How engaged is your
workforce?
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Employee Engagement Research Report
In 2009 Lord Mandelson, then Secretary of
State for Business, Innovation & Skills, initiated a report
discussing the impact of low employee engagement levels in the UK
and the affect on the competitiveness of UK economy.
Since the publication of The Macleod Report,
employee engagement is on everyone’s lips. And with the government
taking such an interest in the subject it suggests engagement is
more than the latest HR fad and a real issue for employers.
But despite its high profile many HR
professionals are still unclear about why engagement is important,
how to create it, or even what it is.
Sage asked 400 HR professionals to discuss
their policies surrounding the 4 C’s of engagement; Culture,
Commitment, Communication and Compensation. The following article
analyses our findings and looks at the practice of employee
engagement in businesses today.
Culture
89% of businesses recognise the
importance of family commitments in work/life balance
Today organisations recognise that employees
need to be happy and healthy to operate at their optimum level and
employers need to be supportive of an individual’s lifestyle
choices. Of those surveyed the majority suggested their company’s
culture is based on forming relationships with the workforce,
meaning staff have a high commitment and high belief in their
organisation.
This approach creates a strong ethos of
equality and individualism and those that are high-achieving
thrive. However those that are underperforming or require extra
support are often ‘managed out’ rather than receive extra coaching
or mentoring.
It’s a strong leadership philosophy that will
release the potential of your workforce; however our survey shows
that businesses with a formal practice for mentoring are in the
minority. Engagement will only increase if leaders believe in, and
commit to it and the rewards it can deliver.
Only 13% of businesses surveyed have
any formal process for mentoring
75% of companies have a dedicated CSR
role but 71% still struggle to get employees engaged
Only 9% of businesses would describe
their Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives as well
communicated
Commitment
80% of businesses feel their staff
have a healthy attitude to sickness.
The HSE estimates that 32.9 million working
days are lost annually through sickness, but over three quarters of
those surveyed felt their staff turnover was low and attitudes to
sickness were healthy.
The majority of respondents take a
process-driven approached to absence management, providing clearly
defined policies and standards to their workforce. And whilst this
means that the legislative box is ticked, staff are somewhat
committed and turnover low, it also means that many organisations
are not be engaging with the right individuals.
Many employees stay in their jobs because of
non-salary benefits such as pension schemes or flexible working and
not because they are connected to their role. This can make
productivity low and increase the pressure on high-performers, who
are forced to carry them. With less than half of businesses
surveyed providing employee’s access to their job description, many
of the high-performers leave due to unnecessary increase in
workload.
The majority of respondents who felt
they were ‘generous with staff sickness’ work in the public
sector
Communication
Nearly one third of all businesses
have no formal process for sending communication
updates
Keeping employees informed is key to engaging
with the workforce and developing open and honest lines of
communication is crucial in gaining employee buy-in. But for most
companies the communication process is unstructured and usually
informal, with over half of businesses admitting to using
communication primary for financial performance means rather than
its people.
Only half of organisations that
conduct regular employee surveys have the channels to raise
questions asked to management
Predictably the ad hoc approach continues into
training and employee development, with our research showing that a
high proportion of organisations relying on their employees to ask
for training rather than being driven as a company initiative.
Consequently many businesses have a culture of rewarding the
high-achievers whilst those who need a little more support are
sideline and often leave the business before they ‘blossom’.
The lack of commitment to talent management is
surprising. It is recognised that people, not products or
processes, that lie at the heart of business and attracting,
developing, and retaining talented people is of paramount
importance. But talent management is not something that can be done
by individual managers, it needs to involve everyone in the
organisation and have buy in from the top down.
80% of respondents say training and
development is based on employees individual request rather than
formal company programmes
Compensation
Only 2% would describe their employees
as innovative and actively engage staff by capturing their
ideas
Keeping staff motivated and engaged is
essential for the success of an organisation. An engaged workforce
is more likely to show innovation, productivity, have higher energy
levels, and therefore be more effective. Yet our findings show that
72% of businesses rely on individuals to show innovation rather
than engaging their workforce to do so.
For most businesses, employee engagement
programmes are centred on their company philosophy and making staff
feel a valued connection to the organisation. This approach, whilst
delivering collaboration between staff and management, means
companies are often complacent about progress and struggle with new
challenges. Therefore employees don’t understand the relationship
between driving new initiatives and revenue and business
success.
60% of companies who responded do not
have a formal employee recognition scheme in place
Where there is a lack of association between
individuals looking for new challenges and the profit line, it is
important for the employer to connect the two for them. Incentive
schemes that are driven top down and link to appraisals are vital
for creating a culture of innovation, yet half of respondents have
no formal process for recognising achievements and at best leave it
to the discretion of a line manager.
Only 5% provide time out for personal
development or charitable work
So what’s next?
Our research shows that whilst HR has an
understanding of employee engagement, they need to better
understand the different engagement practices across their
organisations. Varying levels of focus across the 4 C’s can
have a negative effect on your workforce and undo the good work in
areas that are doing well.
Employee engagement isn’t just about creating
the right culture or running an annual survey. Employees need to
fully understand the impact they have on their future business
growth; and employers need to invest in time and resource to
nurture and connect with its workforce.
Ultimately, it’s impossible to command
engagement; it is only possible to build an environment in which it
will be more likely to occur. There is no quick fix, engagement has
to be built into the DNA of the organisation, and be seen as an
integral, authentic part of the business by everyone from the CEO
down.