Firms fail to act on employee engagement research

News Article - 24 September 2010
Category: Business

Whilst many companies are conducting research on employee engagement, new research reveals that very few are responding with positive behavioural change. The Future of Engagement, a study by Hewitt Associates, considered the efforts to measure employee engagement across 150 European companies.

Eighty five per cent of respondents reported collecting employee feedback in the previous 24 months, with a further 64 per cent doing so within the last year. Yet only 16 per cent of companies that collected feedback reported a significant increase in engagement levels.

With regard to the surveys used to gain employee feedback, the study found that whilst they contained interesting facts, they lacked a clear link to the day-to-day decisions management need to take. In many companies employee engagement data is seen as more of an administrative step rather than as a platform for improvement.

According to the Hewitt study, successful organisations do not only benchmark employee attitudes but also address the impact of these attitudes on business and HR strategies. Successful firms also have more practices in place that make leaders accountable for everyday issues, and ensure managers can regularly focus and take action in areas where employees see immediate impact.

Collaboration between employees and managers to identify areas for action that will most effectively address engagement issues was also a key feature of successful companies. Firms that score highly on employee engagement also effectively analyse engagement data to build up valuable information on what impacts engagement for critical groups, such as high potential employees.

Companies looking to improve engagement must not only gather data but use it to drive behavioural change and develop a more collaborative, open atmosphere. With a recent study showing that the UK is significantly behind the rest of the world when it comes to engagement, it's important UK firms take steps soon or risk losing staff as a result.

Access business software can help companies looking to act on employment engagement data. By automating many common and labour-intensive processes, such as recruitment and vacancy records management, senior managers benefit from increased time available that can be used to connect with staff on a more personal level and drive behavioural change in response to engagement feedback.

For more information, please call Access on 0845 345 3300.

Article keywords: employee engagement, The Future of Engagement, Hewitt Associates, HR software, recruitment and vacancy records software

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