WORKPLACE ENGAGEMENT      JOB SATISFACTION

UK - More than three fifths of employees, particularly the Generation Ys, polled in the UK are unhappy at work.

A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reports job satisfaction levels for employees aged 18 to 24 have fallen by nearly 90% from the same period last year. More than 60% out of more than 2,000 British respondents said it would be "either difficult or very difficult" to find a new job if they lose their current position. Almost a fifth also said they would likely lose their jobs as a result of the recession.

Claire McCartney, CIPD lead adviser and the quarterly report's co-author told CNN that the young working population has been hard hit by the recession and they are finding fewer opportunities to progress at work. "Those who are in work were really frustrated and job satisfaction had decreased quite significantly."

Furthermore, McCartney felt that employees have a lack of trust in their senior leaders because they were unable to discuss changes with them. She said employers should consider engaging employees now before it's too late. "When things do start to pick up, people will leave if they don't feel they trust their leaders or that they are being consulted."

Philip Dewe, Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the UK's Birkbeck College, University of London told CNN that it is always hard to get happiness in the workplace right. While companies should engage employees by focusing on the individual's needs, Dewe suggested that they must match those needs to a worklife balance too. "Employers can look at how individuals learn and develop in organisations and put in strategies which allow them to take place."

Measuring employee job satisfaction, on the other hand, is theoretically easy. "It's just a question of what people in my trade call the psychological contract," said Dewe. "That is having a belief that you are being treated fairly and openly and your wants and needs and your employer's wants and needs are in alignment."

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