An Overview of Employee Engagement

• believe in their organization and its values
• have a desire to give their best and ‘go the extra mile’ (delivering discretionary efforts)
• demonstrate higher levels of innovation, creativity and customer service
• have lower levels of sickness absence and absenteeism
• understand the business context in which they work and see the ‘bigger picture’
• have respect for and willingness to help their colleagues

Although employee engagement describes how people behave in the workplace, it is ultimately about improving performance, because the above benefits have a clear impact upon an organization’s bottom line. Engagement is the difference between people who come to work and simply ‘get the job done’ and those who strive to give their best possible performance.

How Can Organizations Build an Engaged Workforce?

Much research has been conducted into understanding and harnessing the organizational factors which ‘drive’ employee engagement. It is clear that there is no ‘quick-fix’ solution to developing an engaged workforce. Organizations need to adopt a long-term, strategic approach.

In 2008, the UK Government’s Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) commissioned an in-depth review of UK employee engagement practices. Known as the MacLeod Review, the report identified four key enablers of employee engagement: [2]

1. A strategic narrative for engagement. An organization’s senior leadership must be able to provide a genuine, credible story for their business that explains to employees in clear terms what the organization’s purpose is, and how individual employees can contribute to its overall vision. This helps to foster widespread ownership of, and commitment towards, employee engagement from managers and employees alike.
2. Engaging managers. Positive line manager behavior is the key to an engaged workforce. They motivate, challenge and support employees rather than controlling and restricting them. They treat employees with respect and appreciation and are able to show genuine commitment to developing, increasing and rewarding the capabilities of those they manage.
3. Employee voice. An effective employee voice is where employee views are actively sought out. Employees feel they can speak out, that their opinions count and most importantly, that the organization will listen to them.
4. Widespread integrity. Leadership and senior management behavior is consistent with the organization’s stated values, leading to greater trust and a sense of integrity.

Whose Job Is it to Manage Employee Engagement?

The success of an organization’s employee engagement efforts depends upon the involvement of key stakeholders, including its senior leadership, front-line managers, the HR department and employees themselves.

The Role of Senior Leadership

Without the support and buy-in of an organization’s senior leadership, employee engagement efforts are likely to fail. For engagement to succeed, top management needs to create the right culture within which it can flourish. The CIPD suggests that what is needed is a shift towards ‘engaging leadership'. Engaging leaders are truly authentic, and can demonstrate a range of positive behaviors including: [3]

• being accessible
• showing genuine concern for their employees
• building a shared vision of the future
• having personal qualities and values of integrity, honesty and consistency

HR’s Role

The HR function also has an important role to play in supporting an organization’s engagement efforts, but should not be solely responsible for it. According to the MacLeod Review, HR should not have singular responsibility for driving employee engagement, but should instead work in partnership with key areas of the business to ensure success. [4] In particular, HR can help to implement engagement initiatives by:

• helping senior management develop a clear business case for employee engagement
• designing and carrying out employee surveys
• testing the findings of employee surveys through focus groups
• advising senior managers on relevant employee engagement initiatives
• helping line managers to improve their engagement capabilities
• developing an effective ‘employer brand’

The Role of Line Managers

Line managers are at the heart of successful employee engagement, and their influence upon how employees feel about their work is profound. It is often remarked that people join organizations but leave individual managers. Research commissioned by the CIPD shows that certain line manager competencies have a demonstrable positive impact on whether employees will go the extra mile for their organization. [5] The research identified a framework of 11 line manager competencies, of which the five most important activities were:

• Reviewing and guiding their employees in their work, offering help and advice freely to employees and responding effectively to employee requests for guidance.
• Providing feedback in a positive and constructive way, praising and thanking employees for their individual efforts and showing understanding when giving feedback on areas which have not gone well.
• Giving their employees an appropriate level of autonomy which strikes the right balance between giving guidance and responsibility, welcoming ideas and feedback from employees and involving them in solving problems and making decisions which affect them.
• Showing a genuine interest in and consideration for employees’ personal lives outside the workplace, and taking an interest in employees’ personal job satisfaction and career achievements.
• Being available for employees when needed, and making time to help and support their team rather than focusing solely on furthering their own personal agenda.

Right Focus, Right Results

Many organizations can be concerned about investing in costly employee engagement initiatives. However, engagement plans don’t need to be on a grand scale in order to produce results. The following examples illustrate a variety of successful employee engagement plans.

B&Q

In 2005, DIY retailer B&Q was losing market share, sales were falling and customer satisfaction had shrunk to 65 percent. B&Q has since experienced a dramatic recovery thanks to a shift in attitude. Employee engagement has gone from being a ‘nice to have’ measure to a critical driver of business performance. The Gallup Q12 engagement index showed a clear link between employee engagement and business performance. [6] As a retail organization, customer service is critical to improved performance. Without employees who are engaged and committed, B&Q’s business could not grow. Q12 surveys are run bi-annually, and the results identify areas of weakness and best practice, as well as issues for action. Dedicated support is also provided by HR including: [7]

• overall accountability for employee engagement, and helping managers to improve their Q12 scores
• becoming employee engagement experts with ongoing training and coaching from Gallup so that HR can help managers interpret their results, identify problems and develop action plans
• linking employee engagement to performance, so that individual managers are promoted on the basis of their engagement scores, and can ultimately be removed from a management position if their Q12 scores are consistently low

Essex County Council

In 2010, Essex County Council (ECC) set its sights on creating a strong employee voice with its ‘You Said, We Did’ communications campaign. Like many UK local authorities, ECC faced the challenge of delivering high quality services on reduced budgets. Based on the outcomes of the ‘Your Voice’ employee survey, this campaign showcased examples of how employee feedback was being put into practice, including: [8]

• the introduction of speed networking events to increase networking opportunities with existing and new colleagues
• simplification of the secondments process to create more career development opportunities
• development of an online change toolkit to support employees through the process of change more effectively

Getting it Wrong

While more enlightened organizations are building employee engagement into their business plans, others merely pay it lip-service, which can lead to an increasingly cynical and disengaged workforce. This comes at a price. Gallup estimates that actively disengaged workers cost the British economy between £37.2 billion and £38.9 billion a year due to poor staff retention, high absenteeism and poor productivity. [9] Disengaged employees can also affect their engaged colleagues as well. Curt Coffman, Global Practice Leader for Gallup’s Q12 employee engagement survey tool, describes disengaged employees as:

"The ‘cave dwellers’ who are Consistently Against Virtually Everything. We've all worked with an actively disengaged employee who is not just unhappy at work; they act out that unhappiness. Every day, actively disengaged employees tear down what their engaged colleagues are striving to build." [10]

Conclusion

Increased employee engagement is fast becoming a vital part of any organization’s strategy. However, initiatives will work only if they involve buy-in and input at all levels, from the senior leadership team, to HR practitioners as well as front-line managers. But the rewards are there for the taking if organizations are prepared to put in the effort - happier, valued employees who will go the extra mile when required and help their organizations achieve greater profitability and success.