Singapore's Ministry of Trade and
Industry reported Monday that the country's economy had grown
by 8.1% in 2004, making it one of Asia's fastest-growing economies.
It certainly hasn't hurt that Singaporean workers appear to be
enjoying a period of heightened engagement.
Last September, Gallup conducted a survey* that measured how
emotionally committed Singaporean employees are to their jobs. The
survey shows the percentage of engaged workers is the highest it
has been since Gallup began conducting this study in 2001. The
percentage of engaged workers now stands at 9%, up from 6% in 2003.
The proportion of actively disengaged employees -- those who are
disenchanted and disaffected -- is sharply down, from 17% in 2003
to 9% in 2004. That improvement notwithstanding, however, the
sizable majority of workers in Singapore -- 82% -- remain in the
"not engaged" category, meaning they're putting time, but not
energy or passion, into their work.
Gallup researchers estimate actively disengaged workers will
cost the Singapore economy at least $4
billion (SGD) annually in terms of lost productivity.
Gallup discovered several interesting trends in the 2004
data:
- The size of the company does not seem to influence
engagement.
- It doesn't matter much whether employees work in the public or
private sector -- engagement levels in the two sectors are similar,
and both have increased since last year.
- Engagement levels among white-collar workers are higher than
those among blue-collar workers; furthermore, engagement among
white-collar workers has increased, while the level for blue-collar
workers is unchanged.
- Among white-collar workers, managers and executives are more
engaged than those who are not responsible for directing the work
of other employees. But among both groups, engagement levels have
increased sharply from 2003.
The Role of the Manager
Gallup's research has shown that managers play a key role in
increasing employee engagement. Outstanding managers and poor
managers coexist in every company, regardless of size. The
disengagement present in the Singaporean workforce appears to be
related particularly strongly to these manager-related issues:
- Setting expectations -- Just slightly more than a quarter of
employees "strongly agree" that they know what is expected from
them at work (by giving this item a rating of "5" on a scale of 1
to 5).
- Potential utilization -- Only about one in six Singaporean
workers strongly agree that they are in roles that give them the
opportunity to do what they do best every day. This proportion is
especially low among Singaporeans with lower levels of
education.
- Giving feedback -- Only about one in six workers also strongly
agree that they have received progress-related feedback in the past
six months.
- Learning and growing -- Finally, the percentage who strongly
agree that they have had opportunities to learn and grow in the
past year is also only about 1 in 6, though there has been
significant progress here; that number is up from 1 in 10 in 2003.
The increase on this item is one of the main drivers behind the
increase in overall workforce engagement levels.
It may seem paradoxical that, while the number saying they learn
and grow at work has increased, formal investments in training
appear to have declined in recent years. The survey also found 32%
of Singaporean workers say they attended a company-arranged
training program in the last six months, down from 37% in 2003 and
45% in 2002. Public-sector employees, those working in managerial
positions, and those in larger organizations are more likely than
other workers to have attended a training program.
But the quantity of formal training itself does not seem
to significantly impact engagement -- the disengagement level among
workers who have been through training is not very different from
that among those who have not been through training. The goals of
training initiatives can make a difference. Three of every four
workers who said they had been through a training program indicated
the program was intended to fix areas in which workers are already
weak. Gallup research reveals that training is most beneficial when
it is carried out to enhance a strength, not to remedy a
weakness.
- Sense of caring and respect -- Only about one in seven
respondents strongly agree that their manager or someone at work
cares about them. And one in eight strongly agree that their
opinions count in the workplace.
The article's conclusion will discuss the perceptions that
Singaporeans have about the future of the economy and their own
jobs and the role that engagement plays in creating positive
perceptions about both the macro and micro environment.
*This study was conducted as part of a nationwide
poll on perceptions about work life in Singapore that was conducted
in the first two weeks of September. The study was conducted among
1,010 Singaporean citizens and permanent residents between the ages
of 18 and 54 who are currently employed full or part time, using a
random location quota sample. Interviewing was conducted between
the period of Sept. 1, 2004, and Sept. 16, 2004. For results based
on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum
error attributable to sampling and other random effects is
±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error,
question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys
can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
