Almost half of all board directors fail to discuss employee engagement on a regular basis, according to a new report.

While the study by the Economist Intelligence Unit revealed that more than eight out of 10 senior executives in companies across Europe and the Middle East view disengagement as one of the three biggest threats to their business, many are failing to address the issue.

Some 43% of directors admit they occasionally, rarely or never discuss engagement issues – such as staff motivation, identification with the company goals or willingness to ‘go the extra mile’ for the firm – at board level. And only one in 10 said their organisations regularly take action to encourage staff with continually low engagement.

Moreover, many senior executives appear to have a skewed opinion as to what influences engagement within their organisations. Some 47% of board-level directors believe they are personally responsible for generating employee engagement in their firm, while only 13% believe line managers and middle managers are chiefly responsible.