In Europe, the Millennial generation is the least engaged group at 49%, compared to 52% of Generation X and 58% of Baby Boomers. Clearly, there is room for improvement across the generations but with the greatest opportunity for the Millennials - many of whom will be in critical first line manager roles. More information: http://ow.ly/eWbod

1. Employee Engagement: recent insights from Aon Hewitt's global research
Aon Hewitt’s 2012 Trends in Global Employee Engagement study, which analysed the employee
engagement trends of more than 3,100 organisations representing 9.7 million employees worldwide,
has identified key trends in employee engagement.
Key findings include:
 Engagement levels are stabilising globally, although there are differences across regions
 Career opportunities, recognition, and organisation reputation are consistently top engagement
drivers across the globe
 Employee engagement trends have lagged economic indicators
 Generational differences exist
Engaging Millennials in the economic downturn
60%
An interesting finding from Aon Hewitt's recent research
% of employees engaged
58% is that clear generational differences exist both in terms
of the level of engagement and the drivers of
engagement. In Europe, the Millennial generation (born
50% 52% 1979-present) is the least engaged group at 49%,
compared to 52% of Generation X (born 1965-1978) and
49% 58% of Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964). Clearly there is
significant room for improvement across the generations
but with the greatest opportunity for the Millennials,
40% many of whom will be in critical first line manager roles.
Whilst Millennials are similar to other generations in
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the importance they place on career opportunities and
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communication, Aon Hewitt's research has also found
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some differences: compared to earlier generations,
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Millennials place more emphasis on pay, but less
emphasis on performance management.
This may appear surprising; the popular opinion is that Millennials are less financially-driven and
instead place more value on development, training, organisational values in line with their own and an
engaging work environment. However Jenny Merry, Aon Hewitt's UK Engagement Practice lead,
explains why the reality may be different: "The current economic climate is creating a unique set of
circumstances not faced by preceding generations at the same period in their lives and which are
affecting employees' priorities inside and outside of work”, for example:
 The financial outlook is bleaker for younger people;
 Recent university leavers are entering the workforce with high levels of debt;
 There are high unemployment rates for Millennials and low job security, meaning many are
struggling to find or keep work (or are turning to unpaid internships to gain experience or
accept non-permanent contracts); and

2.  Inflation is high, the cost of living is rising and it is increasingly difficult for young people to
secure mortgages.
This research emphasises the importance of not taking a one-size-fits all approach to employee
research. “Whilst some factors are common across groups, it is also necessary to understand
differences between generations and other employee segments of our workforce” adds Merry. “As the
Millennial generation are our future leaders, yet are the least engaged and tend to show an increased
propensity to move jobs, listening to and acting upon the unique factors that matter most to them will
yield additional positive outcomes to acting on overall employee feedback.”
How Aon Hewitt can help you get the best from your employees
Aon Hewitt offers a suite of employee research services to optimise the benefit of employee
engagement, ranging from off-the-shelf solutions, such as our Rapid Engagement offer described
below, through to those that are customised to an individual organisation’s requirements.
Through partnering with us, our clients benefit from our ongoing research and extensive thought
leadership, one of the world's largest benchmark databases, and our employee research expertise
based on over 30 years of experience.
Aon Hewitt's Rapid Engagement offer is an ideal solution for companies looking for a timely, efficient
and cost-effective approach to measuring and improving employee engagement. Based on a robust
and proven engagement methodology, and using on a standardised approach and question set,
Rapid Engagement can provide you with:
 Assessment of the impact of the of the key drivers of engagement at your organisation,
identifying not only the weaknesses that you need to address, but also the key strengths that
you need to protect
 Access to our large external benchmarking database, including over 5,000 other companies and
Aon Hewitt Best Employers
 User-friendly online reporting and best practice action planning tools
 Dedicated time and insights from our experienced consultants to help you understand the
engagement issues in your organisation and develop solutions for improvement
To discuss how Aon Hewitt could help you improve the engagement levels in your organisation
please visit our website.
Jenny Merry | 0172 788 8395 | jenny.merry@aonhewitt.com
Jake Outram | 0207 086 9234 | jake.outram@aonhewitt.com
Hugh Hawthorne | 0207 086 9131 | hugh.hawthorne@aonhewitt.com
Laura Heathcock | 0207 086 9598 | laura.heathcock@aonhewitt.com
About Aon Hewitt
Aon Hewitt is the global leader in human resource consulting and outsourcing solutions. The company
partners with organisations to solve their most complex benefits, talent and related financial
challenges, and improve business performance. Aon Hewitt designs, implements, communicates and
administers a wide range of human capital, retirement, investment management, healthcare,
compensation and talent management strategies. With more than 29,000 professionals in 90
countries, Aon Hewitt makes the world a better place to work for clients and their employees. For
more information on Aon Hewitt, please visit www.aonhewitt.com.