Advising clients with a global workforce means realizing that what works in the home-country office might not work abroad. Consequently, executives at multinational firms have to understand the drivers of employee engagement from around the world, reports Mercer.

The HR consulting firm asked employees from 22 countries what factors most influenced them to go the extra mile for their employers. The research not only shows the drivers of engagement differ from country to country, but also attitudes toward workplace issues, such as pay, benefits and work-life balance vary.

"Even when workplace characteristics are shared -- such as English as a first language -- differences in national culture and [the economy] can have a significant influence on employee expectations and perceptions of the workplace and, subsequently, on employee engagement," says Dr. Patrick Gilbert, a principal and employee research expert at Mercer.

For example, workers in France and India indicate the type of work performed as the strongest driver of engagement, while Japanese employees report salary as most important. Chinese employees rank benefits as a key driver, and German workers cite co-workers as a strong engagement factor.

Overall, workers around the world say being treated with respect and work-life balance have the strongest impact on engagement, Mercer notes. Respect, however, rank higher among workers in the United Kingdom and the United States, compared to those in Japan. A healthy work-life balance was also less important to the workforces of China and India, compared to other countries.

Other key highlights on employee engagement included:

• Americans place a premium on career advancement.
• Canadians believe a good work-life balance yields good customer service.
• Australians value the quality of the workplace relationships.
• In India, employees cite the type of work and promotion opportunities as the foremost motivators.
• Brazilians are proud to work for their organizations and are confident that their companies will be successful in the future.
• British workers are very positive about their organizations' emphasis on customer satisfaction.