The majority of employees across the UK and Europe believe their employers view employee engagement as a tick-box exercise, according to research by Aon Hewitt.
Managers: your strongest or weakest link in driving employee engagement? found that only 18% of employees surveyed strongly believe that engagement survey results will be acted upon.
Nearly half (47%) of managers polled by Aon Hewitt indicated they spend only two to five days a year on activities relating to their annual engagement survey.
Managers who reviewed their survey results and identified actions had an overall engagement score of 63%, versus 27% for managers who had access to results but did not even review them.
Jenny Merry, UK engagement practice leader at Aon Hewitt, said: “It is clear that while most organisations monitor levels of employee engagement, many are failing to act effectively on the findings.
“Against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and salary increases below the level of inflation, ensuring a workforce feels supported and engaged is more critical than ever before.
“An engaged workforce will be more productive, more efficient and more likely to help the organisation reach its targets.
“Many organisations are failing to view employee engagement as anything other than an annual event, or checklist item. As well as yearly measurement and action planning, there should be a strong and prevailing employee engagement philosophy and strategy which reinforces the impact that having engaged employees can make on performance.
“One important link that many organisations are failing to leverage is the role of middle managers in stimulating engagement. These are the people who have daily contact with employees and therefore have a critical role to play in influencing, engaging and empowering teams.”
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