Social Knows: Employee Engagement Statistics

In a new post series called “Social Knows,” we will be sniffing out and compiling statistics and research regarding workplace / workforce management, human resources and employee engagement. The goal is to provide you with additional knowledge necessary to support your own research and strategies. Submissions always accepted as well.

Employee Engagement and Intranet 2.0

• 52% of organizations using Web 2.0 achieved Best-in-Class performance compared to only 5% that didn’t (Aberdeen Group)
• Companies using Web 2.0 tools achieved 18% increase in engagement versus 1% among those that didn’t
• 27% of organizations have social networking on their corporate intranets
• 75% of workforce in healthcare and education are knowledge workers
• 41% of millenials say social media is important to them in the workplace
• 94% of executives are using Web 2.0 to boost internal communications
• Sabre has already attributed $500k in savings to their employee social networking tool (Sabre)
• Cisco attributes $millions in savings to their wikis (Cisco)
• Employees with the most extensive digital networks are 7% more productive than their colleagues (MIT)

Employees as Expertise Resources

• 67% believe there are colleagues who can help them do their job better
• 39% say they have difficulty locating the right people
• Only 25% frequently go outside their department to seek or share knowledge
• 38% don’t get asked for their help & information

Employee Recruitment and Retention

• 39% of 18 – 24 year olds would consider leaving if they were not allowed to access applications like Facebook and YouTube
• A further 21% indicated that they would feel “annoyed” by such a ban
• The problem is less acute with 25 – 65 year olds, of whom just 16% would consider leaving and 13% would be annoyed

Source: Intranet 2.0 Tools and Taking Aim: Strategies For Selling Social Media To Target Audiences In Your Organization, Prescient Digital

The Current State of Employee Engagement

• 88% The percentage of fully engaged employees who believe they can positively impact the quality of their organization’s products and services.
• 38%The percentage of disengaged employees who feel the same way.

Source: Employee Engagement Surveys, Towers Watson

• Gallup’s 2009 analysis of 199 surveys found that business units scoring in the top half on employee engagement double their odds of delivering high performance compared to those in the bottom half. Those at the 99th percentile are nearly five times more likely to deliver high performance than those at the 1st percentile.
• Companies in the top 10 percent on employee engagement bested their competition by 72 percent in earnings per share during 2007-08. For companies that scored beneath the top quartile, earnings fell 9.4 percent below their competition.
• Gallup researchers, who base the Employee Engagement Index on a survey of nearly 42,000 randomly selected adults, estimate that disengaged workers cost U.S. businesses as much as $350 billion a year.
• 33 percent of workers are engaged in their jobs, 49 percent are not engaged, and 18 percent are actively disengaged. The Gallup Organization defines the categories as follows:
  • Engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.
  • Non-engaged employees have essentially “checked out.” They sleepwalk through workdays. They put in time but don’t approach their work with energy or passion.
  • Actively disengaged employees aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers undermine what engaged co-workers accomplish.

Source: Raising Engagement, SHRM

• For the quarter ending June 2010, 46 percent of the 900 organizations [tracked] experienced declines in employee engagement versus 30 percent of the organizations that experienced improved employee engagement.  Hewitt noted that this was the largest quarterly decline in employee engagement it has witnessed in the more than 15 years Hewitt has been researching employee engagement.

Source: Engage and Energize a Powerful Workforce, Aon Hewitt

Challenges for Employers

• Employees may be settling in, but are frustrated about advancement. What are the risks for keeping and engaging talent?
• Employees know they’re responsible for their futures, but worry about their ability to handle it. If cost shifting goes too far, what reactions are likely in
  terms of motivation and performance?
• Employees want leaders who are competent and inspiring, and question leaders’ current abilities in both areas. Are leadership development
  programs focusing on the right things?
• Employees want more freedom and fl exibility in their work, but don’t feel they have the tools and support they need to succeed in today’s environment. What kind of programs and managerial support are required to enable people to self-manage effectively?

• Fostering self-reliance on the part of employees
• Creating a more personalized work experience for segments of the workforce, aligned  with how people add value to the business
• Strengthening agility and flexibility in the organization’s structure, processes, management style and delivery of workplace programs

Source: 2010 Global Workforce Study, Towers Watson

• Recession has driven a final wedge into the social contract, or “deal”, that has traditionally underpinned the employment relationship.
• There is a gap between what employees want and expect from this shifting relationship, and what employers can affort to deliver in a highly competitive business climate.
• Organizations have a unique opportunity to define a new and more sustainable employment deal with their employees, which include fostering towards “self-reliance”.

Source: Insights from Towers Watson 2010 Global Workforce Study, The 8th Voyager

Workforce Management

• 24% of your team members say they don’t see their managers enough
• 58% of your team are worried about their benefits
• 84% of your managers don’t know how to accurately measure their team members
• 32% of your team doesn’t know their next move in the company
• 32% of adult US workers listen to music at work on an MP3 player or similar device; 79% say it improves their job satisfaction and/or productivity.
• 46% of new hires leave their jobs within the first year.
• 63% of those who do not feel treated with respect intend to leave within two years.
• 56% of women feel that at one time or another they have been disadvantaged in the workplace because of their gender.

Source: Human Resources Employee Engagement Statistics, Businessandthegeeks

Company Leadership

• Only 38% think their leaders have a sincere interest in their well-being
• Only 47% think their leaders are trustworthy
• Only 42% think their leaders inspire and engage them
• 61% question whether their leaders deal effectively with poor performers
• Only 42% think senior management encourages development of talent

Source: Are your Employees Engaged?, Performance Solutions Group