Trust in executives has a stronger correlation with high engagement than trust in immediate managers, HR magazine can exclusively reveal.
According to the latest annual global survey into engagement by consultants BlessingWhite, the potential impact of trust in senior leadership is most pronounced in the UK.
The research showed that out of the 30% of European employees who were engaged, 36% trusted their line manager, but just under half trusted their senior leader.
There is a disconnect, because of the employees surveyed, only 51% trusted senior leaders and over three-quarters trusted their manager, showing the importance of engagement between senior leaders and employees.
Sue Swanborough (pictured), HRD at food manufacturer General Mills UK and Ireland, thinks trust is an important issue in engagement. She told HR: "It is the one value we hold above nearly all others. What managers need is deep, meaningful relationships with employees to create this level of trust."
She added: "They must create environments where employees can feel good about themselves. This can be done through simple things such as conversations and encouragement, but it is amazing how many managers fail to do so."
Engagement levels in Europe remain flat at 30%, the same as last year. The number of disengaged workers has increased slightly, from 18% to 19%. BlessingWhite said it felt this was probably down to the continuing debt crisis and a lack of confidence in the EU.
The term 'engagement' could mean different things to different organisations. Some equate it with job satisfaction, which can reflect a transactional relationship only as good as the organisation's last round of perks or bonuses. The survey found that engagement initiatives might be common, but often fell short of delivering a measurable impact.
According to the survey, more than half of employees were likely to stay with their current employer, but a third who are disengaged only stay because of the poor economy and "there is nothing better around".
Less than half believe they have career opportunities with their employer. At 46%, the findings are almost the same as 2011 (45%).
Kate Jennings, senior business development director at BlessingWhite, said: "We found disengaged employees and many others are only sticking around because of a secure job in a poor employment market, good financial rewards and desirable job conditions. In a sense, they are being held hostage by what they are getting from their employers. That's not a winning equation for business."
BlessingWhite identifies four ways to get more from engagement: 'less, less, more, more':
1 Less focus on benchmarks. Companies realise the goal of a survey isn't to get a good report, compared to a competitor.
2 Less items. Organisations are opting out of 90-item surveys that take half an hour to complete. They're scaling back to 20-30 items that can help drive action
3 More than once every year. Pulse surveys and shorter surveys are conducted more often.
4 More tied to strategy. Everything in a survey needs to link to the business strategy.
There were 10,914 global respondents to the survey, conducted online from October 2011 to March 2012, 21% of whom were from Europe.
