TWO THIRDS of Cypriot employees are highly committed to their companies, topping the list of ten countries in a new survey.
The survey by the MASMI Research Group involved Belarus, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Ukraine.
It showed that Cyprus has the highest Engagement Index at 66 per cent.
This is the second annual Employee Engagement Survey of Central/Eastern Europe and the Middle East conducted by MASMI and shows that the average for the area was 57 per cent, which is unchanged from last year.
Cyprus, which is up from 64 per cent engagement rate from last year is followed by Saudi Arabia at 63 per cent. On the other side of the spectrum is Belarus at 52 per cent.
Countries with the highest Engagement Index also had the most employees rated as Strongly Engaged. MASMI CEO Nicos Rossides said that increasing employee engagement was due to sound management and HR practices.
However, he also stated that many companies in Cyprus are neglecting the higher expectations of new employees as 28 per cent of employees with less than five years in the company were Wavering or Disengaged as to opposed to only five per cent of employees with over five years in their current job.
He emphasised the need for companies to make more effort during the recruitment stage in order to get the right staff for the job and ensure their expectations were the same as those of the companys. He further advised that once new employees are taken on, they are integrated through training, coaching, mentoring and regular feedback.
MASMI found that the top areas affecting employee engagement were satisfaction with day-to-day duties, opportunities within the company for personal development, feeling appreciated by their employer, and the impact of senior management.
These results show that the most important factors are ensuring a good fit between job and skills, understanding the development needs of employees, putting their ideas into practice, and effectively communicating the companys strategy and goals.
Some 80 per cent of employees surveyed were happy with the training they received from companies and 61 per cent felt they had opportunities for personal development. Rossides noted that this was a positive trend and that although companies may be having economic difficulties, they are still investing in this area.
Our research not only in these last two surveys but going back many years shows that even a modest investment in personal development can pay great dividends in stronger employee engagement.
One of the areas, however, where Cyprus was not up to standards was in communication from senior management about company strategy and goals. Employees feel more motivated when they understand a companys goals and can contribute to them and therefore this type of communication needs to be improved.
Another trend noted amongst workers was that due to the economic crisis, they feel trapped in their current companies as they have no job alternatives. Rossides urged employers to meet the expectations of their employees by providing development opportunities or inspire them through effectively communicating company strategy otherwise they will lose talented people once the economic situation improves.
By Sama Meibar, Cyprus Mail, Published on July 28, 2010
