Atlanta — Sept. 13

A new index released from Randstad finds a majority of U.S. employees are highly engaged and happy in their jobs — despite predictions that many workers will seek new jobs once the job market strengthens. According to the Randstad Employee Attachment Index, 78 percent report feeling inspired to do their best at work; 76 percent are proud to work for their companies and 66 percent enjoy going to work every day. Likewise, employee volatility is decreasing, with 60 percent of respondents reporting they would not give consideration to or accept a new job offer in the next six months.

The Randstad index finds both employee engagement and retention levels are fairly high and trending upward, along with employees’ level of attachment to their employer, which rose five points from March to June. The Attachment Index provides insights into how attached employees are to their employer based on employee engagement and retention levels. Employee “attachment” is achieved by combining engagement and retention strategies to create a stronger bond with employees. Employers who focus on employee attachment levels within their organizations will benefit because strong attachment can lead to greater employee motivation and ultimately increased productivity and profitability.

While attachment is strengthening, Randstad’s research finds that almost a third (29 percent) of the most highly engaged employees are likely to seriously consider a new job within the next six months. Nearly 20 percent more of these most engaged workers would accept a job if offered in the next six months.

“Understanding how your workforce is segmented in terms of engagement levels is important in keeping the highly engaged workers retained and motivated,” said Eileen Habelow, Randstad’s senior vice president of organizational development. “If an organization is going to be able to compete and be profitable in this economy, companies need to look out for those indispensible employees first. These top-notch people are too valuable to lose, so knowing the warning signs that they may leave and what to do about it is critical.”