78 per cent in 2010.
"Business leadership as well as HR programs that meet the needs of specific employee segments contributed to the uptick in engagement levels," said Pete Sanborn, co-president of global compensation and talent at Aon Hewitt. "However, with one out of every four people not engaged worldwide, more needs to be done. As the economy improves, retaining top talent is going to be difficult. Now is the time for organizations to measure and gain insights on engagement drivers and to start doing the work necessary to improve engagement."
