FTSE 100 firms will soon be ranked on how well they report on staff engagement and wellbeing after research revealed a “critical link” between effective HR management and organisational performance.
Charity Business in the Community intends to launch its Workwell pilot project this autumn, following a study that found FTSE 100 companies with robust processes in place for reporting such matters outperformed their peer group by 10%.
A leadership and steering group comprising major employers such as P&G UK, Mars UK, National Grid and Santander was heavily involved in developing the benchmark because of a desire to see a more rigorous approach to measuring good practice.
Stephen Howard, BITC’s chief executive, said: “UK business productivity lags behind the other G7 countries and we know that only 14% of UK employees are fully engaged in their work compared to a global average of 21%.”
The aim of the initiative, therefore, was to encourage the spread of best practice. The learnings gleaned from the pilot are expected to result in the scheme being rolled out internationally in late 2013, Howard added.
To this end, each FTSE 100 company will be asked to fill in a self-assessment based on publically-available information so that they can be benchmarked against BITC’s public reporting guidelines on employee wellness and engagement. The results will then be assessed by professional services firm, Towers Watson, on behalf of BITC.
Dr Paul Litchfield, chief medical officer at BT and chair of the Workwell Steering Group, said: “Reporting publicly against the Workwell model gives companies the opportunity to demonstrate that they are taking a sustainable approach to human capital management.”
