The importance of investing in effective employee engagement during a recession
23/11/09

A recent CIPD survey that reviewed employee satisfaction in our recessionary times, indicates that despite challenges, employee satisfaction scores are holding up well. However the key question posed was whether or not in fact this is a reflection of the current labour market conditions acting as a dam holding back the normal flow of talent. If this is the case, then savvy employers should perhaps be thinking about this when developing their talent and employee engagement strategies.

The key findings of the survey tell us that three quarters of employees plan to remain with their employer for the foreseeable future. Top reasons for staying in their current job were sited as; job satisfaction, job security and because it would be difficult to find another job at the moment. However over a third of people surveyed said that they would ideally like to change their jobs within the next year. The top three reasons for wanting to move were; job satisfaction, to do a different type of work and for better pay and benefits.

Worryingly for employers though, the survey seems to suggest that whilst employees are satisfied and staying put for now, over a third of people surveyed said that they would ideally like to change their jobs within the next year. Many have been left unhappy with management as a result of job losses and seven out of ten report that job cuts have damaged morale. A quarter of respondents agree they are less motivated in their jobs as a result of losing colleagues through redundancies and just over a fifth of employees feel that redundancies were not handled well.

So what should employers be doing to rebuild employee morale and trust in senior leadership if they are not to haemorrhage talent when the economy and labour market improve? The main focus should be on investing in their talent management strategies to ensure they keep top performers and key personnel once the recovery finally starts to emerge. Additionally employers should also consider the following:

1. Communicate and make employees feel involved –make honest and frequent communications about the realities of business performance and how individual contributions can make a difference.
2. Keep developing your people – rather than reducing development activity think of ways of doing more for less, perhaps by taking some development in-house or involving your senior managers in the assessment and development of high-performers.
3. Focus on the engagement and retention of current employees – make sure they can see a future with the business and have clarity around career paths and work that is meaningful to them.
4. Support managers to engage, develop and retain employees, particularly in uncertain times, through leadership development, coaching, mentoring and practical guidance from HR.
5. Review the cost-effectiveness and impact of their talent management activities – this is something that organisations should be doing continually anyway, but often gets missed out or the organisations find most difficult.

GAP People have extensive experience of working with organisations to develop effective employee engagement programmes. Combining strategic thinking with in-depth knowledge of the psychology of individuals in the workplace we frequently use employee surveys as a way of benchmarking current employee engagement before beginning and implementing our programmes. 

If you’d like to find out more about what we offer and how we might be able to help you contact Julie Pelych atjuliepelych@gappeople.com. 

Source: CIPD Employee Outlook Report Summer 2009