Positive shift in employee engagement worldwide

Latin America has the highest employee engagement levels, according to research by Aon Hewitt.

Its 2012 Global engagement report analysed employee engagement trends among more than 3,100 organisations representing 9.7 million employees worldwide.

In Latin America, 71% of respondents cited high levels of employee engagement, compared to 64% in North America, 58% in Asia Pacific and 52% in Europe.

Overall, 58% of employers were engaged in 2011, compared to 56% in 2010. The main drivers for this rise were: recognition, career opportunities and an organisation’s reputation.

The research also showed improvements in employee perception scores in two key areas:

Effective leadership at the business unit/division level stood out at 61%, up from 54% in 2010.
HR practices creating a positive work environment was 53%, up from 47% in 2010.

Pete Sanborn, co-president of global compensation and talent at Aon Hewitt, said: “Business leadership as well as HR programmes that meet the needs of specific employee segments contributed to the upward shift in engagement levels.

“However, with one out of every four people not engaged worldwide, more needs to be done. As the economy improves, retaining top talent is going to be difficult.†

“Now is the time for organisations to measure and gain insights on engagement drivers and to start doing the work necessary to improve engagement.

“Our research shows that organisations with higher engagement have significantly higher total shareholder return than the average employer, so organisations that focus on what matters most in connecting employees to their work will emerge as leaders.”