Insight article
The Macleod Review of Employee Engagement
The government-commissioned MacLeod Review of Employee Engagement provides interesting reading and pulls together a myriad of statistics and case studies which all point to the consensus that engaged employees are more productive, efficient and are a major contributor to high performing businesses.
However, for HR and Communications professionals this won’t come as new news. Personnel Today.com is just one publication which expresses the view that it has had a lukewarm reception in the HR Community, with representatives citing that the Review won’t make much impact on existing working practices and lacks practical measures which might enable businesses to improve their employee engagement efforts.
Like the CIPD, I am pleased the Review has been endorsed at such a high government level. It bears testament what we have been advocating since we started our own business in helping provide an emotional connection to the journey the business is on. An excerpt from the report hits the nail on the head, reinforcing the criticial need for what lies at the heart of our own company’s proposition:
“A strong narrative that provides a clear, shared vision for the organisation is at the heart of employee engagement. Employees need to understand not only the purpose of the organisation they work for but also how their individual role contributes to that purpose. As Ruth Spellman of CMI told us: “First employees need to have an understanding of the business they are in. Employers need to ensure that jobs fallen into by accident become the ‘real deal’”. Dianne Thompson, Chief Executive of Camelot said to us: “Particularly in very dif?cult economic conditions it is vitally important that leaders focus on the morale and motivation of their employees. Understanding the journey that a company is on is critical to keeping employees engaged.”
The onus now lies with businesses and public sector organisations to take the appropriate steps and dedicate adequate resources to make this happen.
