Listen to Your People ñ New Research Confirms That Employers Are Starting To Take Note

There is no better way to discover how to motivate and inspire your employees than by listening to what they have to say themselves about their jobs.

This is just what workplace engagement specialists, Best Companies, have done as part of this yearís employee engagement accreditation scheme. The research canvassed the views of more than 100,000 UK based employees across 434 organisations of which 273 achieved accreditation for 2007.

The data reveals big differences in the attitudes of employees working for accredited companies compared to those in organisations that are still striving to engage their staff.

In one of the most significant findings, employers that gain Best Companies accreditation are far more likely to snap up good staff and win the war for talent. More than eight out of 10 (85%) of staff at accredited firms say they would ístrongly recommendí working for the organisation to others - compared to only 64 per cent in non-accredited companies.

Just to highlight the size of the challenge facing many employers, almost three out of ten employees working for non-accredited companies hoping to make the grade (161 organisations) say that they would leave tomorrow if they had another jobÖ..

According to Pete Bradon, head of research at Best Companies:

ìThis statistic is of concern as these companies had been hoping to receive the Best Companies accreditation and we know that they are actually much better employers than the UK national average. Whilst it is healthy for some staff to be thinking about the next step, it is clear that employers have their work cut out if they want to improve retention rates.î

TOP TIPS FOR EMPLOYERS ñ BASED ON NEW RESARCH DATA

Earn Respect ñ Employees expect their senior management teams to demonstrate exceptional leadership skills. When this is the case, over three-quarters (77%) of employees working for accredited organisations vouched that they had confidence in the leadership skills of their bosses.

This figure was significantly lower in organisations that did not achieve accreditation, where only 60% of staff had confidence in the leadership skills of senior management. Another finding of concern is that only just over half (54%) of staff in non-accredited organisations expressed a great deal of faith in their CEO or the person leading the organisation.

Listen and Learn - Whilst it may sound obvious, accredited companies have learned that listening to employees is crucial if you want to get them on board. This is reflected in the percentage of employees who report that their senior managers are actually listening to them rather than telling them what to do. The majority of the employees in accredited companies - an average of 64% - believe that this is the case.

This is a key lesson for organisations seeking to improve their people policies, yet only 39% of employees in non-accredited companies report that their company has embraced this approach.

Heard It Through the Grapevine - Personal recommendation is increasingly seen as the holy grail of recruitment marketing. When eight out of ten (85%) of your staff would strongly recommend working for this organisation to others - as is the case with accredited companies - good employers have a distinct advantage over the competition. In contrast, only 64 per cent of staff in non-accredited companies would recommend working for their company to a friend.

Learn, Learn, Learn - But even the best employers have scope for improvement when it comes to providing enough staff training and development. In accredited organisations, almost a quarter (24%) of staff believe that opportunities for them to learn and grow are limited.

Non-accredited companies have even further to go, with almost four out of 10 (39%) of staff unhappy with their opportunities to learn and grow.

Letís Pull Together - It is clear from the findings that a surprising number of employees feel that departments and teams donít work well together. Just over half (54%) of employees in companies that are not accredited acknowledge that some departments/teams in their organisation donít work well together and whilst some internal competition is healthy, this is a problematic finding. Even in accredited organisations, almost four out of ten (38%) of employees still point to problems with inter-departmental relationships.

Be Genuine - The vast majority of employees working for an accredited organisation (86%) believe that their organisations are doing their best to help them. But on an encouraging note for companies entering the accreditation but who did not make the grade, almost two-thirds (65%) thought that their employers were at least trying to help them.

Feelings Matter ñ Building upon the finding that the best senior managers `listen rather than tell`, it is difficult for employees to engage with their job and their organisation unless they feel that their contribution is valued.

Accredited companies recognise this need for positive feedback and in return eight out of ten (79%) of their employees feel their contribution is valued as opposed to 58% of staff in non-accredited companies.

Corporate Karma - It appears that employees indirectly reward employers who they believe treat them well by expressing their pride in working for the organisation. Fully, nine out of ten (88%) of employees in accredited organisations are proud to work there. In non-accredited organisations, this figure falls to two-thirds (66%).

People before Profit ñ Success is important, but employees are looking for more from their employers. It is clear that organisations that put profit before people fare less well in the employee engagement stakes. In organisations that were not accredited, less than half (44%) of employees believed that profit was the only thing driving their organisation. In accredited companies, fewer than a third (28%) of employees felt this way.