Gallup Biannual Poll of Australian workers 2008

Gallup Consulting's 2008 Biannual Australian Engagement Study results show that 21% of Australian employees are actively disengaged in their workplace, costing Australian businesses around AUS $33.5 billion per annum. The study, undertaken in the last part of 2008 asked a true representation of the Australian working population how they felt about various aspects of their wellbeing, job and workplace.

The Australian Engagement Study was conducted among a sample of 1,000 working people, aged 18 years and older. A random sample of workers was telephoned to determine how they felt about various aspects of their work, and how engaged they felt about their workplace. In this instance, no one organisation was surveyed but a range of different workers from different employers across a broad range of industry sectors including Health and Community Services, Education, Government, Finance, Transport, Retail, Agriculture, Manufacturing and Construction. The maximum sampling error for this study is ± 3.1%.

The results indicated some shocking links between disengagement and wellbeing. In fact, 43% of Actively Disengaged people admitted to having treated their family and friends poorly for 3 or more consecutive days in the past 30 days. This tells us that the stress associated with being disengaged in the workplace has a dramatic effect on our personal lives.

With a significant focus on wellbeing in the workplace, the survey looks at the association between engagement and diagnosed health conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and depression. For example, 36% of Actively Disengaged people have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, as opposed to 25% of the engaged population.

It is surprising that when asked 45% of the Actively Disengaged employees told us that they planned to spend the next year with their current employer. More shocking still is that 24% of them plan to spend their entire career with their current organisation. Considering both the health and family implications that disengagement has on an individual, as well as the cost to the organisation, it is clear that creating an engaged and productive workforce has both positive business and social outcomes.

To learn more about how Gallup can help your organisation engage employees and optimise performance, please contact us.