There are distinct gaps in employee engagement between different diverse groups, according to a study by the Involvement and Participation Association (IPA) and diversity consultancy Astar-fanshawe.
The research examined six organisations in the public and private sector in-depth, and discovered gaps in employee engagement across certain groups of the workforce.
It found disabled staff are significantly less engaged than employees without a disability. For example, in the NHS disabled staff scored 3.59 for engagement, compared to 3.77 for non-disabled staff. In the Civil Service, disabled employees scored 34%, compared to 43% for non-disabled staff.
The research also found women tend to be more engaged than men, although they are less confident that their views are sought and listened to.
Younger employees are usually the most engaged, and engagement decreases until the age of 65 when it rises again. The report claims this may be due to the least engaged staff opting for retirement.
The IPA and Astar-fanshawe found that unconscious bias can have a significant negative impact on engagement.
The report has a number of recommendations for employers. These include:
- Understand the full diversity of the workforce and examine any variations in engagement. Address any issues by consulting with employees
- Support line managers to engage all staff and give managers appropriate training to raise their awareness of diversity and inclusion
- Understand that employee networks can play a critical role
- See diversity and inclusion and employee engagement as ‘two sides of the same coin’, rather than keeping them separate
IPA director and co-chair of the Engage for Success taskforce Nita Clarke said: “We have long known that effective engagement with employees lies at the heart of improving performance and productivity in organisations across the economy, but the interface with diversity has been an under-explored dimension – which is a huge piece of the puzzle missing given that the UK has one of the most diverse workforces in the world.”
Astar-fanshawe co-founder Simon Fanshawe added: “A significantly new approach to diversity could extend the quality and effectiveness of the engagement that organisations have with their staff. Both diversity and engagement are crucial to an organisation’s performance.”
