Survey Reveals Low Employee Engagement in U.S. Workforce

When it comes to engaging employees, employers have a lot of work to do according to a survey from Skillman, N.J.-based BlessingWhite, a human resources consulting firm.

"The State of Employee Engagement 2008," which will be released April 21 and made available on the company's Web site in May, shows that only 29 percent of employees are "engaged" – meaning that they are enthused and "in gear" to impact your bottom line. Another 19 percent are actually disengaged from their jobs. Disengaged employees typically just go through the motions, do the bare minimum, and have no real emotional stake in the mission of the company.

Among the survey's highlights:

• There is a clear correlation between employee engagement and retention. Eighty-five percent of engaged employees said they planned to stay with their employer through 2008.
• Engaged employees remain with a company for what they are able to give or contribute, but disengaged employees tend to stay for what they get (job security, growth opportunities, favorable job conditions).
• The top factors that influence employee job satisfaction are more opportunities to use talents, as well as career development and training.
• The top three reasons employees leave a company are: lack of career growth, dislike of the actual work, and bad management.
• Only 53 percent of employees trust their company's senior leaders. Forty-four percent of disengaged workers trust their managers.
• Employees who contribute the least to organizations most commonly cite “greater clarity about what the organization needs me to do and why” as the reason for low contribution levels.
• Managers are falling short in encouraging and rewarding use of employees' talents. And while two-thirds of managers do this, employees with the lowest engagement levels lack their manager's support in utilizing their talents.

The survey was compiled from 7,508 respondents worldwide, and included 3,342 U.S. respondents. Respondents included those from North America (44 percent), India (32 percent), Europe (9 percent), Southeast Asia, including Australia (6 percent), and China (3 percent). And of those who responded from the United States, 55 percent hold management or supervisory positions, 16 percent work in HR, and 8 percent are vice presidents or higher up in the company.

Source: BlessingWhite's State of Employee Engagement 2008 survey.

Written by Jenny Cromie, certified human resources specialist(CHRS)

The survey will be accessible on the company's Web site in May. BlessingWhite also will host a seminar, “The Employee Engagement Equation,” and discuss findings from the firm's most recent research on May 15 in Livonia at The Embassy Suites. For more information and to register for the event, click here.