© Aleksandr Ugorenkov | Dreamstime.com
Many business studies have shown a positive correlation between shareholder value and employee engagement. That’s the emotional and intellectual involvement an employee has in his or her workplace.
As a result, most organizations consider employee engagement worth measuring, with results offering helpful insights for improvement.
In June, Aon Hewitt released its 2012 Global Engagement report, which contained a welcome bit of good news. It showed that engagement has improved slightly worldwide — 58 percent of employees were engaged in 2011. This compares to 56 percent the previous year. Aon Hewitt’s analysis covered 3,100 organizations, with 9.7 million employees worldwide.
On a regional basis, improvements were seen in Asia Pacific and Europe. On the other hand, the North American region remained unchanged from 2010 and Latin America declined one percentage point.
While the overall uptick shows a positive trend, Aon Hewitt believes that retaining top talent as the economy improves will be difficult.
“However, with one out of every four people not engaged worldwide, more needs to be done,” said Pete Sanborn, co-president of Global Compensation and Talent.
How’s your ROI?
To help organizations that want the best return on investment as they work to improve employee engagement, Aon Hewitt has identified four areas of focus.
- Career opportunities — Are career paths clearly communicated?
- Recognition — How does the organization recognize an employee’s contributions?
- Organizational reputation — What does the company stand for in the market? Is it considered a best employer?
- Communication — Are leaders clearly communicating business objectives, challenges and where the employee’s role fits in organizational success?
You can find more information on Aon Hewitt’s report here.
What other ways can an organization increase employee engagement?
You might also enjoy How to Really Celebrate Employee Appreciation Day.
