At a recent HR event, the majority of professionals and business leaders in attendance rated facilitating employee engagement as a top priority. There is little doubt the effects of the recession has brought this to the fore, with the need to streamline workforces, working smarter and harder, and as a consequence more people are staying put and causing a slowing down of the natural movement of talent between companies.
Some might believe this means better retention rates, however this is not necessarily true. Often during a recession the people holding down a position may not be the most suited person or even staying for the right reasons. Often they pay more attention to maintaining their role rather than promoting their career and importantly your business. The challenge to achieve is replaced by that to survive and if this is happening, it is not focusing on healthy retention, but rather alarmingly unhealthy stagnation.
The biggest concern is that a retained workforce isn’t necessarily an engaged workforce. My belief is that an organisation’s ability to survive and thrive in uncertain times rests on the ingenuity, creativity and flexibility of its people. Engagement is a state of mind engendered by a feeling of confidence of the individual in their capabilities and ability to contribute, matched by the confidence in their employer’s ability and willingness to recognise and use these.
It’s important that employers work with individuals and groups to enable them to establish an identity within their organisation. Engaging with employees is rightly a hot topic. Company leaders and HR professionals are striving to learn the value and importance of having a satisfied workforce. To develop a thorough employee engagement programme, here are my suggestions and guidelines:
- Consider the longterm impact that cost-cutting decisions will have on your employees and their attitude. A simple cost reducing exercise can sometimes have a large ripple effect among your staff;
- Commit to a strong and open communication channel that engages employees and enables questions to be asked in return. Research consistently indicates a strong link between positive employee attitudes and healthy communication - especially in a downturn;
- Ask staff to identify not just what they can do, but how and why they do it, and to think in skill sets that run through everything they achieve, rather than in job or role titles. This improves their sense of flexibility and fitness to embrace and capitalise on change.
Margaret Sheppard has more than 30 years experience in helping organisations to improve effectiveness and maintain their competitive edge through the development of their people. She has been Director at Career Navigation for the past two years. For more information on Career Navigation contact 020 7490 7707 or visit the Career Navigation website