What Indian employees want

Making the right match b
28 March 2006

So, what makes employees tick? What ensures his or her "engagement" with the employer?

According to the findings of the WorkIndia survey, the country's first cross-industry study, Indians make more loyal employees than their counterparts elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region.

The study included a sample of more than 9,500 employees, representing a total employee base of 126,798 from 53 companies in nine industrial sectors. In India, as in other countries in the region, Watson Wyatt, the global consulting firm in human resource management, which conducted the survey, found that commitment is driven primarily by job satisfaction; further, commitment is related closely to the quality of leadership. Indians, however, report much higher levels of job satisfaction — at 20 points above the Asia Pacific norm.

For arriving at the identifiable levels of job satisfaction, the interviewers measured employees' satisfaction with their opportunities to utilise their skills, learn on the job and engage in what is perceived as meaningful work. This, the study found, together with faith in leadership, decides whether the job hunt would continue or loyalty to the existing employer wins over.

The good news for corporate India is that more than 70 per cent of employees agreed, in the interviews, that they receive the necessary resources and information sufficiently quickly to do their work effectively. Among the reasons cited for wanting to stay on with the company, 43 per cent referred to good career opportunities and 26 per cent to the closely related 'good prospects for the future', 31 per cent to opportunities to utilise skills, 22 per cent to the compensation package and 21 per cent to the company's good reputation.