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Kate Pritchard
ith change and restructuring inevitable in many organizations, one of the biggest challenges currently facing companies is employee engagement. As well as the ongoing focus on recruiting new talent, a further challenge lies in ensuring existing staff are focused, engaged and thus retained. Smart organizations understand that an engaged workforce results in better business performance, so many are placing greater emphasis on measuring employee engagement and implementing strategies to keep staff happy.
According to the ndings of a recent ORC International (2008) report Putting It in Perspective, overall UK worker satisfaction is fairly stable at 68 percent. However, analysis of these results shows that in many areas, public sector workers trail behind their private sector counterparts. There are also distinct variations between different employment sectors. The ndings are based on data from a benchmarking database, which contain information from over 300 employee surveys and represent the views and opinions of over 1.5 million employees in the UK.
DOI 10.1108/14777280810910302
VOL. 22 NO. 6 2008, pp. 15-17, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1477-7282
PAGE 15
Giving consideration to creating a strong and attractive employer brand can engage potential employees, and turn them into members of your workforce.
managing change the percentage of employees who feel that their organization manages change effectively has fallen by 4 percent since 2000.
Say. This is a measure of how likely an employee is to be an advocate of the organization. Would they recommend working there to a friend? Would they sing your praises as an employer? Stay. Commitment is key, so it is vital to measure your employees loyalty to the business. Do they plan to remain in the company? How long do they envisage working there for? Strive. Are your employees more than just satised with doing their work well? This area measures whether employees would be prepared to go over and above the call of duty to ensure organizational success.
Using these principles of say, stay and strive as a basis for assessing the level of employee engagement, can be useful for organizations. Organizations should also bear in mind the Employee Lifecycle shown in Figure 1. It is important to understand the different needs and levels of engagement of employees at every stage of their career from a potential employee, right through to becoming an Figure 1
Employers should aim to carry out regular research as employee engagement is transitory, very much affected by changes within the workforce and organization.
ex-employee, and every step along the way. Bearing this in mind can ensure that organizations are able to adapt their practices to suit different employee needs. Giving consideration to creating a strong and attractive employer brand can engage potential employees, and turn them into members of your workforce. Understanding joiners can ensure they want to say, stay and strive, and similarly, working on ways to keep most valued staff happy is crucial for retention. It can be equally as important to consider ex-employees and use their feedback to shape the organization to ensure better levels of employee engagement for retained staff. This Employee Lifecycle model can be used by organizations to improve their understanding of employee engagement and improve the employee/employer relationship at each stage of the lifecycle. A well designed employee survey is another tool which can help to provide a good picture of how employees are feeling, which is particularly relevant during times of upheaval or re-structuring, when it is crucial that employees remain focused and engaged. Employers should aim to carry out regular research as employee engagement is transitory, very much affected by changes within the workforce and organization. Of course, whenever you are looking to embark on an employee engagement program, it must be borne in mind that establishing the level of employee engagement and measuring employee opinion is not enough. Any resulting information needs to be analyzed thoroughly and ultimately used to drive action that leads to organizational improvement. It is only through action that managers can address problem areas and keep employees engaged and effective.
Conclusion
Keywords: Employee involvement, Employees, Employee turnover, United Kingdom There are lessons to be learned by businesses across both the public and private sector in the UK from the Putting it in Perspective Report. It is clear that regular monitoring of staff opinions is crucial to all organizations, particularly during times of rapid change. By carrying out surveys and bearing in mind the fundamental principles of engagement as well as understanding the employee lifecycle, managers in organizations can discover ways to manage inevitable changes while keeping employees engaged.
Reference
ORC International (2008), Putting It in Perspective Report 2007, UK Employee Research Division, ORC International, London, January.
Corresponding author
Kate Pritchard can be contacted at: Kate.Pritchard@orc.co.uk
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