Is it surprising that Chinese employees have the lowest level of professionalism globally, while those in the UAE have the highest?

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How to maintain high employee engagement at work is a topic of concern for companies around the world. We tend to consider only the commitment of employees within our own organization. ADP research institutions focus on using data to study various aspects of work, and publicly share these data-driven research findings. The latest research by this institution shows that there are significant differences in employee engagement among different **, industries, and types of occupations. (w6 h9 j: F- E5 w0 a* P# ~ Researchers surveyed over 19,000 employees worldwide and found that only 16% of them were fully committed to their work (this does not mean that the other employees performed poorly or deliberately did not commit themselves to their work; it simply indicates that they have room for improvement). However, certain **, policies, and behaviors can affect employees’ job commitment. 4 v5 V. |3 V. I6 q* F; Many companies focus on factors such as age, gender, and employees’ work location in an attempt to understand their level of commitment, although some of these factors do not play a decisive role in determining commitment. However, the researchers identified one factor that stood out above all others, namely whether employees became part of the team. A few countries such as the UAE and India showed higher employee engagement levels than others in the survey. The majority of **’s data is around 15%, while China and the Netherlands are at a disadvantage. 1 w' f( |! }& x$ ~( E+ J https://img.36krcdn.com/20190528/v2_1559006456892_img_000& @! ] v- E8 `; X. E$ t! P; R Nevertheless, researchers have brought good news, though this depends on where you live and work. Among the 13 ** surveyed in 2018 and 2015, the work commitment of 8 ** improved. However, aside from India and Spain, the increases in other countries were smaller, at only 1% or 2%. In China, there has been a significant decline in work dedication (researchers conducted repeated surveys using different samples to ensure stable results). In 2015, the proportion of workers who were fully employed in China was close to one-fifth, ranking it highest in the world. 6 ? i. ^4 j1 {! ^3 z! l6 n# D Three years later, this ratio dropped to about one-sixteenth, reaching the lowest level recorded in the surveys. It is difficult to determine the exact reason for the declining proportion in China’s vast economy, and this issue deserves further investigation. 3 y# t+ V3 ~5 S$ a3 X- However, researchers point out that China’s economic growth rate in 2016 dropped to its lowest level since 1990, and China’s rapidly growing middle class now has higher expectations regarding work conditions; they are no longer satisfied with the 9-to-5, six-day-a-week working schedule advocated by Jack Ma of Alibaba. They believe that these factors are related to the sharp decline in employee engagement. https://img.36krcdn.com/20190528/v2_1559006456952_img_000 Becoming part of the team can make a huge difference. In the UAE, 29% of team members are able to fully dedicate themselves to their work ； If employees do not work within a team, the proportion of those who can fully dedicate themselves to their work drops to 7%. In the Netherlands, these two figures are 11% and 2%, respectively. " G1 z8 H1 g; T. j8 s https://img.36krcdn.com/20190528/v2_1559006457005_img_000$ @. b* G. M" Z& j+ T+ S The team effect is also very evident in this industry. For example, in the transportation industry, the commitment of employees who do not work in teams drops to almost zero, whereas in the information industry, employees who are part of a team are four times more likely to be fully engaged in their work compared to those who are not part of a team. What factors contribute to higher job dedication in certain industries? The researcher hypothesized that for work in the construction industry, the influencing factors include the team-oriented nature of the work, a strong sense of purpose, and pride in creating durable and solid buildings. 1 O7 k7 A7 e) |9 n6 A1 h+ F https://img.36krcdn.com/20190528/v2_1559006457041_img_000 This data on team cooperation raises an interesting question: does job commitment depend on the distance between employees and other team members? The answer presented by the data is “no”, whereas in fact, the opposite answer is the correct one. Employees who work remotely for at least four days out of five working days per week have a productivity level that is almost twice that of those who work remotely for only one day. It is of course important to communicate with colleagues over the long term. But everyone who works in an open office can attest that the ability to resist distractions is crucial for work commitment. The key factor is whether employees feel like they are part of the team. If they feel like they are part of a team, their level of commitment to their work will be twice that of colleagues who work in the office. 5 k& B( I1 https://img.36krcdn.com/20190528/v2_1559006457082_img_000 Working from home is not the only way to avoid the conventional 9-to-5 work pattern. Today, about 45% of employees have only one full-time job, while 15% have only one part-time job. But nearly a quarter of employees are considered to be doing only temporary work, working full-time (14%) or part-time (10%) as contract workers or informal employees. How do these different types of work affect job commitment? Among those with only one full-time job, employees who work in temporary positions are 1.4 times more likely to be fully engaged in their work than those who hold traditional roles. https://img.36krcdn.com/20190528/v2_1559006457126_img_000 The researchers observed and further analyzed the work commitment of employees with two or more jobs in seven other scenarios. These combinations of scenarios are relatively rare in reality, with each scenario affecting 1% to 3% of employees. (c’ p6 z” V, f& g, n) Employees who have both a full-time job and a part-time job show the highest level of work commitment, and this result might be a bit surprising. Regardless of the type of work, the number of jobs an employee has seems to affect job commitment. One hypothesis is that the combination of certain jobs provides the \"best of both worlds\" – full-time work offers employees stability and financial income, while a second job gives them the opportunity to do what they love. + M- w+ ~( T/ o. https://img.36krcdn.com/20190528/v2_1559006457191_img_000 Why does a company need to pay attention to these data? Since there are many variables that employees cannot control, it is reasonable for companies to focus on those factors within their sphere of influence. One of the factors is production efficiency and the economic costs associated with hiring employees. A recent study published by Cisco shows that when team members’ job commitment drops from the upper to the lower half of the company, their likelihood of leaving the company within the following six months increases by 45%. In a large company, this impact accumulates rapidly. Researchers estimate that the cost of replacing a front-line employee is half of that employee’s salary ； If the employee is a knowledge worker, the replacement cost is estimated to rise to 2.5 times the employee’s salary. Therefore, a workforce that cannot be fully engaged in work results in millions of dollars being wasted by each company, while global companies waste billions of dollars. ) H/ o* m& V! Fortunately, company leaders can take measures to improve employees’ job commitment, and they can start by working at the team level. Even small changes within an office team can have a significant impact, affecting not only the employees but also the company, the industry, and **. Matt Perry | Written by Liu Jingshan | Translated by Zhou Qiang | Edited by Harvard Business Review