In 2010, Gallup launched a new consulting division focused on the wellbeing of the nation's workforce. The research on this topic is quite clear: A work force's wellbeing has a direct impact on an organization's bottom line. Across industries, the average sick day costs an employer about $200 in lost productivity. To better understand the findings, and to learn the implications for consulting firms, Consulting's One on One sat down with Tom Rath, Gallup's Global Practice Leader and co-author of the book Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements (Gallup Press, May 2010), which is based on the firm's research.
Consulting: Gallup is so well known for your presidential polling, does that reputation pose problems when trying to sell consulting work?
Rath: I don't think most people know the breadth of what we do. Most people associate us with public opinion surveys. But we actually track more than that. Every night, we survey about 1,000 people across 150 countries. We ask what they're thinking about—from politics to their wellbeing. Beyond that, most don't know that our largest business line is consulting. Specifically, we help organizations better engage with their employees and clients. We also help with employment and leadership selection.
Consulting: How long have you been providing these consulting services?
Rath: We've been at it for almost four decades. We've dug deeply into understanding all of the key drivers of an organization's outcome. We've spent a pretty intensive amount of time auditing various levels of employee engagement. We've studied well over 15 million employees' level of engagement over time and we refresh our data every six months, especially at the largest organizations.
Consulting: What are some of the more surprising findings in your research?
Rath: As part of our world poll, we studied the wellbeing of more than 100,000 people across 150 countries. We went in thinking that good health and wealth are the keys to wellbeing. But when we looked deeper into our data, we found that other things actually matter more. We found that emotional engagement in one's work is more important than more money. An organization that consistently shows they value employees creates a very different value proposition [than an organization that simply pays a higher salary].
Consulting: At a time when companies are focused on overcoming immediate economic pressures, are CEOs open to investing in 'emotional engagement'?
Rath: We've found that CEOs really get it once they realize how much it's in an organization's best financial self-interest to keep employees emotionally healthy. To the extent that a company subsidizes employees' healthcare costs, the ROI comes to about $200 per day in savings for every sick day an employee doesn't need. There's also a strong business case from a cost reduction perspective when it comes to reducing staff turnover.
Consulting: Are there lessons learned for the consulting marketplace?
Rath: There's an assumption within most consulting firms that despite working long hours, consultants are so engaged in their client work that it's okay for them. That assumption turned out to be wrong. We found that when someone is no longer engaged, they begin to experience stress after just 20 hours of work per week. If you are more engaged, and think a company is contributing to your overall wellbeing, you can get someone to work 40 to 60 hours and still have a relatively high level of happiness and low levels of stress. However, no matter how engaged the employee is, we've found that once you cross the 60 hour mark, almost all employees' well being starts to go downhill. At that level, we start seeing much higher stress levels and much less happiness. It's important for consulting organizations to think very carefully about the long-term impact of pressures they're placing on employees early on. Heavy workloads may not be in the best long-term interest if you want them to have a successful career with your organization.
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