As competition for talent intensifies, keeping employees engaged may well become a greater challenge for organisations, according to the results of a global survey by PwC.
In 2015, PwC launched an Employee Engagement Landscape Study of employees across industries and countries to gain an insight into the trends and challenges organisations face in their efforts to actively engage their employees.
Employee engagement measures the extent to which employees are motivated to contribute to business success and are willing to apply discretionary effort to accomplish tasks important to the achievement of business goals.
The survey shows that globally, engagement levels have decreased slightly from 66 per cent in 2013 to 62 per cent in 2015.
Locally, the 2015 Malta HR Pulse Survey revealed that 40 per cent of surveyed organisations do not measure employee engagement. In addition, the survey revealed that of those that measure engagement, over a third do not monitor their employee engagement action plans. However, on a more positive note, nearly half of the organisations state employee engagement to be in their top three priorities for the next year.
The global results show that high-performing organisations have more people making active contributions to their organisation’s success, while other organisations may have less engaged employees who are not looking to leave the organisation, nor are they actively contributing to its success.
In recent years employee engagement has become the recognised approach to create a positive work experience for employees, which in turn can influence business outcomes such as turnover, customer satisfaction and financial growth. However, results show that many are still falling short of these goals, because while they may be succeeding in engaging talent, they are not translating this into meaningful business performance.
In spite of this, results show a positive outlook for companies who are actively engaging their people. It was found that high-performing organisations and those who conduct regular engagement surveys (and follow them up) achieve significantly higher performance on a number of measures than other organisations.
Therefore, when done right, measuring and acting upon employee engagement can make a significant difference in an organisation’s success.
However, not all engagement is the same, or should be managed in the same way. The survey differentiates between, and analyses the various levels of engagement, how each group can impact the organisation and how they are best managed. It also introduces the term ‘activated engagement’ to show the link between driving engagement and enhancing performance.
In Malta 40 per cent of surveyed organisations do not measure employee engagement
The PwC Employee Engagement Landscape Study identifies four types of engagement: Champions, Tenants, Captives and Disconnected. Champions are motivated to perform well for their organisation and demonstrate a high desire to remain at the organisation. They show a strong identification with the objectives of the organisation, as well as a sense of loyalty. These employees are highly engaged.
Tenants are motivated but unlike Champions they are less committed to staying with the organisation. Different factors may influence this lack of commitment such as being at an early career stage, or being unaware how they fit into the organisation. This results in them being likely to leave when they are ready to take their next career step.
They will, however, deliver while they are at the organisation. These employees may require additional direction to keep them on track within the organisation. Showing them clear career progression paths within the organisation may help retain these employees turning them into Champions.
Captives show low levels of engagement with less motivation within their role. However, they still show a strong desire to stay within the organisation. These individuals create the most risk within an organisation because they are not planning to leave, but neither are they motivated to make a positive contribution within the organisation. These employees could be converted into Champions through a job change, more effective management and a shift in company messaging.
Disconnected employees are not motivated to contribute anything to the organisation, nor do they intend to remain at the organisation. Unless a larger proportion of your key roles and top talent are disconnected it is best to help find ways for these people to leave the organisation, however it is likely they are also actively doing so on their own.
Disconnected employees can also increase if the company is going through change they are not on board with, or if they have a problematic relationship with their leader/manager.
Less than half of the working population (41 per cent) globally can be described as Champions; however, there has been a slight decrease since the 2013 results (43 per cent). Captives are the next largest proportion of the workforce (32 per cent) who are not strongly engaged but show no desire to leave. This has remained unchanged since 2013, illustrating the risk these individuals bring to the organisation, because without active efforts to build engagement, organisations risk building up a passive workforce who will welcome mediocrity rather than fight it.
Companies who are actively measuring and managing engagement are successfully turning their Captives into Champions.
Results show 74 per cent of employees within high performing companies can be considered Champions. Over half of the employees within organisations which use engagement surveys regularly are Champions compared to the 29 per cent who do not. Hence, this shows that creating Champions is a result of meaningful effort and direction by leaders and management, not luck.
Creating Champions is dependent on the experience and interactions that people have at work known as ‘engagement drivers’. Looking at what helps create Champions and activate engagement, the strongest engagement driver is leadership trust and vision. Without confidence in leadership and excitement about where the organisation is headed, it is difficult to engage the workforce. When people are confident in leadership direction, engagement levels are three times higher than those where confidence is low.
Other stronger drivers of engagement include respect and fairness, growth and development, commitment to quality, and cooperation/collaboration. Results suggest that performance in these areas are more inconsistent rather than lacking altogether.
The study also reveals top obstacles that get in the way of day-to-day performance. Across the sample, several of the most commonly endorsed obstacles reflected quality of staff (for example doing work for others that is not part of one’s job, unproductive teammates, and inadequate staffing levels), as well as, broken/inefficient processes and imposition on time (such as too many meetings, paperwork).