The average Australian worker would not recommend their workplace to others, is disinclined to do any more than what’s expected, and is probably on the hunt for another job, a new nationwide employee survey has found.

The ‘State of Employee Engagement in Australia’, conducted by Engaged Marketing, asked 3,361 Australians about their attitudes towards their current workplace and employer.

Segmenting employees into three categories regarding workplace recommendations, the study found the largest group were ‘detractors’ (43%), while ‘promoters’ (20%) fitted into the minority. 37% of respondents were classified as ‘passive’ or neutral.

55.3% of employees said they were loyal to their current workplace, with ‘promoters’ almost three times more loyal than ‘detractors’.

An average discretionary effort score of 5.8 out of 10 showed workers are disinclined to do more than what is expected in their day-to-day jobs.

Again, ‘promoters’ scored highest in this category, showing discretionary effort scores 77% higher than those of ‘detractors’.

Engaged Marketing managing director Christopher Roberts says these figures highlight significant productivity, referral and recruitment issues.

He recommends that employers should do more to truly engage their employees to improve these figures.

“Staff engagement is more than just staff satisfaction, it’s about ensuring staff feel genuinely valued, are having some of their core human needs met, and understand the role they play in delivering organisation’s business strategy.

“Ultimately, this boils down to the type of leadership in the organisation. Leaders need to understand exactly what is driving employee commitment, and then link the organisation’s business strategy to employees’ core needs, motivations and purpose to drive engagement.”