I have read the Gallup State of the Global Workplace Report for several years now, but this is the first year where there has been an attempt at getting really good data for Sub-Saharan Africa and South Africa as a subset.
So, I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the data from the Sub-Saharan region, compare it with global statistics and then look a little deeper into how South Africa is performing locally and globally
The State of the Global Workplace Report is an annual report that examines workforce trends and conditions across different regions and countries and provides insights into the global workforce's engagement, well-being, and productivity.
Key themes often highlighted in the report include:
Pick up a copy of the report, it makes fascinating reading. You can get your free copy at https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
There are four main key performance areas, with sub-metrics as follows;
I have summarised the SSA and SA data in the table below.
For the first time, Gallup has extracted some really useful data from the Sub-Saharan region, which includes the following 35 countries.
Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The data for South Africa is mainly positive across the board when compared to both SSA and Global data.
Regrettably, the sub-metrics of ‘non-engagement’ and ‘actively disengaged’ employees are not measured at an individual country level, and so we cannot compare SA to SSA or global statistics.
Employee engagement is measured, at 29% and whilst South Africa is only positioned 6th on the SSA league table with Senegal, Mali, Liberia, Tanzania, and Gambia above South Africa, there has been an overall improvement with a 3% uptick in SA’s employee engagement from the 2023 report, which is to be commended.
Perhaps even more encouragingly, SA fares very well against the global average, being 6% points higher than the global statistic of 23%.
In terms of the Life Evaluation performance area, the sub-metrics used here are thriving, struggling, and suffering. Again, only an overall statistic of thriving was published for South Africa.
South Africa is 3rd on the SSA league table for thriving, with 32% of employees regarded as thriving, up 3% points from 2023.
Measured against the average SSA score, SA is 15% points ahead, however, against the global average we are 2% points behind the global average of 34%.
In terms of daily negative emotions, the sub-metrics are stress, anger, and sadness. The survey asked the respondents if they had felt these emotions in recent days. Luckily, these sub-metric statistics are available for South Africa.
Probably as a result of the increase in remote work, this is the first year that loneliness has also been measured, although this is only available at a regional and global level.
In SSA this is a good news story for South Africa being relatively low down the table for these negative scores at 27th 30th and 29th respectively for stress, anger and sadness respectively. What's more, all three metrics have improved for South Africans from last year by 4%, 2% and 2% points respectively.
On the global stage, SA can hold its head high scoring well above the global average by 9%, 6% and 2% points respectively.
South Africa is often regarded as a very stressful and angry nation; however, our lot seems to be improving...at least in the workplace! (no taxi's in the workplace!!!)
In this category, Gallup asked 2 questions.
1. Job Climate: “Thinking about the job situation in the city or area where you live today, would you say that it is now a good time or a bad time to find a job”?
2. Intent to Leave: -“To what extent are you currently looking for a different job than the one you have now? Are you actively looking for another job, watching for opportunities but not actively looking, or are you not looking for another job”?
What we see here is a bit more of a mixed bag for SA. South Africans are more negative in terms of the job climate than their SSA colleagues and nine points more negative than the global average. We can see here the effect of high levels of unemployment together with skills shortages affecting the overall sentiment.
But when that feeling turns to actively intending to leave, we see a huge delta with our SSA counterparts.
In SSA, 75% of respondents were polled as actively intending to leave their position. This is the worst-performing region globally for this metric.
However, when we look at South Africa, we see this is 19% points lower at 56%. So, in contrast to our neighbours, South Africans are less likely to leave their employer, BUT we should not be complacent with SA being still 4% points worse than the global average.
SA fares comparatively well in the data, however, it is clear that our employees are feeling disconnected and undervalued, this is leading to disengagement and the potential for company crushing levels of employees wanting to leave
The feeling of being undervalued is eroding morale, diminishing productivity, and increasing the likelihood of talented individuals seeking opportunities elsewhere. and, sadly, it is always the most talented that are the most mobile.
When your employees sense that their employer doesn’t care, their loyalty wanes, and the company's culture and bottom line will suffer.
Just let that sink in... could you afford to lose 60 % of your workforce?
So, what are you doing to keep them?
The physical workplace is the most immediate and tangible way for employers to show their employees that they genuinely care about their well-being and want them to stay.
Investing in a well-managed, safe, comfortable, and inspiring physical environment sends a clear message that employee satisfaction and engagement are top priorities.
By creating and curating a workplace that supports productivity and reflects a commitment to employee welfare, companies can boost morale, foster loyalty, and reduce turnover.
This strategic focus on the physical workplace demonstrates care and commitment and helps ensure a thriving, dedicated workforce.
Contact us today at andrew@workplacefundi.com to improve your workplace management, ensuring that your team is engaged and dedicated. Don't let your best talent slip away, demonstrate your commitment now!
PEOPLE I PLACE I PERFORMANCE
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