More than a third of workers have low commitment to their employer and/or a weak understanding of how they can make a positive contribution, according to a pan-European survey of 14,000 employees by global consultants Watson Wyatt.

The research found that only 13% of employees rank highly on both commitment and line of sight, the combination of which creates strong employee engagement and leads to superior performance.

Andrew Cocks, a senior consultant at Watson Wyatt, says: "In our survey more than 40% of workers said they are actively considering leaving their current employer. Retaining top talent and moving medium-engagement employees up in terms of individual performance can help reduce recruitment and retention costs and give a company a competitive advantage."