24 July 2009

employee engagement


The starting point for rewarding and recognising staff is through engagement. An engaged employee is a productive employee. The findings by Gallup are worth a look (Gallup) . The 2008 survey found that only 18% of the Australian workforce are actively engaged: engaged, motivated and contributing.


On the flip-side 61% of the Australian workforce are not engaged. Sure they're at work but turning up is about the most you can expect.


On the darker side, 21% of the Australian workforce is actively disengaged: disengaged, undermining and working against you.


Disengaged staff add to your turn over and add to your costs. The estimated cost to Australian business is in the order of $33.5-$42.1 billion (AUD) per annum.


Engaging staff need not be costly; but not engaging comes at a hefty price.

2 comments:

  1. Good point. I think the middle number (not-engaged) may be higher in Australia than in other developed countries.
    That said, there is a great opportunity for companies to turn the not-engaged staff into actively-engaged.
    How can they do that?
    Through great leadership, through managers becoming mentors and getting closer to their employees.
    How about this for a thought?
    The 61% is not necessarily a statistic about not-engaged staff, but a statistic about poor manager who haven't been able to engage with their staff.

    www.enterpriseleaders.com

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  2. Richard,

    I believe you have hit the nail on the head. To me low productivity, high turn over, high absenteeism and low morale are invariably down to one thing: poor management.

    It's managers and supervisors who need to be skilled in engaging staff - not the other way around. This is where the rubber hits the road and managers transition to leaders.

    Steve

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