European Company Survey 2019

To achieve sustainable, inclusive and smart growth, Europe needs competitive companies that offer decent jobs to workers. To perform at their best, companies need motivated workers with the right skills to do their job, and willing to use those skills to the best of their ability. To have sustainable, productive and fulfilling careers, workers need a stimulating work environment that recognises their input and facilitates their development.

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About the survey

Eurofound and Cedefop joined forces to carry out the fourth European Company Survey (ECS) in 2019.

The ECS 2019 collects data in over 20,000 establishments on workplace practices with regard to work organisation, human resource management, skills use, skills strategies, digitalisation, direct employee participation and social dialogue. It allows for the identification of those bundles of workplace practices that work particularly well in creating win–win outcomes: situations where workers are facilitated and motivated to use their skills to the full, share their knowledge and insights with colleagues and management, and identify opportunities to improve both themselves and the work process as a whole, allowing establishments to thrive.

The ECS 2019 is the first large-scale, cross-national survey to use a push-to-web approach. Fieldwork is carried out by Ipsos. Establishments across all EU Member States are contacted via telephone to identify a management respondent, and, where possible, an employee representative respondent. Respondents are then asked to fill out the survey questionnaire online. This approach reduces the burden on respondents and is expected to improve the quality of responses. Having the questionnaire administration fully online makes the ECS well and truly future-proof.

Findings

The overview report for the ECS 2019, published in October 2020, describes a wide range of practices and strategies implemented by European companies in terms of work organisation, human resource management, skills use and skills development, and employee voice. The report shows how these practices are combined and how the resulting ‘bundles of practices’ are associated with two outcomes beneficial to employees and employers: workplace well-being and establishment performance.

Publication: European Company Survey 2019 overview report: Workplace practices unlocking employee potential

 

Follow-up survey

In 2020, Eurofound and Cedefop carried out an online follow-up survey focusing on workplace practices in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For further information about the European Company Surveys, contact Sophia MacGoris.

More information on the ECS 2019

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Disclaimer

When freely submitting your request, you are consenting Eurofound in handling your personal data to reply to you. Your request will be handled in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. More information, please read the Data Protection Notice.