The Kenexa Research Institute Finds That Employees' Experiences at Work Influence Beliefs Toward Personal Financial Well-Being

WAYNE, PA--(Marketwire - February 3, 2009) - The Kenexa Research Institute (KRI) recently examined employees' opinions of their employer and current work situation and the impact on their personal financial situation and stated intentions regarding purchasing behaviors.

In a survey of employee opinions, KRI investigated the extent to which the current economic conditions cause workers to worry about their personal financial well-being as well as intentions to delay or cancel anticipated purchases. Additionally, workers in the United States were asked about their feelings toward organizational leadership and the effectiveness of business processes at work.

Results indicate employees' feelings about their own personal financial well-being are strongly influenced by their experiences at work. Not surprisingly, an important factor influencing how employees feel about work is how effectively they feel their organizations are being led.

Workers who have unfavorable views of their leadership are much more likely to report being worried about their personal financial situation, which was found to be strongly related to stated purchasing intentions. Specifically, employees who rate their leadership unfavorably are much more likely to express concern regarding their personal financial situation compared to those who have favorable views of their leadership's effectiveness. In addition, those who rate their leadership unfavorably are twice as likely to state that they are delaying current purchases.

"These results indicate that American consumerism is very much affected not only by the reality of having a job or not, but also by employees' confidence in the management of the organization they work for. Organizations are certainly under scrutiny to perform better and perceptions of the effectiveness of their leadership in the U.S. are also likely to have a pervasive effect on the American economic picture," commented Jeffrey Saltzman, a principal at Kenexa.

Additionally, when examining the differences between female and male employees in the U.S., an interesting pattern emerged. Females, when equally favorable toward their leadership and the effectiveness of how the work is being managed as men, are more likely to indicate that they are worried about their personal financial situation and therefore are putting off anticipated purchases.

Even when favorable toward their organization's leaders and work processes, female workers are 30% more likely than males to indicate that they are planning to defer or cancel purchase decisions to a great extent. Seventy-five percent of female and male workers who are unfavorable toward their organization's leadership and work efficiency indicated that they are delaying or cancelling purchases to at least some extent.

Study Details

This study was part of a larger quarterly study that Kenexa undertakes to measure business conditions in major markets. Kenexa has an unequalled database of worldwide employee survey results from workers in Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States that allows the company to provide exceptional insights to organizations of all sizes on a global basis. This business-critical information enables international organizations to better maximize their overall performance.

About Kenexa

Kenexa (NASDAQ: KNXA) is a global leader in building the world's greatest workforces using a combination of software, employee research science and business process optimization. Kenexa's global solutions include applicant tracking, onboarding, recruitment process outsourcing, employment branding, skills and behavioral assessments, structured interviews, performance management, multi-rater feedback surveys, employee engagement surveys and HR Analytics. Kenexa is headquartered in Wayne, Pa. (outside Philadelphia). Additional information about Kenexa and its global products and services can be accessed at www.kenexa.com.