Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Employee engagementHR strategyTalent management

One-third of executives fear low employee engagement will lead to a loss of talent

by Kat Baker 4 Mar 2010
by Kat Baker 4 Mar 2010

Almost one-third of executives fears low levels of employee engagement and trust could lead to the loss of key talent when the economy recovers, new research has revealed.

In the survey of 410 executives, by the Economist Intelligence Unit, 30% felt trust was either very low or low, and they expected to see resignations when the economic recovery became more certain.








audio icon

Listen to more


Matthew Parker, group managing director of Stepstone Solutions, talks about ways of addressing retention, trust and recruitment issues (5m20)

But the Companies at the Crossroads report revealed a disparity in views over staff engagement between business leaders and managers. While 38% of chief executives and directors felt levels of trust in their companies were high and staff were engaged, only 16% of managers felt the same way.

In total, 57% felt clearer communication was essential to rebuild employee trust, while 49% said it was important to create clear career paths for staff. Just over one-third (34%) cited improved training and mentoring as a key way to raise engagement levels.

But while HR chiefs insisted their engagement levels had held up during the recession and they were not yet seeing staff abandon their companies, they stressed that employers had to make sure they were communicating the right information to staff.

Speaking at a roundtable hosted by Stepstone Solutions to launch the survey, Luis Henrique Souza, vice-president of HR at glass manufacturer NSG Group, which cut 2,500 jobs last year, warned that there was a “disconnect” in the information communicated by companies and what staff wanted to know.

“Getting the global results for [staff] is secondary, they want to know what’s going to happen to me,” he said. “The key issue for us is to get our results and translate that into meaningful things for those on the shop floor.”









Experts on talent management



Matthew Parker, group managing director of Stepstone Solutions, said: “One of the best things a manager can do for a business is to develop talent. A great manager is someone that can bring people through the business to do different things and recognises the value of that.”

Luis Henrique Souza, vice-president of HR at NSG Group, said “Line managers are sometimes not so comfortable [with talent management] because there’s this issue about ‘am I going to lose my star?’. So we try to work with them to say the stars can really shine when on the move; if you keep a star there for five years, they will fade.”

But Samantha Rich, head of talent at Axa, believes that only 50% of managers currently recognised the need for them to engage in talent management. She said Axa was now investing heavily in management skills to ensure managers could play a greater role in identifying and developing key talent.

Last year, NSG Group (formerly Pilkingtons) trained 2,000 supervisors in how to communicate effectively with their workers, while also introducing a mentoring scheme as an engagement tool.

Samantha Rich, head of group attraction and talent – human resources, at insurance giant Axa UK, added: “[Employers] need to tailor information and make it relevant to the audience.”

She said steps by Axa to remove the jargon from its business communications to staff, making better use of the intranet and running chat forums, meant staff engagement at Axa dipped by only 5% last year from 80% to 75%, which was less than expected.

“We haven’t seen people leave in droves,” Rich said. “Our staff are very realistic and pragmatic so they are not using the recession as a stick to beat us with.”

The survey also revealed half of respondents plan to increase their recruitment this year. But the war for talent persists as 44% said they were finding it harder to recruit the talent they needed. Only 6% of executives surveyed plan to focus on graduate recruitment in 2010, compared with 50% the previous year.

Avatar
Kat Baker

previous post
Council HR job cuts could exceed 10%
next post
British Airways raises 1,000 volunteers to help cover cabin crew strikes

You may also like

International business faces ‘permacrisis’ in 2024

8 Dec 2023

One in five workers to quit in 2024

6 Dec 2023

Three strengths for HR to build in 2024

1 Dec 2023

What will it mean to be an HR...

28 Nov 2023

Biffa’s Jane Patemen is crowned 2023 HR Director...

21 Nov 2023

Zopa banks 2023 Employee Experience Award

21 Nov 2023

2023 HR Impact Award is the right style...

21 Nov 2023

Progeny collects Large HR Consultancy of the Year...

21 Nov 2023

Parent and Professional toddles off with Small HR...

21 Nov 2023

Government of Jersey named 2023 HR Team of...

21 Nov 2023

  • How to spot and tackle imposter syndrome in the workplace PROMOTED | Half of all UK adults...Read more
  • BetterMe for Business: How to Build Wellness Culture at Work PROMOTED | Ever encountered a...Read more
  • Global growth with simple HR compliance (webinar) WEBINAR | In an increasingly global marketplace...Read more
  • Talent acquisition: How AI can complement a ‘back to basics’ approach PROMOTED | Artificial intelligence is now...Read more
  • What will it mean to be an HR professional in 2024? (webinar) WEBINAR | As we approach 2024...Read more
  • HR Budget Planning for 2024: Preparing your People Strategy PROMOTED | As organisations continue to adapt...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2023

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2023 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+