Tanya Talks

Columnist

Tanya Anderson,

Head of International and Business Support at NI Chamber of Commerce and industry

Impactful engagement – the more productive staff perk

Tanya Anderson, Head of International and Business Support at NI Chamber considers impactful engagement in the workplace.

Impactful engagement in the workplace should never be underestimated, especially now, in a landscape where employer competitiveness in many sectors is at its highest.

Engagement with employees is a cost-effective tool that produces multi-faceted results including staff loyalty, high retention and it acts as an invaluable marketing tool for any brand seeking to attract new talent.

Impactful engagement is about building relationships with staff, clients and stakeholders. It’s also about nurturing those connections to produce the best results.

It generates passion among teams and delivers a superior importance.

And it doesn’t have to be exclusive to those businesses with big budgets.

Keeping all elements of your human supply chain informed about your firm’s intentions, growth strategies and empowering them to contribute to the latter elements is the first crucial step to impactful engagement.

How those plans are communicated is key. It must be consistent and feedback must be employed to mould the future of your engagement policy.

From surveys to informal discussions, any form of communication keeps lines open and sends out a message that you are an all-inclusive entity and reinforces the importance of every single one of your team players.

Foster that practice throughout all levels of management to ensure your engagement is sustained and, subsequently, trusted.

Many firms in the UK have still yet to reach their engagement potential, according to many studies, with recent research by Qualtrics Employee Trust, showing that workers in the UK are among those least engaged compared to workforces around the globe, with just Hong Kong and China coming out lower.

It said employees in the UK recorded an average engagement score of just 45%, some 15% behind the US.

It concluded that many employers in the UK are guilty of relying on an old school formulae of good wages and career progression potential to safeguard its workforce, when the reality is many employees place more importance on other factors including a healthy work-life balance, and connection in the workplace.

Remote working is fast-emerging as a one of the key trends in how people prefer to work today. It’s just one example of new trends that employers must engage with to ensure its workforce’s needs are met.

And with technology fast-evolving, a work-from-home staff member doesn’t necessarily mean an absent one.

Apps and software that connect your team have made everything from meetings to training accessible no matter what the location.

Apps such as Saleforce’s Chatter and Quip, allow teams to collectively respond to problems and collaborate and engage regardless of location.

It’s used by the likes of Aston Martin to connect and engage with its remote workers.

The 2018 Global Employee Engagement Index showed that engagement in the workplace, all over Europe is growing year on year, meaning digital solutions to aid engagement will grow too.

The white paper, an extensive employee survey conducted across 56 countries includes over 18 000 respondents, and covers 21 key HR themes, including employee engagement.

It describes engagement as a “form of passion” with three defining characteristics: time flies and people forget they are working, work gives employees energy and mental resilience, employees feel enthusiastic, inspired and proud of their work.

It goes further by saying that engagement is a “synergy of values’ between employers and employees.

It adds: “The perfect combination for performance is when employees are both engaged and committed. Being engaged in one’s work, but not committed to the organisation, means there is little connection with the business and its direction.”

So how does a firm up its engagement game? It delves beyond the bond between the workforce and beyond the office confines, extending into the community with CSR schemes that keep the employee in mind.

The ability to work with the community and to communicate your brand beyond the boardroom is a USP that many employees, customers and stakeholders look for.

It presents a corporate ethic that resonates with not only talent but investors.