Employee Engagement critical to Business Success, says Mercer

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The majority of HR professionals (78%) feel employee engagement is important or extremely important to business success, Employee engagement drivers are often neglected following restructuring, Most companies (55%) are not currently researching how their employees feel.

Ireland

Dublin, 23 March 2010

Key findings of Survey

• The majority of HR professionals (78%) feel employee engagement is important or extremely important to business success
• Employee engagement drivers are often neglected following restructuring
• Most companies (55%) are not currently researching how their employees feel.

A survey conducted by Mercer, with over 160 members of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has shown that 84% of respondents have undergone restructuring in their organisations over the past two years. The national survey of human resource professionals has shown that 54% have experienced redundancies in their organisation in the past two years. 

Patrick Robertson, Principal with Mercer noted: “The significant amount of organisational  change is having a considerable impact on employee engagement across Ireland. Many of the traditional engagement drivers such as rewards, job security, development opportunity and work life balance have been negatively impacted by the recession.” 

As organisations respond to the economic conditions, they are often cutting back on areas which employees really value. This in turn leads to a reduction in discretionary effort and higher levels of sickness absence when commitment is most required by the organisation.

The survey found that communicating future strategy, identifying key employees and analysis of training needs were the most undertaken initiatives post restructuring. However HR professionals reported that promoting work life balance, implementing retention programmes and task analysis to realign workloads should have been undertaken after change. Mr Robertson noted: “ There is a clear disconnect between the approach organisations have been taking and the factors HR professionals consider to be important to keep employees motivated and engaged post-restructuring.”

Mike McDonnell, Director of CIPD Ireland stresses the importance of employee engagement and development. Mr McDonnell said: “As organisations come to terms with the changing economic conditions it is essential not to neglect employee development and the views and opinions of staff.  Business leaders will rely on highly engaged talent to both see them through the recession and to succeed in the longer term.  It is only through investing in development that organisations can hope to differentiate themselves from the competition.”

The survey found that 78% of CIPD members reported that employee engagement is important or extremely important to their organisation in the current climate. However, only 45% of respondents reported that their organisation was actually attempting to measure it. The most common ways of measuring it are through surveys (85%), focus groups (42%) or management interviews (25%). Mr Robertson said: “If organisational leaders do not attempt to understand how employees are feeling, they are likely to make decisions which may further reduce motivation at a time when they need it most. From the survey, the majority of HR professionals (55%) report that no research is currently being undertaken. It is important for organisations to understand how their employees are feeling if they are to allocate scarce resources to areas that help motivate staff. Businesses that do not research employee engagement often make the wrong choices over benefits and HR policy with unforeseen consequences."

As the economy starts to come out of recession Irish organisations will increasingly depend on motivated employees to drive the business. It is therefore essential that our organisational leaders take employee engagement seriously. Mr Robertson noted: “Engagement initiatives do not always have to have a high cost. Focusing on employee health, development, work life balance and leadership style can have a really significant impact on how employees feel at work and the discretionary effort they are prepared to make.”
  

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News Source : Employee Engagement critical to Business Success, says Mercer