Engaged public employees report higher levels of well-being and perceive that their teams and organisations perform better. They are therefore likely to be more productive, which is important as they play a key role in designing and delivering policies and services for citizens (OECD, 2016). On the other hand, disengaged employees are more likely to leave their organisations, which means that organisations with low employee engagement can face challenges with higher turnover rates (OECD, 2025 forthcoming). Measuring employee engagement provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of the leadership and people management in public administrations.
The OECD Employee Engagement Index is a composite indicator used to measure employees’ overall job satisfaction, motivation and commitment in eight OECD countries and two accession countries. It captures the levels of enthusiasm, sense of accomplishment, willingness to go beyond expectations and alignment with their organisations’ mission among the employees of central administrations. The average index score ranges from 74.9 in Norway to 63.5 in Latvia, on a 0-100 scale (Figure 14.5). Employee engagement differs between managers and non-managers, with managers consistently displaying higher scores across all countries than those in non-managerial roles. The smallest difference in engagement levels between managers and non-managers was found in Latvia (3.4. p.p.) (Figure 14.6). These differences in could point to differences in the underlying drivers of engagement, as managers report greater satisfaction with both their leadership or management and their working conditions which in turn could influence their level of engagement (OECD, 2025 forthcoming).
One dimension of the OECD Employee Engagement Index is employees’ sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Figure 14.7 illustrates the share of public employees who report being satisfied with their job and having a sense of accomplishment. Job satisfaction was more widespread than a sense of accomplishment in all countries except the United Kingdom. The Netherlands had the largest share of employees who were satisfied with their jobs (85.5%), while Norway had the highest share reporting a sense of accomplishment (82.4%).
Latvia, Norway and the United Kingdom included the same two questions on job satisfaction and sense of accomplishment in their national employee surveys in 2022. Based on these results, all three countries showed an increase in the share of positive responses to both questions. The largest improvement was observed in job satisfaction in Latvia which increased by 28.9 p.p. over the two years (Figure 14.7). However, it is important to note that although the wording of the questions remained identical, they were asked as part of national surveys. As such, variations in the survey context and accompanying questions may influence the comparability of the results.
