Low engagement drains Hong Kong’s workforce productivity

Employee engagement in East Asia has consistently lagged the global average.

Employee engagement in East Asia continues to trail global levels, with Hong Kong reporting some of the weakest figures. According to Gallup’s latest trend data, only 18% of employees in East Asia are engaged, with Hong Kong recording a particularly low engagement rate of just 6%, followed closely by Japan at 7%.

Kanika Singh, Regional Director at Gallup, identified disengaged management as a critical factor behind the low numbers. "If the managers are disengaged, the teams are too disengaged. This relationship is so strong that it shows up even in country level data. So countries with less engaged managers are more likely to have less engaged individual employees as well."

Javier Calvar, Head of Employee Experience at Ipsos, pointed to additional factors hurting engagement levels. "One could be the strenuous work culture and inadequate work life balance. Another could be limited growth opportunities within the organisation, and the third one could be lack of confidence in the organisation employees work for."

The consequences of low engagement are severe. Singh highlighted the economic impact, noting that “there is over 435 billion Hong Kong dollars that are lost in terms of productivity due to low engagement."

Calvar warned that poor engagement could trigger a destructive cycle within organisations. "Business impact could be to begin with, increased staff turnover, reduced productivity and lower performance, decreased customer satisfaction," he said. "As a result of low productivity and low performance, all of that combined could lead to lower profitability. And of course, when you combine all those things, it could create a vicious cycle that would impact the culture within the organisation."

On the public sector side, Calvar highlighted existing efforts and future opportunities. "The government could promote awareness of employee well being," he said. He pointed to initiatives like Hong Kong’s Mental Health Workplace Charter and suggested that "there is an opportunity to incentivise companies to invest in employee engagement through appropriate tax reliefs," alongside developing broader support systems.