Learming Hub

Employee Engagement: Why it’s your No. 1 challenge and what you can do about it

Picture3So the results are in……..employee engagement is the number 1 people challenge keeping you up at night.

We recently ran a poll to hear what people challenges are ‘keeping you up at night’.  And engagement has topped the bill.

Why is it such a big issue?  Last year’s Gallup State of the Global Workplace sparked some anxious debate when it showed the shocking affects and levels of active disengagement:

Up to 24% of the global workforce are actively disengaged.  With the link between engagement and performance now clearly established many businesses, this disengagement is a ticking timebomb.

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What for many organisations seems a nice-to-have – the extent to which employees apply themselves enthusiastically at work – ends up being rather a complex – and potentially costly one. And to compound the problem, many organisations that have dabbled with engagement initiatives feel frustrated by a measurement cycle of an increasingly meaningless set of metrics that are met with cynicism and do not seem to be driving improved performance.

So what works? Our work with organisations and OD professionals has identified what works – and doesn’t … click the infographic on the right for more information.

But what does all this mean for organisations looking to act now? Fergus Barry, an expert in how organisations can develop and apply successful human resource strategies notes:

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“The most costly and common mistake I see is a failure to recognise the four different levels to an individual’s engagement which must all be addressed:

– Engagement with the individual’s work

– Engagement with the team
– Engagement with the line manager
– Engagement with the Organization

To really see results you need to first identify the engagement gap in each of these areas and then in parallel use the appropriate drivers, measures and benchmarks that apply at each level.  If we look at the problem as a general engagement problem we will come up with generic solutions that can end up scattered and hit and miss.  When you get it right the returns can be game-changing.”

 

In response to what we’ve been hearing we’ve developed a short focused programme Driving Employee Engagement for managers looking to improve engagement and performance.

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The programme includes an interpreted benchmarking of your organisation’s current level of engagement GallupQ12 but also critically focuses on investigating, planning and executing an Employee Engagement strategy which will deliver immediate and longer term returns.

The 3 day programme will begin at IMI on June 26th – click here to register your interest.

 

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