Dive Brief:
- Women edge out men in engagement at work, finds a recent Gallup study. Not only do they have a one-up on men in engagement, they also help raise employers’ financial performance, says Gallup.
- In the US, the figures on engagement between women and men show that 35% of female employees are engaged compared to 29% of men. Of women managers, 41% are engaged compared to 35% of male managers. Female managers are also better at engaging their staff than male managers. Not surprisingly, female employees who work for women are the most engaged of all groups.
- One factor in the disparity in engagement between women and men might be job selection, says Gallup. Data shows that more men than women work in manufacturing, where engagement typically is lower. Besides job selection, women tend to rely on their company, and their manager in particular to give them the tools and information to perform their jobs, to inspire them and to support their career development.
Dive Insight:
Gallup found solid evidence that there’s a link between engagement and performance factors such as absenteeism, turnover, productivity and company profits.
Research as shown for some time that when people work at jobs they like, are appreciated for the work they do and can develop professionally, their job satisfaction tests higher. This data is particularly important concerning engagement of women employees. Promoting women leadership may lead to higher engagement and retention of women employees, especially important right now in industries that are struggling to reach parity.
