Poor perception of management drives Australian employee engagement down in 2011

(MELBOURNE, VIC) The overall picture of employee engagement in Australia is lagging in 2011. According to the latest ORC International global perspectives survey, this year, the country fell four places in the global engagement rankings.

Meanwhile, engagement in countries like the China and India is soaring. This year in particular, employees’ trust and confidence in senior management seems to be having a strong influence on their engagement.

Looking at the perception of leadership as a whole, China and India were well above the 2011 overall average of 56% at 66% and 74% respectively. In contrast, only half of Australian respondents (50%) agreed that their organisation is well managed as a whole, which is 6 percentage points lower than the response to the same question last year (56%).

ORC International’s statistical analysis identified the three questions that have had the greatest impact on engagement scores. Two of these relate to management.

‘My organisation as a whole is well managed’ – Australian employees were only 48% positive

‘There is a positive relationship between management and staff in this organisation’ - Employees were 50% positive in Australia

‘I truly enjoy my day-to-day work tasks / activities’ - Staff were 59% positive in Australia (above the global norm)

While scores relating to the general enjoyment of their jobs were in line with global averages, for Australia, compared to other countries, the perceptions on management were downbeat. This has had a big negative impact on Australia’s overall engagement in 2011.

ORC International’s Doug Gilbert, Employee Research Executive, Asia Pacific, comments: “To catch up with the rest of the world, it is crucial that effective management is a focus in long term plans. This is what is driving positive scores in other countries like China and India. Conversely, its absence is influencing such low engagement in Australia.”

The Australian employment market is generally perceived as strong. There are lots of jobs to choose from, and employees enjoy good pay rates and a healthy work / life balance. However, these characteristics alone are not delivering an engaged workforce by global comparisons.

China’s engagement index had the most dramatic increase of any country from 2010, jumping seven places to second overall in the 2011 global engagement rankings. India remains on top with an overall engagement ranking of 74%; up from 66% in last year’s survey.

About the survey

ORC International’s global perspectives survey took place in March 2011. It gathers the opinions of employees in 18 countries, and explores the picture of global employee engagement. With the exception of the Netherlands, a sample quota was specified geographically and achieved for each country. A response was considered valid if at least five attitudinal questions were complete; otherwise it was removed from the analysis. As such, the number of actual returns included in the analysis differs slightly from the target sample size. There were a total of 9,246 returns.

About ORC International

ORC International is a leading global research firm with offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia Pacific. The company offers a platform of integrated intelligence that combines forward thinking methodologies, cutting-edge technology, skilled researchers and in-depth industry experience to provide clients with valuable insight to help solve their most pressing business challenges. Specifically, the company has over 25 years of employee research experiences and manages some of the largest employee-related research/surveys worldwide. To learn more about ORC International, visit www.orcinternational.com.au