Data Watch

Retention Levels Tied to Employee Engagement

Employee engagement—the level of dedication and single-mindedness that an employee displays for the employing organization—is elusive for many firms, a new report suggests. In North America, fewer than 1 in 3 employees (29%) are fully engaged in their work, reveals The State of Employee Engagement 2008, which also finds that 19% are in fact disengaged.

A firm that wants its employees to stay may want to work on their engagement, as a correlation between engagement and loyalty may exist: Finding that 85% of North American employees who are engaged plan to remain with their employer at least through the end of 2008, HR consulting firm BlessingWhite's research links employee engagement and retention.

This resulting problem of attrition is most pronounced in sectors such as technology; healthcare; communications and media; and retail, hospitality and travel. Workers for North American technology companies, for instance, are less likely to remain with their present employer than their counterparts in most industries, according to the survey of 3,342 employees. Asked if they plan to stay in their current job in 2008 if they have a choice, only 54% of technology employees say "Yes, definitely."

"We probe intent to stay or leave, since it correlates so strongly with employee engagement," says BlessingWhite CEO Christopher Rice, in a press statement. "In North America we find that engaged employees are three times as likely as their disengaged co-workers to say they'll stick around."