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Sustainable engagement and the AsiaPacic workforce
Asia Pacic is a diverse region and employeeengagement levels
vary in different countries. In fast-growing economies such as
China, India, Indonesiaand the Philippines, employee engagement
levelsare much higher than in the developed economiesincluding
Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea,Singapore and Taiwan. [Refer
Slide: Engagementlevels in APAC countries.]
Nonetheless, in both the fast-growing and developedeconomies,
talent attraction and retention remainkey challenges for
organisations. Employers infast-growing economies nd that
attracting criticalskill employees is their biggest challenge. They
alsond it hard to retain fresh graduates. On the otherhand,
employers in the developed economies havedifculty recruiting fresh
graduates. [Refer Slide 9in TM&R deck.] Given the intense
competition forworkers, an effective talent attraction and
retentionstrategy requires keeping employees engaged.
In addition, the correlation between employeeengagement and
corporate performance means theopportunity exists for every
organisation to improvebusiness performance by raising
sustainableengagement. To do this, employers need to examinea
number of elements in the work environment thataffect their
employees.
Stress, Work-life Balance and Workload
From the study, Stress, Work-life Balance andWorkload is
collectively identied as the mostimportant driver for sustainable
engagement.However, workers are struggling to cope in
thisaspect.
Workers in Asia Pacic are stressed. More than40% of the workers
are bothered by work stress.Paid time-off is under-utilised,
especially in fast-growing economies including China, India,
Indonesia,Malaysia, Philippines, where more than half of the
workforce reported using fewer paid time-off daysthan in the
past.
Moving forward, more than half of the employeesin the region
also expect to work more hours thannormal in the next three
years.
Excessive work pressure is a factor pushing peopleout of their
companies. Of those who are likely toleave their companies within
the next two years,61% admitted they are often bothered by
excessivepressure on the job.
However, it appears that leaders perceivedinterest in employee
well-being can mitigate theeffect of excessive job pressures. The
study foundthat leadership is a key factor driving
sustainableengagement. Among many other leaders attributes,
what counts for employees is whether their leadersshow a sincere
interest in their well-being. Whileworkers are generally critical
about their seniorcorporate leadership, in companies where there
isperceived interest in employee well-being, workersare more
favourable towards their leaders.
Communication and Empowerment
In a number of Asia Pacic countries, effectivecommunication and
empowerment is another factorfor sustaining employee engagement
levels. Thisis most prominent in China where employees who
feel their organisation keeps them informed ofthe companys
values, goals and performance aremore engaged. Likewise, employees
who believemanagement takes the time to listen to and act ontheir
suggestions are more engaged. In Hong Kongand Taiwan, the survey
data reveals that a sharedview of organisational goals and
objectives drivessustainable engagement. Unfortunately, there isa
gap in effective communication of goals andobjectives.
A signicant observation is the central role ofmanagers in
enablement, energy and traditional
engagement. The role of the direct manager hasshifted from being
a technical expert that directsthe work of employees to more of a
leader who canmotivate and coach their subordinates. Indeed,
manyemployees have high expectations of their managersas people
managers rather than task managers.
Managers who make sure their subordinates haveadequate tools,
resources and support to make thebest possible use of their skills,
and who assigntasks suited to the skills of their subordinatesare
viewed more favourably. They help enhanceshared accountability and
sustainable engagement.
Managers who can communicate goals clearly canhelp to alleviate
pressure and set boundaries aroundan employees workload. In this
way, they havesignicant inuence over employee engagement.
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most other Asia Pacic countries, there exists theopportunity to
optimise total rewards and increaseemployees understanding of the
Employee ValueProposition (EVP).
The EVP denes the give and the get between theemployer and the
employee. It is the tangible andnon-tangible rewards that an
employee expects toget in exchange for his commitment,
discretionaryeffort and performance for the organisation. AnEVP
could include the purpose and values of anorganisation, the job,
the culture and the peopleaspects, and total rewards.
There is evidence that effective EVP implementationmitigates
poor pay equity perception, most notablyin Taiwan, Korea and India.
It is also worth notingthat in Asia Pacic, the fast-developing
economiesare actively investing in the implementation
andcommunication of EVP. It is not coincidental thatthese countries
have higher employee engagementlevels.
Employers need to optimise their total rewardsprogramme that is
based on a better understandingof employee needs, including
healthcare programmesor retirement benets.
While companies need to pay competitively and offerthe right
pay, it is even more important for them tocommunicate effectively
to employees about totalrewards and the EVP.
Sustainable engagement needs to bestrengthened
While the Asia Pacic region is dominated by fast-growing
economies, the drive for business growth,and the changes and
restructuring in workplacescan actually cause leaders to lose touch
with theiremployees over time. Employers who are able toprovide
reassurance and clarity to employees aboutthe changes taking place
in the organisation, their
job security and pay will go some way in mitigatingtheir
employees stress and anxiety, and encouragetheir level of
engagement.
Even for companies with engaged employees,sustainable engagement
is fragile and employerswould do well to strengthen the key
enablers ofsustainable engagement in their organisation.
It is evident from the study that a few factorsare important for
getting it right with employees.These include effective leadership,
effectivecommunication, performance management andproper
communication of total rewards and theEmployee Value
Proposition.
About Towers WatsonTowers Watson is a leading global
professional servicescompany that helps organisations improve
performancethrough effective people, risk and nancial
management.With 14,000 associates around the world, we
offersolutions in the areas of employee benets, talent
management, rewards, and risk and capital management.
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