SE Asia: low employee engagement

I was rather shocked when I read the following article:


"S'pore staff 'not engaged' at work

Three in four workers here feel unmotivated and are "sleepwalking" through their work day, according to a survey conducted by Gallup.

And what is more startling in the survey findings is that one in seven are so unhappy that they are "more or less out to damage their company" through acts like malingering or even stealing.

"Close to two million people (in Singapore) are just showing up at work every day, doing what they need to do, but not feeling emotionally invested in their companies," said Gallup's Singapore and South-east Asia manager Leong Chee Tung, who presented the findings at a talk yesterday.

In contrast, only fewer than one in 10 workers here are "engaged" at work, that is, they feel passionate about their company and are committed to their work."


Having been in the region for 20 years, I did expect to hear bad news regarding engagement at work. But I didn't expect things to be this bad.

I can't find the exact number for Malaysia, but I guess they will be roughly similar, according to the research by Gallup:

Employee engagement is a two way street, employers not giving any responsibility to employees, employees not taking the responsibility when it is offered.

The region tries to increase productivity by several means, for instance increasing new technology. But if employee engagement is increased, surely this will have a big effect on productivity as well.