Eurofound has published the results of the fourth edition of the flagship European Company Survey (ECS) conducted jointly with Cedefop since 2004.

The aim of the ECS is to gather information in companies on workplace practices related to work organization, human resources management, full use of employees' skills and related, digitization, direct employee participation in workplace decision-making and social dialogue. The collected data make it possible to identify such approaches and practices applied in enterprises that particularly contribute to the fullest use of the employees' potential, supporting them in sharing knowledge with their colleagues and company management. These types of practices are key to determining areas for further development of employees and the company as a whole.

The study collected information from about 22,000 human resources managers and about 3,000 worker representatives in the 27 EU Member States and the UK. ECS 2019 is the first pan-European company survey to use a push-to-web methodology in which entreprises were contacted by phone to identify respondents who were then asked to complete an online questionnaire.

The survey showed which practices applied by enterprises translate into both employee satisfaction with the work performed and good company results. These are entities that are characterized i.a. by :

  • a high level of employees’ autonomy,
  • a balanced employee motivation strategy,
  • a comprehensive strategy for employees’ training and development,
  • a high level of direct involvement of employees in decision-making in the enterprise, and
  • great support from managers in implementing the above-mentioned practices.

The survey report is available on the Eurofund website.

A short video about the study is available on the Cedefop website.