NZ Employee Engagement Results

Kiwis do it better than the Aussies and Cantabrians are doing it the best

On Thursday March 26th, a vibrant bunch of HR leaders took an early trip into Auckland and joined Naomi, Matt and Laurel from RedBalloon for an Employee Engagement breakfast at the Sebel Suites.

To be competitive in this economic climate you need to have a focused team of engaged employees who are there for the long haul. You need to keep your people aligned and committed, playing all out for your business at a time when there is less of everything...less people, less resources, less positivity and less cash. The challenge is how?

At the breakfast seminar, we shared the latest Gallup Poll results on Employee Engagement for New Zealand and here are some of the key findings:

• 23% of NZ employees feel engaged in their current role, compared to 18% of Australian employees. Engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company.
• Only 15% of NZ employees are ACTIVELY disengaged, compared to 21% of Australian employees. Actively disengaged employees actually undermine what their engaged co-workers accomplish.
• Canterbury was the most 'engaged' region, with nearly 1/3 of their workforce (27% defined as engaged).
• Wellington was the least 'engaged' region, with only 14% of their workforce defined as engaged.
• 38% of actively disengaged staff felt that the stress of work caused them to behave poorly with their family or friends, compared with only 13% of Engaged employees.

With the cost of disengagement on the rise and estimated at $NZ5.9 billion p.a. we are thrilled that our clients and prospective clients agree that Employee Engagement is a priority for their organisation.

Naomi shared some great stories about the success of clients across Australia and New Zealand in utilising RedBalloon as a reward and recognition partner. Here are some findings that were gleaned from surveying over 110 seminar invitees and attendees:

• 44% of companies have a formal rewards and recognition program.
• 21% of companies do not have a formal rewards and recognition program, but staff are rewarded in an ad hoc or department specific way.
• Only 5% of individuals mentioned cost cutting as a reason for not being interested in Employee Engagement.
• Universal agreement that Employee Engagement was a critical strategy in preparing their workforce for the imminent economic upturn.
• The idea of a 'wishlist', ie employees sharing with their company, their own ideas for how they would like to be rewarded, was very well received.

We are planning on running more free seminars in the future in New Zealand (or online) so do let us know if you're interested or keep your eyes peeled for more emails.

If you would like further information regarding the Gallup results or to discuss the difference RedBalloon can have on your employee engagement results please get in touch our Kiwi Manager, Laurel McLay, on laurel@redballoon.co.nz or call +64 9360 4400.

Author: Matt Geraghty

Date: 19/05/2009

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