Employees in Singapore join their Malaysian counterparts in being the least engaged workforce among Asian markets. Global uncertainty seems to have driven employee skepticism, with overall employee engagement scores in Asia dropped by 3 points.

Singapore’s employee engagement score fell by 4 points to 59 percent, according to the 2017 Trends in Global Employee Engagement Report from Aon Hewitt, the global talent, retirement and health solutions business of Aon plc.

Engagement scores for India are 69 percent, followed by China at 67 percent, Thailand at 65 percent, Philippines at 65 percent, Indonesia (61 percent), and Malaysia (59 percent).

Overall engagement scores for employees in Asia Pacific dropped from 65 percent to 62 percent, a year ago. Aon Hewitt’s analysis found regional variations in engagement. This is driven by regional and country-specific economic, political and cultural differences.

See: Drawing Upon Cross-Cultural Perspectives to Employee Engagement

Improving Engagement Pays Big Dividends

Aon Hewitt research shows that a 5 point increase in employee engagement is linked to a 3 point increase in revenue growth in the subsequent year. The inverse happens when engagement levels fall—businesses experience greater turnover, higher absenteeism, lower customer satisfaction, and ultimately, poor financial performance.

Employees in the region ranked rewards and recognition programmes as a top opportunity to improve engagement.

Stephen Hickey, Partner and Executive Sponsor, Employee Engagement Practice—Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa, Aon Hewitt said: “As organisations strive to fuel growth, they must understand how their workforce productivity and pay programmes—both fixed and variable, compare to market. They must educate their people on how they implement ‘pay for performance’, and recognise top contributors using a blend of financial and non-financial rewards such as development opportunities.”

Perception scores among Singapore’s millennials fell by an alarming 7 points in the area of ‘Talent and Staffing’—which refers to the talent attraction, promotion, and retention practices of an organisation, as well as its ability to allocate appropriate and adequate resources to get the job done. Perception scores also fell by 5 points in the area of Employer Brand.

Also read: 27 Cool Employee Engagement Ideas for a Productive Workforce