Employee Engagement in Challenging Times Reflection

I could have just named this blog “Employee engagement – more than just buzzwords Part II” considering it’s strong ties to my latest blog.  Last Thursday I went to the London HR Connection event “Employee Engagement in Challenging Times” which took place at the London School of Economics.  The beginning of the panel discussion started out with the Chair Paul Golan asking, “Is the term ‘employee engagement’ just fashionable management speak?”  This timely subject is clearly something many professionals are trying to navigate especially during the current downturn.

There were some clear takeaway points such as the use of engagement surveys to help monitor employee engagement and define measurable tasks.  Further good tools and technology don’t produce results; concrete action must take place.  Many companies regularly use annual appraisals or performance evaluations but measuring an employee’s commitment and engagement once a year is not enough when things change daily.

Here’s a list of concrete recommendations that I took away from the event:

• Provide clarity around employee expectations to maximise employee potential.
• Use tools to find out the changes employees would like to see and make sure these changes take place.
• Make employee engagement a company issue not an HR one.
• Use the “watercooler” or other social spaces to manage employees by helping redirect or prioritise tasks.
• Companies must take an individual not a blanket approach to engagement.
• To improve engagement a company must have solid values, discipline amongst line managers and employees and strong leadership with a positive tone at the top.

It’s clear that there’s no formula for engaging employees because people are motivated by different things and every company has a unique culture.  But that doesn’t mean that improving engagement is impossible.  Try working on the recommendations above and I would be shocked if you didn’t see an improvement!  Feel free to email hello@honeydew-health.com if you would like to discuss how we can help your company determine actionable steps to implement these suggestions.