Interview: Crispin Manners, Chairman, Onva Consulting
Crispin Manners, chairman of Onva Consulting and judge at the inaugural Employee Engagement Awards, shares his perspective on transforming employees into business advisers through systematic and inclusive engagement strategies.
Interview: Astrid Erlandsson, employee engagement expert, Effectory International
Astrid Erlandsson, employee engagement expert at Effectory International, discusses what drew her to the organization: its flat structure, European focus, and commitment to driving employee engagement through actionable survey insights rather than generic knowledge.
Interview: Laura Temple, Head of Leadership Engagement, SABMiller
Laura Temple, Head of Leadership Engagement at SABMiller, discusses her philosophy on employee engagement, the critical role of line managers, and actionable strategies for organizations to boost engagement levels and organizational performance.
How HR can prolong that post-holiday feeling
HR can help maintain the post-holiday feeling by nurturing four key dimensions of employee motivation: physical, spiritual, mental, and social/emotional. By creating environments that support continuous renewal in these areas, organizations can boost engagement, productivity, and overall workplace culture year-round.
Interview: Raj Kaur-Hooper, HR Engagement Manager, Twinings
Raj Kaur-Hooper, HR Engagement Manager at Twinings, discusses how organizational values drive workplace culture and engagement. In this interview, she shares insights on effective coaching, building high-trust environments, and initiatives that break down hierarchy to unlock employee potential.
Talk to your talent today about their tomorrow
Growing economies increase job opportunities, making your talent more focused on career development. If you’re not actively engaging employees—especially Generation Y—about their growth prospects with your organization, competitors will. Regular career conversations and well-prepared managers are essential to retain this generation and strengthen your employer brand.
Why HR is its own worst enemy when it comes to employee engagement
HR departments often undermine employee engagement initiatives by working in isolation rather than collaborating with other departments like marketing and communications. Without cross-departmental partnerships, HR’s cost-cutting priorities and administrative focus can dilute engagement messages and effectiveness.
Jobs increase, pay stagnates: Solving the employee engagement challenge
Despite job growth, stagnant wages create an employee engagement crisis. When monetary rewards are limited, employers must implement strategic engagement programs that foster appreciation, recognition, and alignment with company values to keep staff motivated and reduce turnover.
Employee engagement lessons from some of the UK’s most sustainable businesses
Top UK sustainable businesses demonstrate that employee engagement is key to energy efficiency. The Co-operative, Nando’s, and BAM Nuttall reduced energy consumption and costs significantly by focusing on behavioral change and staff training, while simultaneously boosting employee satisfaction and job engagement.
Employee engagement in the recession – weathering the storm
Despite economic hardship and pay restraint, employee engagement has increased in recent years, with improved perceptions of organizational values and strategic direction. However, significant gaps remain in employee voice, with only half of workers feeling their managers seek their input and just one-third believing they can influence decisions.
Sustaining engagement: why health and wellbeing are vital
Employee engagement matters, but pursuing it without protecting employee wellbeing risks burnout and turnover. Organizations must balance engagement with support for health and wellbeing to sustain long-term performance.
New report: Best Places to Work 2014
The Great Place to Work 2014 report profiles the 100 best workplaces, revealing how trust and employee engagement drive business success. The report includes rankings across company sizes, insights from top-performing leaders, and key findings on workplace culture.
How often should you conduct an employee survey?
Most organizations conduct employee surveys annually, which helps maintain focus on engagement and evaluate change initiatives. However, the ideal frequency depends on your business needs and ability to act on feedback within your survey cycle, typically taking around ten weeks from launch to action planning.
Why don’t employee engagement surveys work?
Employee engagement surveys often fail because they raise awareness of problems without prompting concrete action, leaving employees feeling worse than before. The root causes include poorly designed surveys that don’t pinpoint actionable issues, the difficulty of implementing organizational change, and treating engagement as an isolated HR initiative rather than a business priority.
Employee development through CSR programmes
Corporate social responsibility programmes increasingly serve dual purposes: developing employee skills through volunteering while addressing critical skill gaps in charities. Organizations can maximize impact by matching volunteer expertise with nonprofit needs, creating meaningful learning experiences for workers while supporting causes that matter to them.
NHS and employee engagement – what works?
Effective employee engagement in NHS Trusts is linked to better staff wellbeing, patient satisfaction, and clinical outcomes. Research into high-performing trusts reveals that strong organizational values, visible senior leadership, and supportive line managers are key factors driving engagement success.
Competent individuals – at risk from social undermining?
Highly competent employees can become targets of social undermining—negative behaviors like derogatory comments, idea belittling, and information withholding from threatened coworkers. Research shows this undermining can escalate to task and relationship conflicts, damaging team performance and individual well-being.
Are line managers doing performance management or forms management?
Many line managers treat performance management as a compliance task rather than a tool for driving results. By asking managers key questions about employee priorities, feedback frequency, and adaptability, organizations can refocus performance management on meaningful conversations that improve team performance instead of just completing forms.
Corporate psychopaths and mental health
Corporate psychopaths lack empathy due to brain connectivity issues, leading to self-oriented, egocentric behavior that creates toxic workplace environments. Their frequent bullying and disregard for others’ rights significantly harm employee mental health and organizational well-being.
Do CEOs do HR’s job?
Several CEOs argue that human resources has become overly focused on processes rather than people, with recruitment and talent retention being core CEO responsibilities. The success of any business depends on hiring the right cultural fit and maintaining employee engagement and loyalty, rather than administrative functions alone.
