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Gallup, the famous US company has released its state-of-workplace-report-2022. Gallup is better known for polls and surveys; what is less known is that it is also a consulting company with a big reputation. Gallup also pioneered the concept of Strengths and is updating it regularly.
This publication reports on various aspects: engagement, wellbeing, daily negative emotions – worry, stress, anger, sadness, environmental factors, social factors, governance, jobs availability, possibility of relocation, and the adequacy of present household income.
On overall basis, 21% employees are engaged at work. Please note that engagement means that the employee is physically, intellectually, and emotionally engaged with the work/ organization. 33% of employees are thriving in their overall wellbeing which is about several personal and social factors.
The executive summary says, [Quote] Prior to the pandemic, engagement was rising globally, but progress has stalled. Engagement rose by 1 percentage point in 2021 but remained below its 2019 peak. Although global wellbeing also rose by 1 percentage point, this masks larger regional differences. For example, Australia and New Zealand region saw a 6-percentage-point increase in thriving in the past year, while Europe saw a 5-percentage-point decrease. [Unquote]
When Engagement and Thriving are combined, the results look different. Engagement is usually related to workplace while thriving is considered to relate to life outside the workplace. The research shows that these cannot be separated because overall wellbeing influences life at work. Those who are engaged but not thriving run greater risk of burnout.
Stress among workers has reached an all-time high – again at 44%.
The report covers several regions: North America, Latin America and Caribbean, Europe, Australia New Zealand, Sub-Saharan Africa, Commonwealth of Independent States, Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. The findings are interesting and revealing.
I shall present these findings in couple of parts. My emphasis shall be on the regional differences with particular focus on our own region, South Asia.
Let us first see the global summary.
- Employee Engagement 21%
- Thriving 33%
- Daily Worry 40%
- Daily Stress 44%
- Daily Anger 21%
- Daily Sadness 23%
- Satisfied with Environment Efforts 61%
- Not treated with respect yesterday 11%
- Complaint of Corruption 74%
- Good Job Market 45%
- Relocation Possibility 20%
- Enough Household Income 22%
When we dive deep into regional readings, there are wide differences.
Employee Engagement – Global 21%
- The highest percentage is in the US and Canada – 33%
- The lowest percentage is in Europe – 14%
- Second Highest is our region – South Asia – 27%, followed by Southeast Asia at 24%, and Latin America/Caribbean at 23%. The workforce in these countries is more compelled than engaged to work hard due to survival factors.
- Sub-Saharan Africa and CIS are at 21% and 20% respectively which is more a function of life outlook rather than engagement.
- East Asia, ANZ, MENA are 17%, 17%, and 15% respectively. It indicates that they are under less pressure for survival.
Life Evaluation – Thriving – Global 33%
- The highest level is seen in Australia and New Zealand – 63%
- United States and Canada – 60%
- Europe – 47%
- LATAM and Caribbean – 43%. This is surprising given the turmoil, economic pressure, and displacement of thousands of people in the LATAM region. Caribbean is also not doing well economically which has direct bearing on the quality of life.
- South Asia is at the lowest – 11%. The gap between our region and the highest one – ANZ is too big. South Asia is seven countries: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives. Quality of life is not good in any of these countries, and it should be a matter of concern. What has lately happened in Sri Lanka is not represented in this report, but the signs were already there. Pakistan is also passing through very difficult times economically.
- East Asia, Southeast Asia, and CIS region are in close vicinity at 34%, 30% and 28% respectively.
- Middle East and North Africa – MENA region is also not doing well at 23%. It is quite close to Sub-Saharan Africa which is at 21%.
We shall see other parameters in the next post. A quick sum up of this part is as follows. The engagement and Thriving are interrelated and interdependent. However, excess of facilities appears to make people complacent and is seen as decreasing engagement in case of Europe and ANZ region. While lack of facilities in South Asia and similar regions compels people to work harder and stay more engaged.
To be Continued……
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