Only 36% of workers trust their senior leaders and more than 50% display signs of having adopted a ‘not bothered’ attitude to their work.
Those are the scary findings of a new report by the CIPD of 2,000 employees that investigates levels of engagement in UK businesses.
The report (which you can download here) highlights a strong correlation between employee engagement and knowledge of the organisation’s core purpose (and a lack of engagement with a lack of knowledge!)
In other words, those that don’t understand what the business is about and where it’s heading tend to be less engaged.
OK, that might seem obvious, but what’s interesting is what those employees lacking in engagement are doing (and crucially aren’t doing!)
The survey found that employees who display ‘neutral’ engagement…
- Are about half as likely to go the extra mile with regard to workload and hours than those who are engaged, and…
- Are nearly 3 times more likely to be looking for a new job!
Engagement is about people feeling part of something, understanding where and how they ‘fit in’, what’s expected of them, and how they’re doing. It’s also about their opinions and ideas ‘counting’ and that they feel that they are encouraged (and rewarded and recognised) for contributing. (Think UBER Culture!)
This is obviously not happening in lots of businesses. Other key findings from the report include…. only:
- 36% of employees say that they trust senior leaders in their organisation
- 24% of employees agree they are consulted by senior managers about key issues that affect the business
- 40% of respondents are satisfied with the opportunities that exist to feed their views and ideas upwards to senior managers
As ever, it’s about leadership, and it’s clear that in many organisations it’s simply not happening!
Our research highlights ‘Getting That Vision Thing’! as being Characteristic #1 of The 7 Characteristics Of 3D Businesses. It means establishing a clear vision that ‘ stimulates, excites and inspires’ people. It’s also about the leaders working hard to ‘engage’ those people at all levels of the business.
So, 5 questions for you…….
- Do you have ‘that vision thing’?
- Are your people ‘stimulated, excited and inspired’ by it?
- Do they feel part of it?
- Do their opinions about it count?
- Are they ‘bovvered’?
If the answer is ‘no’ to these questions, then there’s a fair chance that you’ve got some work to do!
I’ll leave you with the words of Steve Jobs who seemed pretty good at ‘Getting That Vision Thing’ and engaging people