UK employee confidence rose 2.6% in the fourth quarter 2009 and showed an increase of 5.3% since the first quarter, according to a quarterly measure of worker opinions from Kenexa Research Institute, a global provider of business solutions for human resources.

A high level of employee confidence is achieved when employees perceive their organisation as being effectively managed and competitively positioned, and believe they have a promising future with their organisation, as well as job security and skills that are attractive to other employers.

Employee confidence influences individual behaviour and has implications for organisational performance and economic conditions.

Kenexa’s quarterly study, which measures the degree of confidence employees have in their employers’ marketplace competiveness and their own careers, involves over 15,500 employees in 12 countries (Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Spain, the UK and the US).

In December 2009, the global employee confidence index score was 98, a very slight improvement from Q3 (97.9). Brazil (107.5), China (105.6) and India (101.3) reported the highest levels of employee confidence, while France (94.9), Japan (94.0) and Spain (92.4) reported the lowest levels. The UK’s employee confidence index score was 99.8 (an increase from 97.2 in Q3).

For the year ending 31 December 2009, the 12 largest economies reported an increase in employee confidence index scores, with the exception of Japan, which reported a slight decrease for the year.

The global employee confidence index score for Q4 of 2009 increased roughly 4 points, from 93.8 in the first quarter. Countries that reported the most improvement in employee confidence index scores throughout 2009 were China (15.8 point increase), Italy (8.1) and Brazil (7.1).

Kenexa’s quarterly Employee Confidence Index began in June 2008 and was normalised for each country to equal 100. Subsequent scores are reported in percents above or below that starting point. The resultant data is available by country, industry, age, gender and job type.