Work content, workplace relationships and recognition : The three
pillars of commitment in Europe according to the Ayming-TNS Sofres
survey conducted in 7 countries
European employees: obstacles and opportunities to boost
employee commitment
Yannick Jarlaud, Director of the Survey with Ayming's HR Performance Business Line: “European
employees have multiple profiles, their approach to work is multifaceted and their assessment
of their motivation and their commitment to their company is inevitably influenced by their
nationality. However, this first pan-European qualitative study on the mobilisation and
commitment of employees allows us to identify strong common multicultural management
strategies on which European companies must focus their efforts.”
“Workplace attendance” rates: substantial disparities
On average, 72% of European employees surveyed on their absence from work – excluding maternity
and paternity leave - say they were present all year in 2015. These statistics must allow for “denial of
absence” (forgetting absence) margin, the existence of which has been proven.
Who are the employees who are “always present” in Europe ?
The study shows that British employees are those who express the highest “always present” rate (84%),
just ahead of Dutch employees (82%) and German employees (81%).
On the contrary, only 41% of Italian employees state that they are always present. Are they more honest
and less affected by the denial of absence syndrome or are they really absent more often? The main
reason is that Italian legislation provides numerous rights pertaining to the concept of “justified
absence”. In other European countries, these rights are no longer included in the concept of “justified
absence” and have a “paid leave” dimension. For example, training leave is considered as a justified
absence in Italy. Consequently, Italians include numerous days in their assessment of their absence that
other European employees do not consider as “days of absence”.
Belgian and French employees rank slightly lower than average at 71%. While 79% of Spanish employees
say they are “always present”.
These observable variations are related to 2 main aspects:
A conception of workplace attendance that varies from country to country: in certain
countries, being absent means “not being present at your work station”, including during
holidays. In other countries, it means “being at home”. Legislation in each country is built
around these concepts.
Notable differences in the behaviour of employees with regards to work can be observed
between countries. The study demonstrates a considerable difference between the countries
located in the North of the region surveyed (Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom) and
those in the South (Spain, Italy, France).
Work life conditions represent 55% of reasons of absence for European employees.
When European employees are asked the reasons for their absence, they say that their health or that of
their family takes precedence over everything else.
But the reasons related to work and what they experience at work are also present. Accrual of absence
for “personal” and “professional” reasons shows that 45% of European employees' absence is related to
their health and that of their family, and the remaining 55% is related to a professional reason.
Your state of health.
Your personal situation.
Workload.
Dissatisfaction related to remuneration.
Poor working atmosphere with colleagues.
Poor organisation and/or working conditions.
State of health of your family.
Lack of managerial support or between colleagues.
Your age.
Lack of recognition from staff.
Lack of vision regarding the future.
Lack of vision regarding your professional evolution.
Feeling that non-executive employees do not have the
means to do their work.
Lack of management and control of absence.
Poor image of job/company.
22%
12%
8%
8%
7%
7%
6%
5%
5%
5%
5%
4%
2%
2%
2%
Absenteeism is therefore not inevitable, companies can find solutions to prevent work-related causes.
4 European employees out of 10 say they are “happy and motivated”
73% of European employees surveyed say they are currently “happy” at work and so they can be
considered as satisfied with their working life. In this regard, Dutch employees rank highest with 82% of
positive replies, followed by British employees (80%) and German employees (78%).
French employees (68%), Spanish employees (67%) and Italian employees (66%), who feel they have an
ethical obligation to work harder than in other countries and have high rates of unemployment, seem to
endure their work and fewer say they are “happy” at work.
A direct correlation between happiness at work and mobilisation.
Among the “happy” European employees, 55% say they are mobilised for the future of their company,
compared to just 26% of employees who say they are “not happy” at work. Employees who are
“happy” in their work are twice as likely to be mobilised as employees who are “not happy”.
The overall champions of happiness at work and professional mobilisation: the Netherlands, with a rate
of happy and mobilised employees of 54%, followed by Germany (46%), Italy (45%) and Spain (44%).
Belgium (38%) and France (35%) rank lower than the European average.
The English have the highest rate of employees who are “happy” at work, but also the lowest rate of
employees who are “mobilised” for their employer.
This data confirms the relation envisaged between “happiness in the workplace” and “commitment”.
Endeavouring to make European employees happy and fulfilled at work therefore seems to be a best
management practice to improve teams' mobilisation, involvement and performance.
“Mobilised and happy” employees are committed employees:
ready to give more of themselves for their work (at pan-European level);
they recommend their company more often (at pan-European level);
they have a higher level of presence, except in the United Kingdom, Italy and
Spain.
1)
They are ready to give more of themselves for their work.
Mobilised employees are employees who are
more inclined to increase their efforts in their work
(76%) than other categories (60%), especially
more than “not happy and not concerned”
employees (24%).
This is the trend in all European countries.
The countries where employees say they are
ready to invest themselves more in their work are:
France, the United Kingdom and Belgium. On the
contrary, Germany and the Netherlands, where
employee commitment is already very high,
have relatively low rates of intention to make
greater efforts at 53 and 52%.
2)
They recommend their employer more often to others.
Employees who say they are “Happy and
Mobilised” are a source of recommendation for
their employer. So the “employer brand” and
more specifically the attractiveness of their
company are consequently increased.
This variation in recommendation exists in all
countries.
Happy and Mobilised employees are a factor of
attractiveness for European companies.
In the United Kingdom, this correlation is one of
the most substantial, with 87% of Happy & Mobilised employees recommending their employer. In a
country where the talent war has been declared, this indicator is vital for HR Managers...
The correlation is not so strong in Belgium. At national level, recommendation of employers is lower than
in Europe and does not seem to be part of Belgian tradition. Although Happy and Mobilised Belgian
employees do recommend their employer more often (a trait of this population), they do not reach the
same level as in Europe.
In Spain and Italy, where the national average is among the lowest in Europe but similar to the average
European level, we can see that Not Concerned and Not Happy employees have a comparatively
high rate of recommendation.
This is most likely due to cultural and economic aspects in these countries, where the work value is “it's
important to have a job” and unemployment rates are high - almost 3 out of 10 people are
unemployed. So NHNC employees continue to recommend their employer to help their family and
close friends get a job, even if the employer does not enable them to be happy and mobilised at work.
3)
“Mobilised and happy” employees do not have the same reasons for being absent
The first and second reasons for potential work
stoppages
of employees who are happy and
mobilised at work are state of health (25%) and a
“personal situation” (13%). Far fewer (7%) point to
remuneration and poor atmosphere at work as
potential sources of absence. Absence of this
category of employees is therefore mainly due to
major personal events that are unrelated to the
company.
For employees who are “not
concerned and not happy” with
their work life, the reasons for
absence listed point more directly
to the company, its working
conditions
as
reasons
for
absence. Work load
(10%),
dissatisfaction with remuneration
and working conditions and
organisation (9%) emerge as the
first causes of potential stoppage,
ahead of their own state of health
(17%).
This hierarchy of reasons for work
stoppage between the two
populations exists in all of the
countries surveyed.
4/ They have a higher attendance rate than others…
Dutch and German employees, who are at the top of the list of employees who are both the happiest
and the most mobilised, are also those with the highest workplace attendance rate (89% and 82% of
the “mobilised happy” population. In France, although the level is lower, the correlation between the
fact of being “mobilised and happy” and “always present” is also very strong.
French and Belgian employees' responses are at the average level of those of European employees
(75% and 72%).
The
origins
and
manifestations
of
employees' mobilisation are therefore
multiple and closely related to the culture,
organisation of work, types of contracts
and economic environment that exist in
each country. For some, more affective,
employees, identification with the values
and strategy of the company is very
important.
Other,
more
pragmatic,
employees, have a colder attitude to work
and their employer
Yet again, three countries stand out: Italy,
which demonstrates that employees can
be happy and mobilised without having a
high rate of attendance, the United
Kingdom, where - with high rates of employees who are always present (84%) and satisfied (80%) employees nevertheless express the lowest rate of mobilisation (23%), and Spain, where “Not Happy
and Not Concerned” employees are more present than “Happy and Mobilised” employees (who are
less present than the national average).
These results illustrate the fact that countries' cultures have a significant impact on approaches to work.
So in Italy, the United Kingdom and Spain, absenteeism is not a key indicator of commitment to be
taken into consideration. Companies in these countries must base their commitment strategies on other
indicators and work on absenteeism (present despite everything) in a specific manner.
Methodology of the study: the panel of employees surveyed as part of this qualitative study comprised
3,ooo employees in the private sector who are representative of the working population in the 7
countries studied – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
56% of employees are men and 44% are women, the majority (62%) aged between 31 and 50. Almost
one out of every two employees (49%) is employed by a company with less than 50 employees. 61%
have been working in their company for less than 10 years. 63% are non-executive employees or bluecollar workers and 37% are executives, technicians and supervisors. 26% in the services sector
(excluding Health), 26% work in industry, 17% in retail, 12% in construction, 10% in transport and 9% in
health. These employees were surveyed by telephone by TNS Sofres between 13 June and 1 July 2016.
Contact: mc
Laurence Margoline – Ayming
Tel.: +33 (0)1 41 49 11 17 – [email protected]
Ayming
Ayming is a leader international consulting group in business performance, born from
the merger of Alma Consulting Group and Lowendalmasaï, that operates in 14 countries:
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