New Workplace Research: How Other Countries Engage With Their Work

International business depends on understanding cultures and knowing how to serve them. If you work for one of the many U.S. companies with business overseas, you know that work styles vary greatly based on country and culture. But while it has been relatively straightforward to find out the customs of your international coworkers, partners, and clients, it has been almost unknown how different cultures feel about their work. How engaged are employees around the world? Do they like going to work? How do these answers affect how we relate to each other and do business together? Now, through expanding workplace research, we can explore this information and better understand the international workplace.

Initially launched last winter, the Steelcase Global Report measures the relationship between employee engagement and the work environment. This workplace research provides helpful insight into various cultures and explores the following topics: how satisfied a country’s employees are with their work environment, how much control employees have over their work environment, what kinds of technology is being used, what type of work space they work in and, of course, how engaged employees are with their work. When it was initially launched, the report was conducted in 17 countries, with over 12,000 participants. Findings showed that, globally, high workplace satisfaction positively correlates with employee engagement, and that engaged employees have more control over their experiences at work.

Each country’s level of workplace satisfaction and engagement varies; for example, Mexico and Belgium showed vastly different results in the workplace research. Even so, engagement levels around the world aren’t promising. Of India’s workforce, only 28% of people are highly engaged and highly satisfied at work (and that’s the highest ranking country). For France, that number is a shocking 5%.

Recently, statistics from three more countries were added to the report: Australia, Brazil and Japan. This workplace research includes a country with the new lowest percentage of highly engaged employees, and a country with the new highest percentage of employees who feel positively about their work environment. To better understand employee engagement in these countries, download the new research here.

Interested in learning more about engagement and the global workplace? Schedule a visit to our showroom here.