If you analyzed the employees at your office, how many are actually engaged in their job and committed to your organization? On a larger scale, how many U.S. workers are engaged and willing to exert discretionary effort for their companies? The numbers might surprise you.
New research from Towers Watsons’ Global Workforce Study reveals that almost two-thirds (63%) of U.S. workers are not fully engaged in their work.
This is bad news for companies because “when workers are not fully engaged, it leads to greater performance risk for employers. It makes companies more vulnerable to lower productivity, higher inefficiency, weaker customer service, and greater rates of absenteeism and turnover,” said Julie Gebauer, managing director, Talent and Rewards, Towers Watson.
The study also illustrates the correlated relationship between employee engagement and profit. In essence, this means that as employee engagement increases, profitability increases. For example, Towers Watson examined engagement scores and one-year operating margins of 50 global companies. They found dramatic evidence that companies with high sustainable engagement had operating margins almost three times those of organizations with a largely disengaged workforce. Driving shareholder value is critical to competing and surviving in today’s market, so U.S. companies need to solve the disengagement problem to help sustain their growth and drive profitability.
The research illustrates that employers have the opportunity to engage more than half of their workforce. Not sure how to address the employee engagement problem? We previously wrote about three essential strategies for employers to approach the issue and work towards a constructive solution.
Other findings from the study include:
- - Slightly more than half (53%) don’t feel their organization makes it possible for them to have a healthy balance between work and personal life
- - Just under half (49%) say they have trust and confidence in their company’s senior leadership team
- - Under one-third (32%) say their organization does a good job of providing opportunities for advancement
- - Only 37% agree their senior management does a good job at developing future leaders
What are some ways you think employers can increase employee engagement? Are you surprised that more than half of workers are disengaged?