This page is frequently updated with the latest news on employee engagement from all around the world. Check it regularly to stay in the know.

Aussie employees most likely to resign

A survey of 9,300 employees around the world has found that out of 16 countries, Australian workers are the most likely to quit during the next 12 months.  More than 30 per cent of Aussie employees were neutral when asked if their immediate manager inspired them to work better, and one quarter of employees felt they didn't receive regular feedback.  Also, 60 per cent of Aussie workers couldn't answer positively to the question of career advancement being based on merit within their organisation.

Source: Infogroup / ORC (August 2010)

Employers overreacted during the GFC

84 per cent of employers say the retrenchments they made during the global financial crisis has left them underresourced to expand.  As a result, 54 per cent of employees feel their team is weaker.

Source: Hudson Talent Management (August 2010)

Social networking sites used at work

69 per cent of employees have entered their name into a search engine to see what comes up. Further to this, 86 per cent of Australian workers use social networking websites, with LinkedIn being the most popular for business purposes.  Employers seem to be open to the idea, with 55 per cent of Aussie companies allowing staff to access these sites.

Source: Robert Half (August 2010)

Employees switch jobs for a pay rise

52 per cent of employees feel they need to change jobs in order to get a higher salary.  More than one quarter of workers say they've never negotiated their salary and 57 per cent have waited until the annual performance review to have the discussion.

Source: Robert Half (August 2010)

A nation of foreign workers

One in four Australian employees were born overseas.  Only the US and Spain have a higher proportion of foreign workers.

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (August 2010)

Lies and resumes

A survey of over 1,000 Australian workers has revealed one-third say they've lied during a job interview.  Almost one in five of the liars have fibbed in regards to their experience. 16 per cent had gotten their mates to act as referees.  10 per cent have lied about past salaries.  And concerningly, 3 per cent have added fake qualifications to their resume.

Source: Galaxy Research (August 2010)

Flexibility becoming more flexible

41 per cent of organisations are investing more time than ever in helping employees with their flexibility, and 71 per cent of respondents believe their organisation takes requests for flexibility seriously. The survey of HR managers also found that 7-in-10 respondents say their senior management team encourages employees to work sensible hours, but most of those same executives (61 per cent) don't model that behaviour.

Source: Australian Human Resources Institute (July 2010)

Bullying linked to stress

Victims of workplace bullying have been found by research to suffer from stress up to seven months after the incidents take place. The study revealed that 39 per cent of employees reported either weekly or daily bullying from peers, bosses, or employees during the previous six months.

Source: University of Sheffield (July 2010)

Afraid of taking a break

20 per cent of employees are too scared to take a break because they think it'll disappoint their boss.  The online poll of 3,000 workers found that 30 per cent eat lunch at their desk while 8 per cent skip lunch altogether.

Source: Kit Kat (July 2010)

Gen Y more likely to quit

About one-fifth of workers have thought about resigning during the past six months due to an inadequate work/life balance.  The online survey of 2,100 people found people aged 18 - 24 were twice as likely as older workers to strongly consider quitting.

Source: Diversity Council Australia (July 2010)

Lacking:  high performance cultures

A survey of 289 Australian businesses has revealed that 40 percent 'somewhat' have a high performance culture and that 7 per cent don't have one at all. A similar percentage, 6 per cent, have staff turnover exceeding 31 per cent.

Source: Kelly Services / CareerOne (June 2010)

Annual leave stresses employees

More than 50 per cent of Australian employees get stressed and think they need to work harder when their peers take annual leave.  65 per cent of workers feel their workload has increased during the past three months. Even when employees take the annual leave themselves, 39 per cent continue to take business calls or emails when they're away.  One third feel uncomfortable taking time off from work because they feel guilty their colleagues will have an additional workload.  46 per cent of respondents still think about work during their annual leave.

Source: Randstad (June 2010)

Lunch?  What lunch?

A survey of 600 Australian employees has revealed one in four eat lunch at their own desk; nearly 60 per cent admit to skipping lunch; and only 4 per cent bring lunch from home each day.

Source: McCrindle Research (June 2010)

Bosses:  they hate you

A poll of 1 million Australians has found one in six workers identified their manager as the most disliked part of their job.  Almost one quarter said they would fire their boss if they could.

Source: Gallup (June 2010)

Workplace stress and asthma

A stressful job increases an employee's risk of getting asthma by 40 per cent.  The study of 5,000 men and women showed there was a higher incidence of developing asthma when people work long hours, had demanding work schedules, and suffered uncomfortable work conditions.

Source: Heidelberg University (June 2010)

Huge numbers of employees ready to leave

1-in-6 Australian workers have applied for a new job in the past six months, which is an increase of 135 per cent from the previous year.

Source: Leadership Management Australasia (May 2010)

Fewer people driving to work

A poll has found fewer Australian employees are driving to work.  20 per cent catch the train; 11 per cent walk; 10 per cent get a bus; and 5 per cent ride a bike.

Source: youi Insurance (May 2010)

Unhealthy Americans punished at work

47 per cent of employers in the US either already use or plan to use financial penalties for employees who don't participate in health improvement programs.  The survey of 600 large companies employing over 10 million also revealed that 58 per cent of employers give their staff rewards for participating in health and wellness schemes.

Source: Hewitt Associates (May 2010)

Top of mind for Australian CEOs

The issue most concerning Australian CEOs at the moment is finding skilled staff.  52 per cent saw this as a problem compared to 41 per cent last year.

Source: Accenture / Business Spectator (May 2010)

Innovation a priority

72 per cent of employers say that innovation has become a top-three priority, which is an increase from the 64 per cent who thought so in 2009. This was based on a global study of 1,600 executives.

Source: Boston Consulting Group / BusinessWeek (May 2010)

Admin workers prepared to take a pay cut

A salary survey of 437 administration employees has revealed they'd consider taking a pay cut in their current job.  In particular, the survey found:

• 33 per cent would do it for a job closer to home
• 33 per cent would do it for more holidays
• 30 per cent would do it if they could work from home
• 29 per cent would do it for more flexible working hours

Source: OfficeTeam (May 2010)

Thumbs up for Aussie managers during the GFC

56 per cent of Australian employees feel their managers were effective at leading their company through the GFC, compared with a rate of 48 per cent globally.  The survey also found that the majority of employees - 64 per cent - prefer to work for between one and three organisations in their lifetime. Gaps in the study emerged in other areas, such as:

• 80 per cent of respondents want a stable job but only 54 per cent believe their company offers it
• 66 per cent want the opportunity to develop their skills, but only 40 per cent get the opportunity
• 68 per cent want their leaders to be trustworthy, but only 49 per cent are deemed to be so
• 60 per cent want their leaders to care for their wellbeing, but only 42 per cent make an effort
  

Source: Towers Watson (April 2010)

Social networks a priority for employees online

A survey of 8,400 employees has found that social networking sites are the preferred destination for employees accessing the web.  40 per cent of Australians visit Facebook while they're at work with Twitter at a penetration rate in the workplace of 17 per cent.

Source: MailGuard (April 2010)

Working overseas set to increase

Despite a reduction of 46 per cent in the number of international assignments during the financial crisis, 44 per cent of employers expect their expatriate populations to expand in the year ahead.

Source: Brookfield Global Relocation (April 2010)

Women still struggling at the top

67 per cent of ASX 300 companies have no policies in place to support the promotion of women to executive positions.

Source: RossJuliaRoss (April; 2010)

Conference calls an opportunity to multi-task

Almost nine-in-ten employees admit they multi-task when on a conference call or web meeting.  The survey of 1000 Australians revealed a third of workers say this has resulted in embarrassing situations.

Source: Premiere Global Services (March 2010)

Workers overloaded with emails

Employees are spending 36 per cent of their time at work reading and responding to an average of 70 emails a day.

Source: Microsoft (March 2010)

Personal problems impacting the workplace

A national survey of 1,100 Australian employees has found 25 per cent of them spend an average of 20 hours at work each month trying to sort out their personal financial problems.

Source: TPMG (March 2010)

Conference calls and web meetings a time for multi-tasking

Almost 9-in-10 employees admit they multi-task when on a conference call or web meeting.  The survey of 1000 Australians revealed a third of workers say this has resulted in embarrassing situations.  40 per cent used their time to check emails and perform other work activities, but a third said they watched television, read the news, checked social networking sites, or gossiped with coworkers.

Source: Premiere Global Services (March 2010)

Social media policies almost non-existent

67 per cent of Australian employers don't have a formal policy in place to guide their employees' use of social media. In comparison, Australia fares better than the rest of the world, where an average of 75 per cent of companies don't have such a policy.

Source: Manpower (March 2010)

Gossiping colleagues rampant at work

One-in-five workers hate their colleagues and almost two-thirds regularly gossip about them behind their backs. A quarter of employees say they enjoy moaning about their colleagues at the pub after work, while a third admit to disliking their co-workers so much they wouldn't even socialise with them outside of work.

Source: OnePoll (March 2010)

Most people are looking for a new job

72 per cent of working people are actively searching for a new job outside their industry or current specialty.

Source: Chandler Macleod (March 2010)

Andy and Sarah most likely to call in sick

Male employees named Andy chuck sickies more than any other, while women called Sarah take the crown amongst women. The UK poll found the blokes most likely to skip work after Andy were Steve who came in second, Paul in third, John in fourth, and Dave in fifth. Becky won the silver medal in the female category, then Anne in third, with Emma and Debbie take the fourth and fifth places respectively.

Source: Viva Entertainment (February 2010)

What graduates are thinking today

A survey of 2,000 uni graduates from across Australia has revealed that 81 per cent believe a role in the public sector provides greater job security, while 62 per cent feel the private sector offers more competitive salaries and benefits. 60 per cent of graduates plan on working outside of Australia at some stage during their career; 30 per cent plan on staying with their employer for between three and five years upon completion of the graduate program; and 23 per cent expect to be in a managerial position within four or five years of entering the workforce.

Source: OneTest (January 2010)

Mass exodus of employees expected

95 per cent of employees say they're keeping their eyes open for a new job, with 73 percent saying they're actively searching for a new employer. The survey of over 900 people found that the most common reasons given by job seekers included - limited career opportunities (41 per cent); feeling undervalued (24 per cent) and losing faith in their current company (18 per cent).

Source: Chandler McLeod Group (January 2010)

Employees uncomfortable negotiating pay

More than 50 per cent of Australian employees don't feel they're able to negotiate their pay with their employer. The national survey of 13,000 Australians also found that the least likely to negotiate were community and personal service workers. 80 percent of the respondents who said they had an opportunity to negotiate with their managers also agreed their bosses could be trusted, as opposed to 63 per cent of those who haven't had such an opportunity. The report also showed that trust in management declines the longer that an employee stays in the same job.

Source: University of Sydney - Workplace Research Centre (January 2010)

Individuality suppressed at work

A report has revealed that 57 per cent of 4,035 executives surveyed have had such a negative effect on their employees that they were hampering their productivity. The research also discovered that 26 per cent of managers try to mould staff to follow rules and procedures - even when this is being detrimental to innovation.

Source: Human Synergistics (January 2010)

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