Workers in the UK are far less engaged with their employers than their counterparts across Europe.

These are the findings according to research undertaken by Watson Wyatt who blame the lack of enthusiasm on the poor perception associated with development opportunities.

Its Work Europe 2005 survey found that just 12% of employees in the UK could be described as ‘fully engaged’ with their business, compared to 36% of Swiss workers, 24% of Irish and 18% of German.

Joining the British on the lower rungs are the Italians. At just 9% engagement they were found to be less engaged than their UK counterparts.

Andrew Cocks, European head of employee research at Watson Wyatt commented: “Lack of employee engagement is not just an issue for HR professionals. Our research shows that it can hit the bottom line hard and is likely to put UK employers at a significant disadvantage to their European competitors. It therefore has to be seen as a fundamental business issue that affects everyone.”

The research suggests that the development opportunities can have as much pull as providing satisfactory base pay.
Other factors, say Watson Wyatt, that influence engagement include providing employees with the reasons behind major decisions, levels of trust in senior management and confidence in the company’s long-term business success.