The 2005 What's Working Survey, conducted by Mercer Human Resource Consulting, reflects the thinking of a representative sample of workers employed by more than 800 organizations across the US. The new survey is part of Mercer's on-going effort to capture contemporary perceptions of work and to develop scientific norms that employers can use as they design, implement, and communicate their human resource strategies and programs.

The first edition of the survey was conducted in 2002.

Mercer's 2005 research, conducted during the first quarter of this year, reveals many signs of enhanced employee commitment and confidence compared to 2002:

• Nearly two-thirds of the workers surveyed (64%) feel a strong sense of commitment to their organization, up from 58% in 2002.
• More than seven in 10 (73%) workers say they are confident their organization “will be successful in the future,” compared to 63% in 2002.
• Some 65% (up from 59% in 2002) agree that “the level of job security offered by my organization is as good as or better than the security offered by other organizations in our geographic area.”
• Although just half of the workers (49%) say they believe their organization is well-managed, that figure is significantly higher than the 40% reported three years ago.

The employees surveyed also report generally high levels of satisfaction with work today. An overwhelming majority (84%) is satisfied with the type of work they do. In addition, 69% are satisfied with their jobs and 66% are satisfied with their organizations.

“Since our last survey, the economy and stock market have gotten back on track and consumer confidence is up,” says Rod Fralicx, PhD, Mercer's global employee research director and the manager of the What's Working Survey. “The jobs picture is decidedly more upbeat, too. All of this is generating more optimism among employees and driving these changes in our 2005 survey results.”

Key drivers of commitment

In addition to tracking trends in employee perceptions and attitudes about work, Mercer's What's Working Survey also identifies the key drivers that contribute most to higher levels of employee commitment. “There's a common assumption that pay and benefits are the most critical factors in employees' decisions to stay with or leave an organization,” Dr. Fralicx says. “Our research shows that other factors – many related to career opportunities – play a much bigger role.”

For example, among employees who are confident that they will be able to achieve their long-term career objectives with their current organization – one of the eight key drivers of commitment – only 24% say they are seriously thinking about leaving their organization at the present time. By contrast, among employees who are not confident about achieving long-term career objectives at their current organization, 50% are seriously thinking about leaving.

A similar pattern is shown for another key driver of commitment. Among employees who say they are given good opportunities for continuous learning to improve their skills, just 32% say they are seriously thinking of leaving their organization at the present time. However, among employees who do not feel they have good opportunities for continuous learning with their current employer, 57% are seriously thinking about leaving.

“There's a perfectly valid reason why we assume people leave jobs primarily for better pay opportunities,” Dr. Fralicx says. “It's the explanation most commonly offered by departing employees, probably because it's the easiest and most plausible explanation they can give. After all, you rarely leave a job for a lower-paying position.”

However, the truth usually lies elsewhere. “What's important for employers to understand is what made the employee start looking for new employment in the first place,” Dr. Fralicx explains. “That reason can often be traced back to one or more of these eight factors.”  

Moving beyond commitment
While Mercer's survey findings paint a positive picture of the current work environment, Dr. Fralicx encourages companies to look beyond commitment (the likelihood that an employee will stay with or leave the organization) and strive to improve employee engagement, which he defines as the employee's willingness to go “above and beyond” assigned job responsibilities to support the organization's success.

He believes this is a looming challenge for many employers. “Employees this year are more optimistic and appear to be more committed, and that's good news,” Dr. Fralicx notes. “However, our study also shows that more than a third of US workers are currently not committed to their organizations and, of those, 40% say they have no plans to leave the company. That's not good news for employers.”

“The last thing you want are employees who intend to stay, but are not inclined to make any ‘discretionary effort' to help the organization succeed,” he explains. “This is a problem with no easy fix, and serves as a reminder to top executives that not all turnover is necessarily bad.”

The results of Mercer's 2005 What's Working Survey are based on data collected from a statistically valid sample of working adults from over 800 organizations, representing a cross-section of industries. Respondents to the survey completed a 148-item questionnaire, including nearly 100 items that provide a comparison against Mercer's benchmark 2002 What's Working Survey, and over 50 new items tapping further into the organizational concerns of today.