The future of employee engagement

Transcription

1 The future of employee engagement Organisations have a lot to learn. Employee engagement is an emerging concept that s evolving and maturing, and so is our understanding of exactly how to go about it

2 By 2020 Millennials - or Generation Y - are expected to make up 50 per cent of the UK workforce. Born between 1981 and 1998 they are the largest ever generation of youth. At professional services firm EY they already account for 70 per cent of the workforce. So, from an employment perspective, it might not seem unreasonable to suggest that we are living in the Millennial era and that this, therefore, should influence, even dictate, employers engagement strategies. However, this approach carries a number of dangers. Jo Moffatt, a core team member at Engage for Success, the engagement organisation founded by David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, admits that segmentation of the workforce, as in marketing, is a useful shorthand, and helps you derive insights and create strategies for reaching different groups. But she warns against relying on it exclusively. As she points out, Stereotypes can be misleading. Jonny Gifford, senior advisor for organisational behaviour at the CIPD, agrees. Despite numerous studies over the years attempting to isolate the differences between generational cohorts - principally Generation Y, Generation X, Baby Boomers and Veterans - there is scant evidence to support any significant differences, he says. What evidence there is is flawed, and should not be relied on, he warns, explaining: Any differences the research reveals is more likely to be the result of age - or life stage - and/or period effects - that is, wider societal change. For example, points out Gifford, Facebook is not the preserve of any one generational cohort: it is embraced by young and old alike, as a result of a major societal shift. And while research indicates that Generation Y exhibit higher levels of narcissism, anxiety and depression than other generations, and have an external locus of control - that is, they feel powerless to change things - that may be to do with the times we re living through, and may change as they age and society moves on. The point is, we just don t know. The one area where he believes there is a genuine generational difference is property prices, and he thinks this could be influencing what has been identified as Millennials impatience for career progression. Despite these caveats, Engage for Success s Moffatt believes it is possible to draw some very broad generalisations about what employers need to do to attract, motivate and retain Millennials - and ensure they remain productive while in their employ. 2

3 Engage for Success talks in terms of four enablers for engaging the workforce. The first is Purpose, which means having visible, empowering leaders who have and share a strong vision and strategic narrative, and allow people to clearly see how their own job contributes to this. This is important for all employees, but is particularly so for Gen Y who, says Moffatt, are looking for purpose beyond the material. A second enabler is strong, engaging line managers who treat their people as individuals and take the time to coach and develop them. Millennials are looking for opportunities to learn from senior management, not just their own line managers, says Moffatt. A 2015 report from The B Team and Virgin Unite, called New Ways of Working, found that 65 per cent of employees surveyed said that opportunities for development was the most important factor in their choice of a job. However, the more recent Global Trends survey from Deloitte found that 42 per cent of Millennials plan to leave their employer within the next 12 months because they are not learning fast enough. These insights nail one of the common myths about Millennials - that they are flighty and lack commitment. They don t necessarily choose to leave; they are just disappointed that they re not able to learn as fast as they want to, says Moffatt. This is linked with another myth - that they re not interested in money: This cohort don t undersell themselves: they want purpose and pay, she adds. A third enabler is voice. Again, it s important that everyone in the organisation is able to give and receive feedback on a range of different things without fear of recrimination, but it s probably even more important for Millennials because they have been brought up to challenge, question and speak out in a way that previous generations didn t - or at least not to the same extent. They do it as consumers, points out Moffatt, and they expect to do the same at work. They re not shrinking violets. And the fourth enabler is organisational integrity. The values up on the wall need to be lived in behaviour at all levels, and if they aren t Gen Y won t hesitate to call out the organisation, or individuals within it. Millennials are looking for opportunities to learn from senior management, not just their own line managers 3

4 The fact that companies can no longer hide away, and are increasingly being called to account by their employees, is facilitated by technology. Indeed, technology is a major determining factor in the behaviour and requirements of Generation Y - but this applies to different generations in the workplace too. As Gifford says: Technology gets adopted by society fairly widely, although younger people tend to adopt it more quickly than older ones. In Move, Mould, Motivate: An Essential Guide to Employee Engagement, Sodexo points out that technology will transform us, and that while it won t, and shouldn t, replace the human relationships and emotional interaction that drive, it will bring a new dimension to leadership. Millennials aren t digital natives, like Generation Z [those being born now up to late teenagers], but they rely on technology heavily in their non-work lives and expect equally sophisticated technology at work - but unfortunately this is often not the case. According to Move, Mould, Motivate: UK Employee Engagement Survey 2017, 72 per cent of employees say that technology is important to their overall productivity in the workplace, but less than half (46 per cent) say their employer supplies them with all the technology they need to do their job effectively. As the Essential Guide points out: Many organisations are still playing catch-up. Also, as the report points out, online tools like Slack and Skype already allow managers to communicate instantly with employees, including remote workers. However, as the work environment becomes more remote, we re going to experience greater reliance on technology for one-to-ones, feedback, team meetings and catch-ups. As we know from Engage for Success, Millennials who don t feel they are being allowed to contribute effectively, or being communicated with effectively, are likely to head for pastures new. As the work environment becomes more remote, we re going to experience greater reliance on technology for one-to-ones, feedback, team meetings and catch-ups 4

5 If purpose, voice, strong line managers and organisational integrity are not in place, then people s mental health is likely to be affected - particularly when combined with the long hours and high pressure that increasingly characterise modern employment. No longer is an individual s wellbeing determined by the balance they strike between work and home ; the more the two worlds overlap the more important it is that employers create a climate where their employees physical and mental health are safeguarded, as Sodexo s Essential Guide suggests. There is the move towards more direct voice - individual conversations between team members and their line managers A recent Gallup Survey found that 57 per cent of Millennials say work-life balance and wellbeing in a job are very important to them. What s more, as mental health awareness grows and the associated stigma dissipates, employers are noting that young people increasingly ask at interview what provision is in place to protect and/or treat their mental health. But again, health and wellbeing are important for all generations - and it is in employers interests to recognise this. All employees also want to enjoy good work. Nor is there anything new about the need for voice - witness the traditional popularity of trade unions. What s changed there is the move towards more direct voice - individual conversations between team members and their line managers. 5

6 The inescapable conclusion is that the things that employers think they need to provide to create and sustain a young, vibrant workforce, they should provide for everyone, tailored, where necessary, to age or life stage and gender. For example, points out Gifford, had organisations paid more attention to women s attitudes to careers and work environment we might not have experienced the problems of sexual harassment that are now being revealed as endemic. And Moffatt points out a consideration that is as important as the dominance of Millennials: for the first time ever we have five generations in the workplace at the same time. A recent Deloitte study found that 48 per cent of Baby Boomers expect to keep working past the age of 65, with 13 per cent believing they ll be working into their seventies. Employers say that finding and keeping the right talent remains one of their biggest challenges, so focusing on Millennials at the expense of these other generations is a dangerous strategy. Indeed, adds Moffatt, thinking about the interactions between these different groups is as important as targeting each of them with separate initiatives. And finally, consider this quote. The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. You might think it s a comment from a 21st century social scientist, but it isn t; it was written by Socrates at some point between 300 and 400 BC. Clearly, in some ways, there s nothing new under the sun. Generation Y don t want to be pigeonholed; they want to be treated as individuals For example, some organisations are finding not just that mentoring for the youngest employees from the oldest employees is a valuable development (and therefore engagement) strategy, but also that reverse mentoring can be even more beneficial. And if we needed any more proof that thinking of Gen Y as one homogeneous group is a flawed strategy, we should bear in mind that they themselves hate being categorised in that way. Generation X and Baby Boomers are quite happy to think of themselves as such, says Moffatt. But Generation Y don t identify with the term. They don t want to be pigeonholed; they want to be treated as individuals. 6

7 Sodexo s philosophy is strong and simple: positive change happens when people feel engaged and inspired by the company they work for and the brands they choose. As the UK s leader in employee and consumer engagement, Sodexo brings people and businesses together by transforming behaviours, engagement and performance in people. Having spent decades rethinking incentive and recognition from the ground up, Sodexo knows what inspires and what engages how to get people involved, and make them be the best they can be.