Private sector leads on employee engagement

Private sector workers are more likely to believe that their employer knows where it is going and to feel pride in their organisation than their public sector counterparts, a new study reveals.

These are among the findings of the inaugural Workers' Index - the first in an ongoing series from MORI Social Research Institute and The Work Foundation monitoring workplace trends across the public and private sectors.

The survey reveals that 69% of private sector staff feel senior management has a clear vision of where their organisation is going, compared with 61% of public sector workers.

Fifteen per cent of public sector workers reported that they are likely to criticise their organisation as an employer to customers, friends and family, compared with just 10% in the private sector.

A MORI spokesman commented that 'public service workers' morale is a key issue, as we know that staff advocacy is an important driver of reputation. This raises the question: what are public sector workers telling their friends, family, and customers about the quality of the public services they provide?'

  • Public declaration of pride in private sector companies   Writing on personneltoday.com, Dan Thomas looks at the key findings of the study.

  • Visit The Work Foundation website to read the press release and to view the complete findings of the Workers' Index . The report is based on responses from 970 adults in full-time or part-time employment, or who are self-employed, drawn from 193 sampling points across the UK.

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