A new survey has found that most employers believe that employee engagement affects employee retention and organisational performance, but almost half (49 per cent) don’t understand the level of engagement of their employees. A similar proportion (42 per cent) admit that they do not know how to engage them. Nearly two in five organisations don’t recognise the importance of assessing employee opinion.
The study, Investigating Employee Engagement and Predictive Analytics, commissioned by MidlandHR, surveyed the opinions of over 100 business leaders in UK public, private and charity sectors. Despite agreeing that employee engagement affects organisational performance, the research found that nearly one in four (24 per cent) organisations do not conduct employee engagement surveys of any kind. Of the organisations that do, online surveys are most popular (49 per cent). Over three quarters (76 per cent) of organisations believe employees answer online surveys more honestly if their responses are anonymous, while just over half (51 per cent) are happy for information they provide to be used to improve employee engagement.
MidlandHR’s research director, Dr Leslie Bowie, says: “Regular engagement surveys are vital to managing employee performance and should be part of every organisation’s performance strategy. Employee engagement surveys – when used in the right way – can promote company-wide well being in terms of ensuring job satisfaction for every employee while the organisation gets the best performance from employees and exceeds the bottom line. However, only one in four (23 per cent) organisations conduct employee engagement surveys yearly, while just over a tenth (14 per cent) does so every two years.’
Relationships with line managers and colleagues and recognition of achievement were the top three contributors respectively to employees feeling engaged, while good pay and flexible benefits proved to be the least influential contributors to employee engagement.
Routine information captured within existing processes – such as leavers, transfers, learning and skills – can help inform managers of employee engagement and other human capital indicators, he added.
www.midlandhr.com/employee-engagement-and-predictive-analytics