Falling employee engagement

Indian employees continue to be among the most engaged workers across Asia-Pacific, but the downturn has taken its toll with employee involvement dwindling at the workplace—or at least this is what Watson Wyatt’s WorkAsia Survey Report for 2008-09 reveals.

According to the study, the employee engagement score, measured in terms of engagement, commitment and line of sight (clarity on the direction of business) has declined 3 per cent in India compared to the last year. “The dip in line of sight shows that organisations need to invest more in communicating the direction of business to employees. That’s especially true in the tough economic environment that we are in at present,” says Dhritiman Chakrabarti, Managing Director, Watson Wyatt India.

Across Asia-Pacific, the universe of the survey, overall employment engagement is declining with a 4 per cent dip compared to the last year. However, Indian employees along with their counterparts in the Philippines, top the region in workplace involvement. The survey was conducted among more than 11,500 employees across Asia-Pacific.

So, what is employee engagement? Explains N.S. Rajan, Partner-Human Capital & Global Leader-HR Advisory, Ernst & Young: “Primarily, employee engagement is the extent to which employees connect themselves to an organisation which reflects in how they work and how long they stay.” Not just during a downturn, employee involvement is under stress in tight situations such as M&As, and frequent changes in an organisational structure.

Should organisations be worried about a decline in employee engagement? Yes, because a lower level of engagement means an overall decline in performance, top performers becoming prone to quitting, and disengagement even at top levels, says Rajan.

Though the employee attitudes for the report were collected from May to July 2008, prior to the financial crisis, employee engagement during this period of turmoil is even more tough and critical, says Chakrabarti.

Is there a way to keep employees involved in times of salary freezes, and layoffs? “While in good times engageable moments occur at the time of training, performance feedback and career discussions; in tough times, a two-way dialogue could get the desired result,” Chakrabarti adds.

—Saumya Bhattacharya