A review commissioned by the government and carried out by contributors from Sainsbury's UBS Group, HSBC, Financial TImes Group and the Work Foundation, has concluded that involving employees fully in the future of the organisations they work for will be a key step if businesses are to innovate and take advantage of new opportunites.
The MacLeod Review of employee engagement was asked to examine whether a wider take-up of engagement approaches by UK employers could impact positively on UK competitiveness and performance. The report's authors gave an unequivocal yes to this in its findings and gave examples of workplaces where putting employee engagement at the heart of business strategy has been "transformational".
The report makes interesting reading and includes insights into what engagement is, what its effects are and how it can be measured. It mentions that engagement levels in the UK are far lower than they could be, according to a number of pieces of research.
The report recommends that the government should work to raise awareness of employee engagement benefits and techniques, and a senior sponsor group should be set up bringing together representatives from business, the public sector, not-for-profit organisations and unions, to help raise awareness and understanding of engagement.
Already several leading figures have agreed to be part of this group, including Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, Dame Carol Black, director of the Government's health and work programme, and Adrian Askew, general secretary of the union Connect.
Organisations featured in XpertHR case studies that have made considerable gains through engaging employees include Harrod UK (subscription required), gas company BOC (subscription required), and Wychavon District Council (subscription required).
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