No need for cutbacks in Employee Engagement

The 2008 Hewitt Best Employers in Australia and New Zealand were announced recently and there were a couple insights worth mentioning.

Not surprisingly study insights show a clear link between levels of employee engagement and virtually every measure of company performance. For example, Best Employers generated an average of 1-1/2 times more revenue and 2-1/2 times more profit per employee than the lower ranked organisations.

According to David Brown, market manager of Hewitt Australia and New Zealand: "The factors that drive employee engagement are a direct reflection on our changing social landscape. There are some universal factors that we see coming up again and again from year to year, such as;

• career opportunities,
• recognition for work successes, and
• feeling that one's work makes a contribution.

However this year, three new factors emerged;

• building a company culture that fosters productivity by 'walking the talk' and having company values that align with employees' personal values;
• having middle managers who understand and support business strategies; and
• building a diverse workforce."

The best part is that these drivers of employee engagement do not come with a hefty price tag, but help companies improve business results and offset numerous issues that have very significant costs (i.e. unplanned absenteeism, reduction in productivity, staff morale, lost management/employee time, resignations and labour replacement costs).

Given the current economic climate, no company can absorb these additional costs as a result of cuts that negatively impact employee engagement.

Cheers!

Bill's passion is improving business results by working with leadership teams to change employee behaviours. He does this by equipping leaders with the principles, processes and tools to cultivate an engaged customer-focused culture.

As well, he is a dynamic, results-oriented speaker on the importance of a customer-focused culture, either as a guest speaker or acting as a facilitator of a group discussion/workshop.

For more information please contact (905) 841-3191
Email: bill@billhogg.ca, Web: http://www.billhogg.ca/