Can we paint the employee engagement picture by numbers?
- Disengagement down and engagement up. The number of disengaged workers in the U.S. financial services sector had been cut in half, to only 11%. In Canada, the number of fully engaged financial services workers had shown a very clear increase, from 10% a year ago to 16% in 2009.
- Above and beyond. the largest change in response from 2008 to 2009 for both U.S. and Canada occurred with the “Inspired to go ‘above and beyond’ normal job duties” question. While the Canadian Index showed an impressive change in responses favorable to this question, from 56% in 2008 to 67% this year, the U.S. Index revealed even more staggering growth from 58% to 73%.
- Now the Dow. Research showing that employee engagement is capable of predicting directional movements of the Dow Jones Industrial Average four months ahead of time…The results of this analysis for the most recent 12 months was that the engagement trends accurately predicted upward or downward monthly changes correctly in 10 out of 12 months, further providing evidence that employee engagement is indicative of what the Dow will do.
Forbes reported on Stephen Roell, the CEO of Johnson Controls vision and engagement work.
- Catch the vision. A month ago, 140,000 employees of Johnson Controls took part in week-long series of discussions at more than 1,000 company locations around the globe. They were learning and exchanging ideas about how to sharpen the value they bring to their customers. More than 70% of our employees who responded to our survey after Vision Week 2009 said the event successfully demonstrated the company’s commitment to informing and engaging them. We’ve done a company-wide survey each of the last three years, and when we get this year’s full results, we’ll learn even more. But we already know we’ve created more value and further strengthened our customer focus.
Roxanne Emmerich reports on engagement during a recession.
- Service-Safety-Stay. Employee engagement scores regularly account for up to 50 percent of the variance in customer service scores. A disengaged employee can cost you 30 TIMES as much in safety-related incidents. And disengaged employees are over 85 percent more likely to leave.
—–
David Zinger is a leading expert on employee engagement. He is committed to creating authentic and sustained employee engagement for the benefit of all. Contact David at (204) 254-2130 or Email dzinger@shaw.ca.
Thanks for sharing the data, David. I think, especially in tough times, we have to remember that how we get results is as important as the results themselves. I would hope that the increase in those willing to go “above and beyond” doesn’t come primarily from people doing so because they’re afraid of losing their jobs.
I couldn’t agree more Wally. Fear is not going to move us (individuals/organizations) very far at all. Fear never feels discretionary.
David–as to the data I was surprised to see that as recently as the Corp Exec Board HR Mgt Insights, 2009 the data showed that before the downturn 1 in 10 employees were highly disengaged and that increased to 1 in 5 by end of 2008 and first qtr 2009 increased to 1 in 3 with a 3-5 % reduction in productivity. It also showed that disengaged are less likely to quit now by 24 % and discretionary effort decreased by 25% since 2005( especially in leadership ranks). Lots due to economy and perhaps an energy drain on those who do engage. We do what we can to create that energy and build that interest in engagement. Thanks,Carol