The correlation between engagement and costs associated with sickness levels

By David MacLeod

Employees in the UK take an average of 2.69 sick days per year; the disengaged take 6.19. The CBI reports that sickness absence costs the UK economy £13.4bn a year.
Gallup found that engagement levels can be predictors of sickness absence, with more highly engaged employees taking an average of 2.7 days per year, compared with disengaged employees taking an average of 6.2 days per year.


(These extracts are from the recently published government commissioned report by David MacLeod entitled ‘Engaging For Success: Enhancing Performance Through Employee Engagement’.)