Indians work like a charm

Are second most engaged employees world over: Survey

BOSTON: Indians beat Japanese and Americans to emerge second most engaged employees world over, after Mexicans who were willing to go the distance for their employer.

According to the study released by a global professional services firm on Monday, only one out of five employees of major global corporations is engaged in his or her work and top managers may be to blame.

A survey of 90,000 workers in 18 countries by Towers Perrin found that only 21% of employees are engaged in their work, while 38% are disenchanted or disengaged.

The study defined "engagement" as being willing to do more than is required to help their employers succeed and measured it by their responses to questions about their feelings about work.

Mexicans proved to be the most engaged, followed by Brazilians and Indians. US respondents ranked fourth. The least engaged workers were the Japanese, followed by residents of Hong Kong and South Korea.

The study found that worker engagement was most driven by senior managers — not by an employee's upbringing or relationship with a direct manager.

"The organisation itself is the most powerful influencer of employee engagement," said Julie Gebauer, of Towers Perrin.