Projects

Research - Current projects - Employee engagement

The critical steps to a highly engaged workforce

Employee engagement is seen by a growing number of organisations as a key issue in measuring employee attitudes, managing the behaviours of management, developing operational and human resource policies, and establishing a strong employer brand.

Ongoing work

In 2006, the IPA in cooperation with engagement experts Cerus Consulting began working on a programme to help organisations develop their own approach to engaging employees. This phase of the project was supported by UKWON and the European Social Fund.

Following on the success of research carried out during the initial phase, we are currently in the final stages of developing our Employee Engagement Programme, which launches in September 2008. At the heart of the IPA's programme is a practical toolkit for the implementation of engagement strategies.

What is employee engagement?

The essence of employee engagement is that a happy employee is a productive employee, and that’s great for the bottom line; so engagement is essential, as it simultaneously satisfies the needs of the company to be successful, and the needs of the employee, for whom work should be both satisfying and rewarding.

Some commentators emphasise the similarity of employee engagement with concepts like the ‘psychological contract’ or ‘high commitment management’, which seek to understand how bundles of operational and people management practices influence individual employee’s attitudes and behaviours and improve business performance.

Others, focus on the practical surveying techniques developed to measure the key drivers of employee engagement and establish an alignment between the day to day experience of individuals and something that captures the personality of an organisation. Referred to as the ‘employment proposition’ or ‘employer brand’ the idea is that organisations need to offer the same degree of focus, care and coherence in managing the experience of employees at work as they do in managing the customer’s experience of its brand.

A further group might also compare the concept of employee engagement with more established concepts like employee involvement, consultation and partnership. This is supported by its emphasis on a two-way relationship between employees and management and commitment to mutual benefits.

Role of management

What resonates through all these interpretations is the vital role of management. Senior managers have a top level responsibility as the principal role models in the workplace, but line management also have a critical role in delivering the content of both the big picture policy agenda and implementing local practices.

Steering group

The IPA has established a steering group to guide the design and development of a package of research and resource materials aimed at practitioners that are starting out, or looking to improve the measurement and impact of employee engagement.

Getting involved

The research phase of the project began with a survey of the current state of employee engagement within the UK economy. This was completed in December 2006 and has been followed by a series of in-depth case study examples, company visits and on-line resources.

Contact Hannah Jameson to find out more about the project.