Employee Engagement: Communication Matters forum, University of London’s Senate House, UK, 27 May 2010

Citation

Wensley, R. (2010), "Employee Engagement: Communication Matters forum, University of London’s Senate House, UK, 27 May 2010", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 9 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2010.37209fab.009

Employee Engagement: Communication Matters forum, University of London’s Senate House, UK, 27 May 2010

Article Type: Resources From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 9, Issue 6

The challenging economic climate means organizations need to engage with their employees more effectively than ever. That was the conclusion of this forum, staged by the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM Research), the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and the Institute of Business Consulting (IBC).

Opening the debate, Ruth Spellman OBE, chief executive of CMI, highlighted the increasing pressures on managers responsible for “multiple tasks” in a “multi-stakeholder environment,” describing the need for management expertise to create a “win-win” situation for organizations and their employees. She also stressed the need for leaders to engage with managers first, citing research by CMI, which found that one in five managers describes themselves as “not very motivated”. She argued: “Every good manager and every bad manager has a multiplier effect on an organization.”

A new management approach required

Delegates at the event also heard from respected managers such as Robin Field-Smith, whose career includes 29 years in the army as deputy director of education and training, and John Bigos, managing director of Duck Tours. Ensuring employees understand their role in the organization was the principal message. “An ‘engaged employee’ is one who is fully involved in – and enthusiastic about – his or her work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization’s interests,” commented Field-Smith, who stressed the importance of ensuring employees feel part of the bigger picture.

This argument was reiterated by David MacLeod, who, as author of the “Engaging for Success” report, highlighted the need for leadership teams to get employees engaged and behind a strategy. “The difference between a ‘transactional’ approach – where a human resources and employee strategy sits apart from the organizational strategy and engagement is mainly reactive – and a ‘transformational’ approach – where people are at the heart of the strategy, help shape it and are given a continual voice – is key,” he said.

Contrasting the two different, but equally inadequate, management approaches of Lehman Brothers and General Motors, Professor Julian Birkinshaw, senior fellow from AIM Research, put the case for an alternative way of thinking about management, shifting from “what do we want to get done and how do we need act to get our employees to do it?” to “what hopes, aspirations, fears and concerns do employees experience at work and how should we act to harness their latent enthusiasm and skill?”

The event concluded with an animated presentation by Stephen Martin, chief executive of the Clugston Group Ltd, who went undercover in his construction firm as part of Channel Four’s Undercover Boss series, an experience he described as “real employee engagement.”

For more information

Materials from the event, including Stephen Martin’s top ten tips can be found at http://tiny.cc/siy39

Robin WensleyDirector, Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM Research).