BANGKOK--6 Dec--Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest A new international workplace survey by Kelly Services has found that more than half of Thai employees are happy in their work, and they also believe that their bosses are doing a good job. The survey by the Fortune 500 global staffing leader, Kelly Services, found that 54% of Thai employees were either happy or very happy with their current position. The quality of Thai bosses has received praise from employees. Asked to score their bosses out of 10, the average score employees gave their bosses was a strong 6.9. The world's employees gave an average score of 6.7 out of 10 for their bosses. Although a relatively positive rating, this suggests that globally, there is considerable room for improvement in management-employee relations. The Kelly Global Workforce Index sought the views of approximately 70,000 employees in 28 countries including Thailand. The global analysis was undertaken by a leading independent statistician, Statistics Workshop, based in Sydney, Australia. The survey found that Thai employees ranked 23rd globally and 6th in the Asia-Pacific region just ahead of Singapore, for the highest percentage of happy employees. Indonesia and India ranked an equal 1st, followed by Australia and New Zealand. Malaysia ranked ahead of Hong Kong in the region. A number of nations showed a remarkably positive picture of the quality of their management. Mexico, USA, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and India all scored 7 or above. The most contented employees in the global study were in Denmark, Mexico and Sweden and the least happy in Hungary, Russia and Turkey. Thailand's bosses have been given a surprisingly good rating by their employees. The score of 6.9 out of 10 places Thailand 9th on a world scale. The best bosses were in Mexico, USA and Canada and employees least happy with their bosses in Sweden, Italy and Turkey. In the Asia Pacific region, Thailand sits equal fourth with Indonesia, just behind New Zealand, Australia and India. Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, all scored less than 7. "This result suggests that many organisations around the world and in Thailand can probably do better at developing workplace practices that keep their employees engaged and motivated", said Ms. Wanna Assavakarint, Country Manager for Kelly Services, Thailand. "Managers need to examine how they can lift performance and increase the level of communication and team spirits within their organisation. They may need to take time to ensure that they better connect with staff and provide them direction, feedbacks and guidance to work towards organization goals" she says. Employers were rated on four attributes -- communication, leadership, team spirit and delegation skills. In Thailand, employees felt that bosses were best at delegating effectively and weakest when it comes to communication and team spirit. Younger employees in Thailand viewed their bosses more favourably, while women rated their bosses slightly higher than men. On the question of who makes the best bosses -- men or women - the vast majority of Thailand employees (69%) said it makes no difference. But 19% said they preferred a male boss compared with 12% preferring a female boss. Some 69% of employees in Thailand said that their bosses rewarded them for a job well done while 26% said they were rewarded rarely or never. "It's important to try and find what makes a contented and motivated workforce because employees who enjoy their work will make a more effective contribution to the performance of the organization", comments Ms. Assavakarint. "The best employers understand this and provide people with interesting and challenging work as well as opportunities to learn and more fully develop their own skills." "If we look at what employees say is important to them, they want a workplace with good morale, stimulating work, a degree of autonomy, and one where they receive feedback from their bosses". "Simply taking the time to tell someone when they've done a good job or provide some constructive feedback can make a big difference". "Many employers in Thailand recognise this but it's not universal. Sometimes senior managers are so busy managing the business they frequently overlook the people aspects, which are so important," Ms. Assavakarint said. This global insight from employees themselves provides a frank assessment of the quality of management across national borders and the effectiveness of management performance which can make an enormous contribution to the nation'seconomic prosperity. Kelly Services, Inc. (Nasdaq: KELYA; KELYB) is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Troy, Michigan (USA), offering staffing solutions that include temporary services, staff leasing, outsourcing, vendor on-site and full-time placement. Kelly operates in 30 countries and territories. Kelly provides employment for nearly 700,000 employees annually, with skills including office services, accounting, engineering, information technology, law, science, marketing, light industrial, education, health care and home care. Revenue in 2005 was US$5.3 billion. Visit http://www.kellyservices.com Media contact: Jaruwan Ngampisutpaisarn Kelly Services Thailand Tel: +662-670-0505 Fax: +662-670-0509 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Kelly Services, Inc. --Distributed by AsiaNet ( www.asianetnews.net )--