More action needed on staff engagement

The old adage that acknowledging a problem is the first step to finding a solution is true for all businesses.

Yet what is the most important part of that expression? Many may think that the main takeaway is the need for acknowledgement of an issue, yet the critical part is actually the bit that rightly describes this as only the first of a series of steps to finding a solution.

This is overwhelmingly the case with flagging employee engagement – simply identifying it as an issue that needs addressing isn't enough! Action needs to be taken to rectify it.

Yet according to a recent survey by Youforce, many businesses may be stuck on this first step and failing to follow through.

The results of Youforce's Employee Engagement survey, which posed questions on the subject to HR professionals in April 2013, sketch a concerning portrait.

On the positive side, 79 per cent of respondents said that employee engagement was important to their business.

However just 49 per cent indicated that they had any strategy in place to maintain or boost staff engagement.

From the concerning to the downright worrying: ten per cent of respondents didn't even know if they had an engagement strategy or not!

Yet the benefits of having a strategy were crystal clear to those that had one – the three main objectives stated by respondents were 'improved employee performance', 'employee retention' and 'increased productivity'.

"Our research shows that employee engagement is the current big challenge for HR professionals, because it is linked in to so many areas of the HR function," said the report's authors.

They recommend that organisations that don't yet have a strategy start out by seeking to understand their workforce better.

"Measure employee attitudes, be transparent with communications and goals, and endorse a work-life balance, are a few of the things that could make the difference to your staff."

A good way to learn more about employees is by implementing a staff engagement survey.

This is an excellent way of gaining key insights into your workforce which can then be put to work developing an effective strategy to drive solid gains in staff engagement.