The Kenexa Research Institute Finds an Increase in Employee Confidence in the Fourth Quarter 2009
U.S. Employee Confidence Declines 0.6% Since the Third Quarter; However, Increases 3.5% since the First Quarter
| Source: Kenexa
WAYNE, PA--(Marketwire - January 7, 2010) - Kenexa
(NASDAQ : KNXA ), a global provider of business solutions for human resources,
today announced the results of its employee confidence study, a quarterly
measure of worker opinions and component of the forthcoming Kenexa
Composite.
Employee confidence has been found to relate to multiple economic and
business performance outcomes at the individual, organizational, industry
and country levels as well as being related to consumer confidence in the
U.S.
A high level of employee confidence is achieved when employees perceive
their organization as being effectively managed and competitively
positioned, and believe they have a promising future with their
organization, job security and skills that are attractive to other
employers. Employee confidence influences individual behavior and has
implications for organizational performance and economic conditions.
In December 2009, the global employee confidence index score was 98.0, a
very slight improvement from the third quarter (97.9). Brazil (107.5),
China (105.6) and India (101.3) reported the highest levels of employee
confidence, while France (94.9), Japan (94.0) and Spain (92.4) reported the
lowest levels. The United States' employee confidence index score was 97.1.
For the year ending December 31, 2009, the 12 largest economies reported an
increase in employee confidence index scores, with the exception of Japan,
which reported a slight decrease for the year. The global employee
confidence index score for the fourth quarter of 2009 increased
approximately 4 points, from 93.8 in the first quarter. Countries that
reported the most improvement in employee confidence index scores
throughout 2009 were China (15.8 point increase), Italy (8.1) and Brazil
(7.1).
Anne Herman, research consultant, Kenexa Research Institute, said,
"Employee confidence fluctuated throughout 2009, with the majority of the
countries reporting both increases and decreases. India and China were the
only two surveyed countries that had an increase in scores, quarter over
quarter." She continued, "We enter 2010 on a positive note. Our studies
have linked employee confidence to higher country-level GDP and stronger
organization performance, among other metrics. Therefore, this indicates
that as employee confidence increases, GDP and organization performance
should both improve, indicating that we appear to be in a state of
resurgence."
About the Kenexa Employee Confidence Index™
The Kenexa Employee Confidence Index™ (ECI) measures the degree of
confidence employees have in their employers' marketplace competiveness and
their own careers. The ECI is measured quarterly using opinions from
workers in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan,
Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and United States. Kenexa's ECI was
started in June 2008 and was normalized for each country to equal 100.
Subsequent scores are reported in percents above or below that starting
point. Data are available by country, industry, age, gender and job type.
About the Kenexa Composite™
The Kenexa Composite™ is a country-level indicator of economic health
and employment conditions. Using a combination of the Kenexa Employee
Confidence Index (ECI) and the Kenexa Jobs Index, the Kenexa Composite
tracks labor demand and employee optimism in the 12 largest economies,
accounting for 73% of the world's GDP.
The Kenexa Jobs Index™ is comprised of a fixed set of Forbes Global 2000
organizations and gauges their hiring activity. These organizations use
Kenexa's large-scale recruiting solutions.
About Kenexa
Kenexa® provides business solutions for human resources. We help global
organizations multiply business success by identifying the best individuals
for every job and fostering optimal work environments for every
organization. For more than 20 years, Kenexa has studied human behavior and
team dynamics in the workplace, and has developed the software solutions,
business processes and expert consulting that help organizations impact
positive business outcomes through HR. Kenexa is the only company that
offers a comprehensive suite of unified products and services that support
the entire employee lifecycle from pre-hire to exit. Additional information
about Kenexa and its global products and services can be accessed at
www.kenexa.com.