This Week's Herman Trend Alert The Consequences of Virtual Meetings

The Herman Trend Alert August 6, 2008 The Pitiful State of Employee Engagement Recently, global consultants BlessingWhite released a landmark study on the State of Employee Engagement with survey results gathered from North America, the United Kingdom (and Ireland), and the Asia Pacific Region. Engaged employees are excited and use their talents and discretionary effort to make a difference for their employers. In North America, fewer than one in three (only 29 percent) of employees are fully engaged and 19 percent are actually disengaged. The company also found a strong correlation between employee engagement and retention. An impressive 85 percent of engaged employees expect to stay with their organizations throughout 2008. Moreover, the study found that engaged employees stay for what they can contribute (they like their work), while disengaged employees stay for what they can get (job security, favorable job conditions, and growth opportunities). The picture in the UK and Ireland is slightly worse; there less than one in four (23 percent) employees is fully engaged and nearly as many are actually disengaged. Also, fewer of the engaged employees than the North America statistics (only 76 percent) expect to stay in 2008. In this region, the most common factor influencing job satisfaction is "more opportunities to do what I do best". In the Asia Pacific region, results vary widely with Indian workers registering as the most engaged (34 percent) and Chinese workers the least engaged (only 10 percent). Workforces in Southeast Asia are about the same as their European and Australia/New Zealand counterparts with only about one-quarter of employees fully engaged. (Unfortunately, no data are available for South America; http://www.blessingwhite.com/EEE__report.asp) On the converse of the data, most regions report over 70 percent of today's employees are not fully engaged. This condition puts them at risk for employee turnover and their employers at risk for not being as profitable. The new generations take much more license to change jobs. Other data from the study has revealed that the most vulnerable sectors are Technology, Communications/media, Retail/hospitality/travel, and Healthcare. Unless employers take immediate steps to engage those workers (once the world economies improve) they will be the victims of significant turnover, particularly among the younger workers. © Copyright 1998- by The Herman Group, Inc. -- reproduction for publication is encouraged, with the following attribution: From "The Herman Trend Alert," by Roger Herman and Joyce Gioia, Strategic Business Futurists. (800) 227-3566 or http://www.hermangroup.com. The Herman Trend Alert is a trademark of The Herman Group, Inc." BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND: RETENTION SPECIALIST PROGRAM A growing number of people have expressed an interest in attending our Employee Retention Specialist Certificate Program. We'd like to schedule on that's convenient for those who want to attend, but need your feedback to do so. Please place RETENTION SPECIALIST in the subject line and Joyce will personally call you back to schedule the workshop. Or you can call Joyce directly at 336-210-3548 (PDT this and next week). BUSINESS IS PICKING UP Most employers are unprepared. The recovery will bring a new set of challenges for employers that have been in prolonged contracted mode. They will need more skilled workers or will need now to begin to upskill their current staffs. But organizations can not engage in Strategic Workforce Planning, when they don't know how. That's where The Herman Group can help. We can help you with your "People Review"----large or small---so that you will know who you will need and when you will need them. . . and we can also guide you to the best sources for the people you will need. For more information, call Joyce at 336-210-3548 or e-mail joyce@hermangroup.com. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR EMPLOYEES REALLY THINK AND FEEL Discover what’s really going on in the hearts and minds of your employees. Our InnerViews interviewing service uses SPHRs and PHRs, certified human resource professionals to probe for the information you really need to know. Exit and Stay Interviews, as well as Why-Didn't-You-Take-Our-Offer Interviews. Call Rosalie Catalano at 937-416-7066, or read more at: http://www.hermangroup.com/retentionconnection/exit_interviews.html. Herman Trend Alerts are produced by the Herman Group, strategic business futurists, Certified Management Consultants, authors, and professional speakers. New subscribers are welcome. There is no charge for this public service. 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