Ms Helou, who works for a private health insurance company in Sydney, said her boss had arranged for employees to get free advice over the phone from a dietitian or nutritionist.

"Knowing my employer cares about my well-being ... makes me more inclined to stay with an employer because they are aligned to my personal values," she said.

But a lack of interest  in their workers by many bosses, who are failing to get the best out of their employees, is driving a more widespread level of dissatisfaction in the workforce.

Australian workers are more disengaged from work than their overseas counterparts surveyed in a new global study, and are more critical of the leadership of their bosses.

The study found they are weary of constant change in their organisations and want clearer direction and leadership from their managers.

In its latest survey of 32,000 employees in 26 countries including Australia, international professional services company Towers Watson found that only 44 per cent of Australian employees surveyed said their leaders were effective, compared to 52 per cent of their international counterparts.

For the first time, effective leadership has emerged as the key factor determining engagement and retention of employees, according to the third biennial survey. It has overtaken workload and work-life balance as the top reason cited by employees as determining their engagement with work.

Mid-level managers, who are more directly involved with staff, received a more favourable review, with 57 per cent of Australians rating them as effective, compared to 61 per cent of their overseas counterparts.

The study authors said this may be due to Australians having higher expectations of their bosses.

"For the first time, leadership is the biggest driver of sustainable engagement," the study authors said.

"For employees lucky enough to perceive both their leader and manager as being effective, 72 per cent are highly engaged and just 3 per cent are disengaged.

"This stands in contrast to those that perceive both their leader and manager as being ineffective, with just 8 per cent of these employees being highly engaged while the majority (56 per cent) are disengaged."

Adam Hall, from Towers Watson, said the issue of job security and base pay had emerged as key reasons for employee engagement in the 2012 survey.

"They have grown in importance in this period of uncertain, if not difficult economic conditions," he said.

In 2014, the leadership of organisations was ranked the top reason for staff engagement.

Dr Hall said effective leadership could energise workers by enabling them to do their jobs well.

"Leadership has the most ability to influence the employees' experience in the organisation. They set the direction," he said.

"What Australians want their leaders to do is be very good at clarifying direction, vision and making good decisions about where the organisation is going, and sticking to that as a long-term strategy. So if you want to have some job security - a career - then this is what the future will look like."

The survey also looked at the top causes of work-related stress and found them to be inadequate staffing and excessive workloads. Lack of support from a supervisor, conflicting job expectations and poor team work were also among reasons cited by around a third of the 1003 Australians surveyed.

The Union for International Cancer Control and health insurer Bupa will release another report on Friday showing that almost two in five of the 5000 Australian employees and 200 employers surveyed said their job had a negative impact on their physical health and one in three said it had a negative impact on their mental health. Almost half the employers surveyed agreed organisations could help their employees reduce their risk of conditions such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes.