EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Companies seek an edge through engaged employees
Organisations now have the tools to establish how happy a workforce is with both work and the employer. Once companies have established this, they can then make improvements, increase employee engagement and boost performance, says a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report.
PwC reckons that the increasingly-recognised link between high levels of employee commitment and bottom line results means business leaders all over the world are exploring engagement metrics and measures.
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These metrics can be used to enhance the image of the company as a responsible employer, or improve employee retention in fast developing markets where staff turnover is high due to a buoyant labour market.
Rapid economic change and uncertainty in many markets makes such measures more relevant than ever, says PwC. Levels of engagement are even beginning to be perceived by some investors as an important indicator of a company’s financial health and sustainability.
Plotting levels of engagement
The PwC report shows how companies can plot levels of engagement for an entire workforce by looking at data relating to
resignation levels
absence rates
employee attitudes
training hours per full-time employee
performance-related pay
incidence of grievance.
These range from the high levels of engagement that produce positive behaviours such as flexibility and innovation, to the other end of the scale where companies experience resignations, absence, pilfering, theft, oppositional solidarity, even sabotage.
The report, titled Managing People in a Changing World, also looks in detail at financial performance, productivity, outsourcing, leadership, innovation, talent management, diversity, work-life balance and the growing concept of workplace wellness, all through the lens of PwC's extensive human capital database, Saratoga.
Pivotal employees
The report also charts developments in the area of talent management. The traditional focus on high performers and “high flyers” is shifting to include “pivotal employees”. These are segments of the workforce that are expected to create value and determine the success of the organisation.
They can range from the receptionist to the sales director and the contribution of these core people has a disproportionate impact on determining both the success of an organisation and its sustainability.
A final word
“As the value of choosing the right human capital policies is increasingly recognised by business leaders, we are seeing a greater demand for evidence-based human capital metrics. Using these, companies are now able to ascertain how they are performing in previously uncharted areas such as succession planning, innovation and talent management as well as using the ‘harder’ metrics such as return on investment per worker to determine overall business performance.
It is an exciting time in this area. More and more companies are working hard to be perceived as responsible employers, to build attractive employer brands and fulfil their reputation as a responsible company. Human capital metrics help them to throw their arms around all of this.” - Richard Phelps, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Want to know more?
Title: Managing People in a Changing World, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Availability: Contact PwC on tel: +44 (0)20 7583 5000.
PricewaterhouseCoopers provides “industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders”. To find out more visit www.pwc.com.