Businesses urged to "engage" employees

EMPLOYMENT arbitration service Acas has urged businesses in the West Midlands to improve employee engagement as way of maximising resources in “difficult times”.

Malcolm Boswell, Acas Area Director West Midlands said: “Whilst the benefits of securing employee engagement are clearly identifiable, it does not just happen. It requires commitment from those at the very top of an organisation and changes in the working relationships between managers and employees.

“I would encourage organisations to make contact with their local Acas adviser to talk through the options open to them.”

His comments follow an address by Nita Clarke, Director of the Involvement and Participation Association (IPA) and co-author of Engaging for Success, to a conference in Solihull.

In her speech, Ms Clarke highlighted how employee engagement was critical to getting firms through difficult times and improving productivity.

According to research by the Hay Group, engaged employees generate 43% more revenue.

She said: “Engagement, going to the heart of the workplace relationship between employee and employer, can be a key to unlocking productivity and to transforming the working lives of many people for whom Monday morning is an especially low part of the week.”

Ms Clarke also outlined what engagement means in practice. She said that by maximising the input, commitment and voice of employees, firms could maximise the effectiveness, quality and performance of their organisation.

Also speaking at the conference was Raffaela Goodby, Employee Engagement Manager at Birmingham City Council. She spoke about the council’s employee engagement programme and the learning points from their experience.

Professor John Purcell, Fellow of the Industrial Relations Research Unit at Warwick Business School, also addressed the conference exploring why employee engagement was particularly important in difficult economic times.