Engaging with engagement: Becoming the irresistible organisation

Session summary

The session allowed for discussion and conversation around the topic of employee engagement introducing a two-factor approach to increasing employee engagement.

Issues for engagement

• Gallop’s 2014 research suggests 13% of employees are highly engaged and 26% are actively disengaged.
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has turned upward but productivity in the UK has flatlined. The UK joins Japan at the bottom of the productivity table with levels lower than the rest of the G7 by 20 percentage points.
• In an increasingly transparent job market, in-demand staff frequently find new opportunities in their inboxes.
• More than 70% of millennials expect their employer to focus on societal or mission driven problems and to provide them with growth opportunities.
• Companies are investing in analytical tools to work out why people leave and gauge their levels of engagement. However whilst most leaders understand the importance of engagement less than half understand how to address the issue.

Driving up engagement

• Remember; all people are different and engagement can be influenced by many factors – some of which will be out of your control!
• ‘Hygiene’ factors (e.g. salary and work conditions) will reduce dissatisfaction but will not increase satisfaction. Pay attention to them but also make sure your staff have access to ‘motivators’ (e.g. achievement, recognition and responsibility) to drive engagement.
• Make sure you incorporate the five elements and 20 features of an irresistible organisation.

Invest in your people in terms of fair, attractive compensation and benefits but also invest in leadership, training and cultures that promote psychological rewards that employees get from doing meaningful work and performing it well.

Key points to take away

1. ‘Irresistible organisations’ are characterised by high levels of Autonomy, Collaboration and Trust.
2. Compensation is important to employee satisfaction but increasing compensation does not usually directly increase engagement.
3. Intrinsic motivations powered by meaningful work, collaborative teams and trustworthy leadership are the rocket fuel to engagement.
4. Organisations with a strong learning and development culture have high engagement ratings.
5. Mission focused, trustworthy, coaching leaders inspire engagement.

Downloadable Files

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This content is correct at time of publication