PHL employee engagement rises to 71% after 2016 drop — Aon

by BusinessWorld, May 28, 2018

EMPLOYEE engagement levels in the Philippines rose by six percentage points to 71%, according to a new report by global professional services firm Aon.

Employee engagement, as defined in Aon’s 2018 Global Employee Engagement Trends Report, is “the level of an employee’s psychological investment in their organization.” The more than 8 million employees polled worldwide were gauged on their opinions about their organization, their intention to remain there, and their motivation to commit their efforts to the organization’s success. The report noted that employee engagement is often confused with satisfaction or happiness.

“Philippines’ increase is significant when compared to the 9-point drop it experienced the previous year,” Aon said, adding that “(o)verall employee engagement score for the Philippines is higher than key Asia-Pacific economies including China (69%), Thailand (64%), Malaysia (63%), Australia (60%), and Singapore (59%).”

“After experiencing a three-point drop in engagement for 2016, the Apac (Asia-Pacific) region bounced back to its highest engagement level at 65% of all employees last year,” Aon also said.

The report also found that “talent and staffing” and “empowerment and autonomy” topped the list of engagement drivers in the Philippines. “Talent and staffing” refers to talent attraction and retention practices of an organization, as well as its ability to allocate resources to get the work done.

Aon also noted that the country is home to one of the world’s youngest employee populations, with half below 34 years of age.

“While 75% of millennials feel that their organization actively supports the learning and development of its employees, only 53% report being fairly paid compared to other employees in the same roles in their organization. Moreover, only 58% feel they get recognized (beyond pay) for their contributions in the organization,” the firm said.

The employees polled came from more than 1,000 organizations around the world, Aon said.