Employee engagement is the key to innovation and competitiveness, says MacLeod Review
David Woods, 16 July 2009
6
6 comment's on this article.Employees must be involved 'fully' in the firms they work for to ensure business can take advantage of new opportunities, the MacLeod Review announced today.
The report 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.
Senior HR professionals including Clare Chapman, director general of workforce at the Department of Health, Cary Cooper, professor at Lancaster University Management School, Jackie Orme, chief executive of the CIPD, and Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury's, have agreed to join a sponsor group to boost understanding of engagement.
Engagement expert David MacLeod, author of the report, said: "This is about unleashing the potential of people at work and enabling them to be the best they can be. Whether we are in a downturn or in better economic times, engagement is a key to innovation and competitiveness.
"Engagement is increasingly recognised as vital by senior figures in the public sector, the private sector and trades unions. We are delighted that if our recommendations are accepted, a distinguished sponsor group has already agreed to work with us to raise awareness and understanding.
"Employers in all parts of the economy can make a success of employee engagement through culture change, rather than investing significant financial resources."
According to the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), 85% of employees want to be viewed as ‘high potential' by their employer, but just 2% claim their organisation regards everyone as talent.
The CMI's chief executive, Ruth Spellman, who will be part of the sponsor group, said: "For a high quality of working life and a high quality of performance, it doesn't matter so much what the business is, but how the people in that business behave. Right now, organisations across the UK are hampered by poor management skills, with leaders who have an inability to ‘let go' and allow staff to take ownership of their work. The end result is talented people becoming frustrated and disengaged at best, or ready to leave, at worst."
But commenting on the MacLeod report, Paul Sweetman, director of the employee engagement practice at Fishburn Hedges, said: "Overall, it's a platform for progress, but also misses a few opportunities; I think it could have gone further and provided more practical guidance on the steps that employers should be taking right now.
"The report leaves employers needing more: it is short on the clear, practical support that employers need to respond to the imperative it lays down. For example, it discusses the crucial role of both leaders and managers, but could have gone further in exploring the key mechanisms through which leaders can create the desired engagement. In addition, the report emphasises the importance of establishing an employee voice, but could have contained more practical guidance on ways and means through which employers can stimulate this."
To post comments please log in here
All Comments
sean trainor - 16 July 2009
I agree with Paul, this report marks progress and I thgink the timing is critical. Sadly for some organisations it may be too little, too late. However, it does \(casually) make a link between HR and brand, see http://blogs.thebrandunion.com/youcantkissajpeg
Jeff Kelly - 16 July 2009
Dear Sir,
Employee engagement is clearly the road to success for any organisation, now that the engagement agenda is once again high on the list of priorities for human resource teams, both in the private and the public sector. But employee engagement is far from new; it has always been on the agenda. We have heard much about the need for engagement and the business case to support it, with many studies setting out what an organisation could look like once they have perfected employee engagement.
An engaged workforce can increase profitability and, conversely, research has demonstrated that an unengaged workforce can actually reduce profit margins. According to The Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study, highly engaged employees can outperform their disengaged colleagues by as much as 20%-28%.
So there is much evidence to demonstrate that it makes good, sound, business sense to ensure that employers engage effectively with their workforce but the key question is knowing how this can be done to maximise the potential of engagement.
For some, employee engagement is seen as acquiescence to the management agenda. Others might argue that the subjects to be engaged upon are cherry picked and that the workforce are not engaged on the really important issues facing them. Still others will say that it is a tick box exercise for employers to show that they have complied with the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations. Looking at engagement realistically, however, it is doubtful that any of these views would paint an accurate picture as any form of engagement is time consuming, resource intensive and not inexpensive and no employer would wish to invest so much in an exercise of compliance without seeing some tangible results.
Where the need for engagement exists, there should be open and transparent processes in place which make explicit the need for engagement, its purpose, the principles that underpin the process and detailed ways of working that will address behaviours that are expected from all concerned. There needs to be strong leadership from all parties with a commitment to the values and principles of the process, a communication strategy that is effective and multi-directional. Good communication is a critical 'person to person' skill in an organisation. Employees are most likely to be well motivated and to work hard for organisations where there are well organised multi-directional communication flows that enable employees to have a say in how things are done, feel confident that their views are listened to and taken into account in decision making and receive constructive feedback in a timely manner.
To enable a workforce and its management to commit to these principles and behaviours and have a clearly defined process of engagement, there would need to be a formal agreement, which would result in what is often known as a partnership agreement.
Unions and management benefit from partnership. Unions gain from greater job security and more involvement in decision-making. This can lead to a better quality of working life and more investment in skills and training. We also know that, where partnerships have developed, there has been an increase in union membership as partnership working raises the union's profile, enhancing its reputation and meeting the aspirations of both members and potential members.
If engagement of the workforce is to be valued and have the desired effect on an organisation's ability to adapt to an ever changing market, a formal partnership agreement is the best way of achieving this, where the values, principles and behaviours expected within the agreement are clearly articulated to ensure that they are adhered to.
An effective partnership takes time and commitment but now is absolutely the right time for employers and unions to work together in a new style of industrial relations built on the understanding that both have a critical part to play in the success of the business. In a country not renowned for its progressive labour relations, even Barak Obama commented on 30 January 2009 when he announced labour executive orders: The labour movement is not part of the problem, it's part of the solution. Strong, vibrant, growing unions can exist side by side with strong, vibrant and growing businesses.
There is now a real urgency for employers and unions to work together for the common good if businesses are not only to survive the current recession but to emerge in a position to take advantage of the new opportunities that will present themselves.
Jeff Kelly
Director
Partnership Institute
caroline esterson - 17 July 2009
This is not new news. For those of us working in L & D this has been a keen message that we have been supporting for many years. The key is enabling managers to release control, start asking more questions than giving answers and trusting their people to do a great job. Easier said than done, granted but the starting point is recognising that what we are doing now isn't working so surely it's worth employing new tactics - ask your staff what makes them/would make them love their jobs and be proud to do what they do.
Shelly Posthuma de Boer - 20 July 2009
This certainly a hot topic at the moment! So many of our clients are asking 'how do we maximise employee engagement' and in answer to that we are running a free taster day here at Focus Experiential Training on September 10th. Please click on the link/paste the address for more details and to down load a response form: http://www.focus-training.net/86.html
Derek Irvine - 28 July 2009
The MacLeod report has been all over the news and, consequently, frequently commented upon. Common themes from comments include: \(1) there's nothing new here; \(2) there are not enough concrete examples of how to build engagement in organizations.
While there may be merit in these themes, one of the main problems with the concept and adoption of employee engagement is that there is no single, common accepted definition of what is, how you measure it, and when you know you've achieved it. As the report asks, "Is it an attitude, a behaviour or an outcome?" Some are saying that the answer – "Yes, to all three" – does little to alleviate the confusion. I disagree.
Employee Engagement is a complex concept that must not be taken lightly. Too many give up on the effort because they don't want to go to the time or trouble of convincing their executives of the importance and value of engagement \(another key problem of engagement) or believe they have attempted employee engagement initiatives but not seen the impact they desire. Driving employee engagement is not a one-time project. It is something that must be pursued – relentlessly and endlessly – to achieve the results you want. However, you must also clearly define what you do want to achieve, how you will measure it, and what behaviours you will reward in employees who are helping to achieve your engagement goals.
So what definition does the report give for engagement? "A workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organisation's goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being."
Boil that down to – commitment, understanding, motivation, satisfaction. Are your employees committed to your company's success? Do they even know how that success is defined, e.g., your goals and values? Are they motivated to deliver that? Are they happy in their work and satisfied to be with your organization?
If you can't answer yes to all of these questions, you need to work on your engagement strategy and the tools you will need to achieve it. Need tips for how to do this? Check out these best practices: http://globoforce.blogspot.com/2009/06/best-practice-institute-invites-me-to.html.
Article 10 - 25 August 2009
I completely agree! Focusing on effective communication delivery is something that every management team should be making a priority, particularly in the current economic climate. It is the key to improving productivity and improving services. Communication strategies should certainly have in place regular meetings and presentations to show employees how their efforts and hard work are having an impact. A high impact presentation can engage staff and deliver a message in the most effective way possible.
Your Comment