The recession is leading to cuts in spending on increasing employee engagement, new research reveals.

Although 99% of CEOs and HR directors believe greater engagement leads to improved company performance, 22% have delayed their engagement surveys this year due to the economic climate.

But the poll of 150 business leaders representing one million employees in the UK by engagement survey provider ETS found 70% said they would use engagement surveys to make major changes to their business.

Commenting on the findings, ahead of the Business Leaders conference on Thursday, Betsy Travis, senior consultant at ETS, said: "The rise in indices of business confidence suggests companies will start investing in engagement activities again, which is key to re-starting growth,"

Angela Williams, group HR director of Land Securities, who will be speaking at the conference, added: "We firmly believe our people are our strongest asset and like all assets they need to be invested in to maximise performance. Engagement is a key part of that investment and can really make the difference."

The poll follows the release of the MacLeod Review into employee engagement, published in July, which recommends the Government should work to raise awareness of employee engagement benefits, and support employers hoping to enhance levels of employee engagement.

Practical support for companies is also expected to be available by March 2010.