Employee engagement bounces back – Aon

Global levels of employee engagement jumped back to an all-time high in 2017 after a dip in the previous year, according to a report from Aon. The firm’s analysis of as many as five million employees at more than 1,000 organisations around the world finds that engagement levels rebounded to 65% in 2017, up from 63% in 2016.

Further, the percentage of employees who were highly engaged increased from 24% to 27% last year.

Significant regional differences emerge:

• Africa reported the largest increase in engagement, up from 61% to 66% in 2017.
• Conversely, Europe has the lowest levels of engagement in the world at 60%, despite the fact that individual countries saw dramatic improvements.
• Four of the most-improved countries last year were European – France, Netherlands, Austria and Sweden.

‘Rewards and recognition’ are ranked as the strongest opportunity for improving employee engagement, behind ‘senior leadership’ and ‘career opportunities’.

Ken Oehler, Global Culture and Engagement Practice Leader at Aon, said:

‘Although most companies continue to face some level of disruption and uncertainty, a robust, expanding economy means organisations are typically willing to invest more in people, and that makes the work experience much better for most employees.’