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Chapter 3: The Barriers to Engagement
managed; 32 per cent say that their manager rarely or never discusses their training
and development needs with them, 30 per cent rarely or never got feedback on
their performance and 25 per cent are rarely or never made to feel their work
counts 94 .
13 In their evidence to the review The Co-operative Group pointed to similar potential
barriers to individual engagement, including employees’ perceptions that they were
not being treated fairly at work, not being helped to improve and develop new skills
and realise their potential. 95 Adrian Askew, the General Secretary of Connect,
pointed to “the whinge and blame culture that still exists.”
14 Many people we spoke to identified managers’ approaches and behaviours as key
factors in disengagement – as one respondent said, they sometimes act as “a great
impermeable damp-proof course.” Jeff Kelly, of the Partnership Institute, told us at a
round table discussion for this review: “There is a territorial problem and a comfort
zone problem. Many feel comfortable with managing staff on an adversarial basis and
don’t want to give it up.”
15 Kelly’s point is underlined in a report on programmes undertaken by Professor John
Oliver of the Northern Leadership Academy, on behalf of the North West
Automotive Alliance between late 2007 and Spring 2009 96 : “… in our view, the
biggest challenge is the nervousness and uncertainty in managers moving outside their
comfort zones and dealing with employees they may have managed over a long
period. Facing up to initial scepticism or even cynicism can dissuade many in this
position, particularly as this negative reaction could last for many months.”
16 Ruth Spellman of the CMI also pointed to “poor management skills and ‘amateur
managers’ who have an inability to let go and allow staff to take ownership of their
work. This results in very good people becoming frustrated about not being allowed to
do a good job and become disengaged.”
17 John Oliver believes that the obsession with targets often infects managers’
behaviour and detracts from their ability to interact effectively with their staff. He
told us: “Ninety-nine per cent of failure to engage staff is down to management
behaviour. The management paradigm which introduced management by objectives
and KPIs [key performance indicators] changed the whole way of thinking around
good and bad management. Managers often focus on what they are judged on i.e.
KPIs. They give the impression on the shop floor that they are much more concerned
with outputs than people. There is less humanity and more mechanistic behaviour
despite superficial friendliness and a ‘call me Dave’ type lack of formality with staff;
I call this kind of manager the ‘friendly automaton’.”
94
Truss, C., Soane, E., Edwards, C., Wisdom, K., Croll, A., And Burnett, J. (2006) Working life: employee attitudes
and engagement 2006 CIPD
95
The Co-operative, evidence to the Macleod Review
96
John Oliver (2009) ‘Culture Change and Employee Engagement: Overall Outcomes, Programmes’, Team
Enterprise Solutions.
69