For 14 years, Gallup has been asking German companies the crucial question: What is the level of commitment among employees and managers in Germany? With slight fluctuations, this representative survey always comes to a result that makes you sit up and take notice.
- 16% of employees are engaged
- 68% of employees are not committed or work to rule
- 16 % have already resigned internally
Committed employees are the most important asset of any company. After all, they ensure customer satisfaction, quality and sales.
There are things that have developed positively over the years, e.g. life satisfaction, the basic economic mood and confidence in a positive future for the employer, but not commitment, emotional attachment to the company and motivation.
The main reasons for the stagnating commitment are as follows:
- Lack of leadership quality
- Lack of objectivity in performance appraisals
- Lack of regular and effective employee and development reviews
So what should companies do specifically to increase the number of engaged employees in their company? The report on the German Engagement Index makes a number of recommendations. Unsurprisingly, it’s all about leadership.
- Keep the leadership span manageable
- Systematically record leadership quality
- Support managers in reflecting on their leadership behavior
- Hold managers accountable for the quality of their leadership
- Conduct regular employee appraisals and focus on the personal development potential, performance and personal needs of employees
The crises of some well-known German companies and associations all had to do with a problematic corporate and leadership culture at their core. Will this shake up the country?
Source: Gallup, Engagement Index, Germany, 2015
