How passionate are Belgians at work?

Contact: Delphine de la Kethulle
Deloitte
+32 2 600 60 53

Deloitte’s Human Capital practice and career medium Job@ collaborated on a survey to measure the level of passion in Belgium’s workforce and investigate how HR can leverage passion for better performance.

Yesterday night a selection of top Belgian HR managers discovered the results of Deloitte’s latest survey in the human resources field “Passion @ work or how much passion do employees in Belgiumhave for their work?” It asked the question, what are the levers of passion in the workplace and how can organisations use them more effectively in order to drive performance? An exclusive seminar revealed the results of this survey conducted by Deloitte in close collaboration with Job@ and media partner JobsToday. Based on responses from almost 3,000 respondents across Belgium, the survey found that Belgians tend to be quite passionate about their work, particularly those in people-oriented jobs.

The Passion @ Work Survey came about through Deloitte and Job@’s collaboration as sponsors (together with DHL) of Dixie Dansercoer’s recent Bering Strait Odyssey. Both sponsors, as human resources specialists, were impressed by the importance Dixiegives to passion in all his endeavours. For the Belgian expeditioner, passion is the endless motivator and an integral part of performance.
Although job satisfaction has been widely researched, passion and its impact on workplace performance had not been studied to the same extent.

Passion and Performance Model

Previous research conducted in 2004 by both Deloitte and the Corporate Leadership Council demonstrated a clear link between passion and performance. This work provided a basis for establishing definitions, a model and a survey methodology. Passion has many definitions, but for this project it is defined as a purposeful emotional engagement or commitment. In other words, passion is a goal-oriented commitment towards work. The object of the employee’s passion can be the job, colleagues, manager or organisation as a whole.

The Passion and Performance Model includes a list of levers that affect the level and sort of passion people have in the workplace. The model also shows that passion affects performance in two ways: short- and long-term performance. The first is demonstrated by going beyond the normal demands of a job: by helping others, volunteering for additional duties or looking for ways to work more effectively. At the other hand long-term performance is reflected in employee loyalty: the focus on the job, intention to stay and less job search behaviour.

Survey results: passion and performance levers

Demonstrating the link between passion and performance is an important first step. However a more important question is: what can be done by an organisation, and more specifically HR, to enhance passion and thus performance? Deloitte’s study assessed the levers of passion: the job itself, the colleagues, the manager and the organisation as a whole. The group of respondents was sufficiently large to allow differentiated analyses for age, sector, function, gender, company size and leadership level.

In summary, the research findings and conclusions are as follows:

1. The overall level of passion at the workforce in Belgiumis high with a 7.2 average score on a 10-point scale.

1% of the workforce is disengaged, 5% moderately passionate, 22% excited, 56% passionate and 16% extremely passionate.
Are all Belgians equally passionate? In general, yes, but several differences emerge:

a. Employees in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and in the service sector are most passionate, while those in the public sector and transport industry are least passionate. So workers in people-oriented jobs have the highest passion levels.

b. Highest passion scores are found among the youngest (-25 years) and oldest (+55 years). Clearly there is a “passion dip” after the initial years of experience, as well as a “passion recovery” as careers evolve.

c. The highest passion scores were found with HR staff, while administrative profiles score lowest.

d. There is a strong link between leadership and passion. Passion levels rise as people move higher in the hierarchy.

e. Company size and employee gender have no effect on passion.

2. The link between passion and performance is very strong

The results show that passion has a strong impact on discretionary effort (short-term performance). The impact of passion on the intent to stay (long-term performance) is notable, but somewhat lower.

Results clearly demonstrate the importance of passion as a driver for productivity and effectiveness. It emphasizes the relevancy for HR to pay particular attention to the engagement and commitment levels of their workforce.

3. There is an opportunity for HR to leverage passion and performance – Build jobs around people

The survey indicates that HR should try to leverage passion and performance, starting with the most important lever: the quality of the job. Employees need to feel their jobs are important. They need to experience a high level of job “fit” and require the resources to do the job. HR must build jobs around people rather than assign people to existing jobs. Almost as important is the lever quality of the manager. (Managers themselves assign an even higher importance to this.) The overall quality of the organisation and team is important, though not as much as job quality or quality of the manager.

Overall, the Passion and Performance model holds true regardless of age, sector, function, gender or company size. However, compared to staff employees, managers assign more importance to management quality as a lever of passion.

More about this survey and its methodology

The passion survey is a collaboration between Deloitte and Job@ and has been conducted across the Belgian workplace from 29 January to 16 February 2005. The survey was published in several print and online channels: Job@, De Standaard, De Gentenaar, het Nieuwsblad, La Dernière Heure, La Libre Belgique, JobsToday and Humo. In total 2,783 people responded, of which 2,712 surveys qualified as valid data. The analysis of data and findings has been performed in collaboration with the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Faculteit Psychologie.

First of all the research team constructed the validity of the measurement scales. This involved factor analysis which identified the different constructs measured by a set of questions included in a test; and the Cronbach’s α which tests the reliability of the questionnaire. Second phase included the scales construction and a result analysis. This involved an average breakdown table that showed the average level of passion for their personal facts in relation to the levers (organisation, job, relations, manager, passion, short term performance and long term performance) and the ANOVA’s (Analysis Of Variance) which is a calculation procedure to allocate the amount of variation in a process and determine if it is significant. Finally a testing of the model was made based on the LISREL (Linear Structural Relationship Testing) approach.

About Deloitte

A leading audit and consulting practice in Belgium, Deloitte offers value added services in audit, accounting, tax, consulting and corporate finance.

In Belgium, Deloitte has more than 1.800 employees in over 16 offices across the country, serving national and international companies, from small and middle sized enterprises, to public sector and non-profit organisations. The turnover reached 315 million euro in the financial year 2003-2004.

The Belgian firm is a member of the international group Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, an organization of independent member firms devoted to excellence in providing professional services and advice.

We are focused on client service through a global strategy executed locally in nearly 150 countries. With access to the deep intellectual capital of 115,000 people worldwide, our member firms (including their affiliates) deliver services in various professional areas covering audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services. Our member firms serve over one-half of the world’s largest companies, as well as large national enterprises, public institutions, and successful, fast-growing global growth companies. In 2003-2004 Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s turnover reached 16,4 billion dollars.

More information on www.deloitte.be.

About Job@

Job@ (say "job-at") is the successful recruitment platform owned by VUM media, which is the largest newspaper publisher in Belgium. Originally a 100% print medium, Job@ grew into a multimedia concept. All job offers are disseminated through the Saturday career paper, through the regular “daily”', through a magazine and through the Internet.

Via this array of channels, employers not only reach active, but also "latent" jobseekers. Candidates that are hired through Job@, are known among employers as being highly educated, competent and goal oriented. Continuous research shows that an average of 85% of job offers result in immediate recruitment and this after only one distribution through Job@concept. This is the best ratio in the Belgian recruitment market. Moreover, the Job@ concept reaches 2,257,200 persons, which makes it the most powerful job medium in Belgium.

More information on www.jobat.be.