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Engaging for success: Enhancing performance through employee engagement be met, and goals achieved, whether it be improved patient care, higher quality production, or more satisfied customers. 7 Of course a sustainable business strategy and access to cash are vital, just as good policy and planning are for successful public services. But in a world where most factors of production are increasingly standardised, where a production line or the goods on a supermarket shelf are much the same the world over, employee engagement is the difference that makes the difference – and could make all the difference as we face the realities of globalised competition and of the millions of graduates and even more skilled and committed workers that China, India and other economies are producing each year. 8 As our public services face the reality of an end to the years of rapid growth in investment, it is hard to see how the quality of service we all aspire to see – employees and citizens alike – can be achieved without putting the enthusiasm, commitment and knowledge of public service employees at the forefront of delivery strategies. 9 Nor is employee engagement only relevant in retail, where customers expect a cheerful face on the till, rather than a languid hand waving them to a far-off aisle in response to a query about the availability of marmalade, and where employees’ attitudes demonstrably and immediately impact on customer satisfaction. As Sir Alan Jones, Chairman Emeritus of Toyota UK told us: “Wherever you work, your job as a manager is to make your people be the best they can be – and usually they don’t know just how good they could be. It’s individuals that make the difference”. For Toyota, this approach is not based on altruism – though it is based on a profound respect for its members. It is predicated on the firm belief that the most valuable asset the company has is its people, and that enabling them to have an intellectual and emotional relationship with their work, as well as a financial stake in the success of the company, is the key to continuous product and productivity improvement from the shop floor to the boardroom. Toyota’s people are their competitive advantage. 10 The way employee engagement operates can take many forms – that is one of the most fascinating aspects of the topic – and the best models are those which have been custom-developed for the institution. As everyone knows, John Lewis Partnership is a company owned by its employees – but the company is clear that its model of shop-floor voice and engagement, which is such a critical factor in its continued success, is not simply a function of its ownership structure, but stems from a profound belief, first articulated by its founder, that people working in the business are central to its success. 11 Many company leaders described to us the ‘light-bulb moment’ when an understanding of the full potential significance of employee engagement dawned. Tesco Chief Executive Terry Leahy has recorded his reaction when he realised that the company knew more about its customers than it did about its employees, and 4
Introduction how the company then set about understanding what the workforce wanted, what motivated them at work and what workplace approaches would best build on those understandings, working in partnership with the retail workers’ union USDAW. As Tim Besley, leading economist and member of the Monetary Policy Committee put it, “there is an increasing understanding that people are the source of productive gain, which can give you competitive advantage.” 12 Individual employees in companies with strong engagement strategies described to us how their working lives have been transformed for the better. Mandy Symonds of United Welsh said: “Being involved not only gives me real opportunities to influence the decisions which affect me and my future, it also means I am more aware of the wider picture. As a result I can be confident United Welsh are going places, so for me it’s the place to be.” 13 Company accounts that show the workforce as a cost on the balance sheet, alongside capital depreciation, encourage a boardroom mindset which ignores the people factors. Many people we spoke to also pointed to the limitations of an approach which regards the workforce en masse as ‘human resources’ leading to a monolithic and one-dimensional view of people. As Will Hutton, Executive Vice Chair of the Work Foundation told us: “We think of organisations as a network of transactions. They are of course also a social network. Ignoring the people dimension, treating people as simply cogs in the machine, results in the full contribution they can make being lost.” 14 Within the public sector there is a growing understanding of the importance of engagement as a medium for driving the performance and well-being of public servants. This is reflected in the decision of the Civil Service to carry out its first service-wide survey of employee engagement later this year; it is expected to be one of the largest single surveys of its kind ever carried out in the UK, covering some 500,000 civil servants. 15 We hope this report will set out a compelling case to encourage more companies and organisations to adopt engagement approaches. We believe the evidence we cite of a positive correlation between an engaged workforce and improving performance is convincing. We have also set out to demystify engagement by defining what it is and what it can do for organisations and individuals. We look at the crucial role of leadership, of so-called soft skills, the role of line managers, the importance of employee voice and the positive role trade unions and employee representatives can play. 16 Furthermore we hope it makes the case why, faced with the challenges of recession, “although adopting employee engagement strategies is challenging for firms at this juncture, actually it’s more important than ever.” In the words of David Yeandle of the EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation: “It will be hard to get through the recession without engaging your workforce.” 5
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Chapter 3 The Barriers to Engagemen
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Chapter 4 Enablers of Engagement -
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Annexes Annex A Contributors to the
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