Engaging for Success

The Macleod Report has recently been delivered to Government and provides a fascinating and valuable
insight into employee engagement that many organisations can learn from. The timing of the report could
not be more appropriate because employee engagement could make a real contribution to Britain’s
recovery from one of the deepest recessions ever experienced.

Ipsos MORI contributed heavily to the report, including undertaking the literature review and we are
delighted that the final report absolutely reinforces our views on employee engagement in terms of how
we advise and support our clients. The report also featured case studies of the excellent work undertaken
by some of our clients including South Tyneside Council, Birmingham City Council and the Department for
Communities and Local Government (CLG).

The Business Case

The Macleod Report highlighted lots of views and examples about the business case for employee
engagement. These include a claim that disengagement costs the economy between £59.4 billion and
£64.7 billion, while other case studies highlight the impact improving engagement has on profitability and
return on investment.

At Ipsos MORI, we have seen similar trends including lower rates of employee attrition and sick absence
in organisations with high levels of engagement, thereby reducing cost bases. In the Public Sector,
for example, we have undertaken analysis in local authorities and NHS Trusts, which has revealed that
those whose services are rated highest by the public are also those enjoying higher levels of employee
engagement and advocacy (i.e. they feel so good about what they do that they actively promote the
organisation to the outside world).

Defining Employee Engagement

There is no one unique definition but a number of key themes emerge as signs of success:-

One contributor to the report described it nicely by saying:-
“You know it when you see it, don’t you, that engagement of people as people. What goes on in
meetings, how people talk to each other. You get a sense of energy, engagement, commitment and
belief in what the organisation stands for”

Barriers to Engagement

Leadership and management came pretty high up the list, with key issues being the low level of interest
and understanding of engagement. Some see it as being a bit too “HR and fluffy”, or struggle to practically
apply it in their organisation.

Organisational culture is another barrier and our practical experience reinforces this. Engagement cannot
flourish in a strict hierarchical “command and control” culture where managers are not prepared to trust
and empower people because they fear that relinquishing control might undermine them. Managers also
need to take time to understand their people, determine what their key skills are and also what interests
them.

The report also identified the problems associated with employees feeling under-stimulated and micromanaged.
This suggests that there is more that they can give but the organisation is not pulling the right
levers to make that happen, or people have strict rules to follow rather than a wider framework to work
within which would give them greater empowerment and autonomy. This needs to be supported by the
appropriate training of both managers and employees.

Inconsistency is also a common problem especially where an organisation has stated values and
behaviours which do not appear to be followed in practice. This undermines the trust between the employer
and the employee.

Engagement Enablers

Releasing the potential power of employee engagement is essentially about also releasing an organisation’s
untapped potential in a culture of trust, where the values are actively “lived”. It should be part of an
organisation’s DNA where joint problem solving, shared ownership and collaboration are the new way of
working.

Senior Leadership

At the top level, the ‘check in’ for good senior leadership looks something like this:-

Line Management

But it is not just about senior leadership. In many ways line managers have an even more important role
to play in improving employee engagement because they are the ones who have to turn the higher level
strategic direction into the lower level operational reality. Chris Bones (Dean of Henley Business School)
describes managers as:-
“The lens through which I see the company and the company sees me”.

Line managers have the power to engage and disengage people through their actions and behaviours. It is
important that they:-

Communication

Communication is a key engagement tool. It needs to give employees their “voice” and be much more than
just a downward dump of information. Employees need to feel views are sought out and listened to and that
their opinion counts, especially as many of those on the front line and dealing with customers often have the
best improvement ideas.

The Employer/Employee Relationship

This is the key area of focus of our work at Ipsos MORI. We help our clients to measure, understand and
improve the employer/employee relationship to the mutual benefit of both parties, because it needs to be a
profitable one. As in any strong relationship, it is built on mutual trust, respect and appreciation and these
are essential ingredients for high levels of engagement as well.

The recession has clearly had an impact on this relationship, with the balance of power shifting more
towards the employer. But have they used it wisely? Cost reduction has been critical for many organisations.
Whilst some have involved employees in decisions about reducing costs and improving efficiencies (e.g.
British Airways asking employees to volunteer to take unpaid holiday), some have almost used the recession
as a reason to cut jobs first to reduce their cost base and worry about the impact later.

We are delighted to say that most of our clients have been doing the right thing in terms of managing the
relationship with employees. In general levels of employee engagement are higher in employee surveys
we have undertaken this year, compared to 2008. Many of our clients have been openly and proactively
communicating with employees about business performance, future prospects and how they are dealing
with the business pressures they face. The response from employees has been positive and there has been
a greater sense of collaboration and problem sharing which has improved engagement.

We need to be careful about reading too much into this in terms of whether this will be a long term trend
because these surveys have been undertaken at time of very limited mobility in the job market. Interestingly,
our own statistical analysis has shown that job security and intention to stay with the organisation are the
primary drivers of employee engagement, a fact not seen prior to the recession.

What is important though is that the good people management practices that have been adopted during the
recession continue in the future. It is the organisations that recognise this that will recover quicker than those
who don’t. The recession has not changed what employees expect from their employer, with the care for
their well-being seen as a given rather than a nice to have and Generation Y wanting much more from work
than just a pay packet. Whilst these may be on the “back burner” in some organisations at the moment, this
could be because of the current lack of mobility in the job market. When this changes, employees are likely
to become more discerning and may happily move to a new employer who is prepared to offer them the
employment experience they are looking for.

Conclusions

The Macleod Report reinforces the view that there are organisations who feel that undertaking an employee
engagement survey is managing employee engagement, which of course it isn’t. Andrew Templeman at the
Cabinet Office summed it up by saying that:-
“No one ever got a pig fat just by weighing it”.

At Ipsos MORI, we believe that measurement and employee engagement surveys in particular are an
important part of the process, but only part of it. In fact you can spend too long looking at analysing
figures rather than engaging with employees about how to improve them. Critically engagement has to have
meaning and be measurable to be taken seriously. For this reason it has be integrated into performance
management systems as a key performance indicator for both managers and an organisation.

So having collected all of this infinite wisdom and information from the “great and good”, what are the next
steps from this Report? There were three key recommendations:-

1. Launch a national awareness campaign to raise the profile of the benefits of engagement through
a series of nationwide and regional events that are supported by the widest possible range of
stakeholders

2. Putting resources in the right places to provide support where it can make a difference for example:-

3. Develop plans for providing ongoing practical support

What this report shows is that employee engagement is critical to making British industry more productive
and successful and that there is work to be done if this potential is to be realised. Any framework for
employee engagement adopted by an organisation has to be tailored specifically to that organisation
in terms of its needs, business strategy, history and culture. It also needs to be reflected in the way an
organisation communicates its corporate strategy and employer brand to external stakeholder groups and
the potential recruitment market.

The Macleod Report already has stimulated some debate in the HR press, and will hopefully get employee
engagement onto the management agenda of those organisations that are not currently ‘believers’, the
practical advice and case studies should help with this. The Report also sends a reminder that engagement
is as important to SMEs as it is to large multinationals. To realise the full benefits of engagement, we also
feel that it is important that the recommendations for the continued awareness raising and for providing
resources and support, are actively followed things will happen quickly. With this in mind Ipsos MORI is
delighted to have been invited to join the Employee Engagement Specialist Forum.

Access a full copy of the report

To discuss employee engagement and the MacLeod Report in more detail, or how Ipsos MORI can help
you to measure, understand and improve employee relationship management in your organisation, please contact:

Peter Meyler
Head of Employee Relationship Management
Ipsos MORI
Telphone number: 020 7347 3108
Email

Peter Meyler 27th July 2010 Communications Articles 0 comments
 

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