How Engaged are You at Work?

A recent study of 85,000 workers in 16 countries across 4 continents found that only one in seven employees worldwide are "highly" engaged with their jobs and willing to go that extra step. This study was carried out with people working for large and midsize companies.

The Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study found that 14% of workers surveyed around the world are highly engaged, 62% are moderately engaged and 24% are disengaged. Employee engagement is the measure of people's willingness and ability to give discretionary effort at work.

Here in Canada, 17% of the 5,100 workers surveyed indicated that they were highly engaged, 66%moderately engaged and 17% disengaged. We ranked fifth, with respondents from Mexico showing indicating the highest levels of engagement (40%) followed by Brazil (31%). The US ranked third with 21% of respondents indicating that they are "highly engaged", 63% moderately engaged and 16% disengaged.

The Toronto Star (November 15 2005) mentions that in Canada the most important factor influencing their rating was senior management's interest in employee well being. Two years ago a similar study found that 21% of employees were highly engaged.

The survey results raise some interesting questions regarding today's workforce including retention, productivity and employee satisfaction issues. I also wonder what the link is to work-life balance, and differences which may be found in organizations of different sizes.

I'd be intereseted in hearing from you. What are your thoughts? How engaged are you with your work?