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 predictive of consumer confidence.

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 September 2009, the global employee confidence index score was 97.9. Brazil (105.3), China (102.8) and India (100.2) had the highest levels of employee confidence, while Germany (96.7), Japan (95.6) and Spain (93.3) had the lowest levels. The United States' employee confidence index score was 97.7.

The largest declines in the 2009 third quarter employee confidence levels compared to the second quarter were registered in France followed by Spain and Germany. Only three countries, China, India and Brazil, are at or above the employee confidence levels first measured in second quarter 2008.

Anne Herman, research consultant at Kenexa Research Institute, stated, "Globally there was approximately a one point decline in the third quarter 2009, compared to a 5 point improvement in the second quarter. China and India sustained and built very slightly on the improvements seen in the second quarter of 2009, while Japan reversed a second quarter downward trend."

Herman continued, "While the second quarter of 2009 showed a global economy rebounding strongly, the third quarter employee confidence scores indicate that recovery is not going to be a straight line of positively improving results. Nine of the twelve studied countries show third quarter declines compared to second quarter of 2009. The positive news is that none of the countries completely lost the gains made in the second quarter, but the new data suggest that the amount of improvement seen in the second quarter was not sustainable in this economic environment. This is a bit like three steps forward and one step back."

About the Kenexa Employee Confidence Index(TM)

The Kenexa Employee Confidence Index(TM) (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(TM)

The Kenexa Composite(TM) 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(TM) 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(R) 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.

SOURCE: Kenexa

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