Employees in "Rational Endurance" Mode

"Working Today: Understanding What Drives Employee Engagement, the Towers Perrin 2003 Talent Report" drew responses from more than 35,000 employees in the United States. Completed in April 2003.

U.S. workers remain focused on their jobs despite the tough economic climate, job layoffs and other business challenges of the last two years, according to recent research from Towers Perrin. Employees of medium-sized to large organizations are in a mode of "rational endurance"--doing what is required to help keep both themselves and their companies afloat. However, the study also shows that relatively few of the employees surveyed exhibit high levels of engagement in their jobs.

"Employees are getting the job done, which has a lot to do with a sense of enlightened self-interest on their parts," says Charlie Watts, head of Towers Perrin's Organization and Employee Research consulting practice. "But their resiliency doesn't equate with true engagement. Engagement, which we define as employees' willingness and ability to contribute to company success, ultimately comes down to people's desire to give discretionary effort in their jobs."

The bulk of employees surveyed are only moderately engaged, according to the study. In fact, only a small percentage are highly engaged, meaning they're both willing and able to invest an extra level of discretionary effort that separates outstanding performers from others.

"Working Today: Understanding What Drives Employee Engagement, the Towers Perrin 2003 Talent Report" drew responses from more than 35,000 employees in the United States.

The study identifies a list of workplace elements that are critical in building engagement among employees, including strong leadership, personal accountability, autonomy, a sense of control over one's environment, and opportunities for advancement.

Another finding is that a highly engaged workforce is likely to be more stable. Two-thirds of highly engaged employees have no plans to leave their current jobs, vs. 36 percent of the moderately engaged and only 12 percent of the disengaged.

The research identifies a set of attributes that, in combination, are critical to building high engagement. It also tells employers how workers think they're doing in each of these areas.

"The key for employers is to understand which employees are most critical to the organization and then determine their levels of engagement," Watts notes. Learn more at www.towersperrin.com .

For a complete copy of report.