Employee Engagement during the Economic Downturn, By Sam Flynn, Director, Personnel Surveys Ltd.

Oct. 13, 2009 - PRLog -- Currently, the following sound all too familiar: Job losses; pay freezes; reduction in benefits; reduction in working hours; recruitment freezes; development freezes, and so on.  Essentially, DOOM and GLOOM!!!
So, how can we continue to ensure that our employees are engaged when we are hitting them with this negativity?  
High levels of employee engagement are essential for organisations.  Engaged employees are more likely to give their all to their role, and then more!  They are more likely to proactively promote your brand to customers.  They are more willing to show their full commitment to the organisation.  They are more willing to assist their colleagues.  Employee engagement is essentially the difference between completing the role at an adequate level and completing the role at a level above expectations.  And the results are lower levels of turnover and absenteeism, higher levels of performance and productivity, a better service for customers, a more efficient workforce and, overall, increased profits.  
During periods of economic downturn, organisations are continually striving to do more with less.  Maintaining high levels of employee engagement is essential in achieving this.  So how, when budgets are continually being slashed and the threat of redundancy is hanging over employees’ heads, can this be achieved?  
One of the simplest ways of ensuring your employees are engaged is through constant honest communication.  Employees are essentially concerned with how things will affect them.  There is little point in relaying company news without communicating to your employees about how it will affect them.  Without this employees will fill the gaps in themselves, creating a false representation of the reality and a sense of unease.  If there is no news to convey, let them know this also.  Sometimes it is essential to let employees know that there is nothing to know.  With this, employees’ trust in the organisation will undoubtedly increase and an honest culture will prevail.  It is difficult to give guarantees that roles are safe when we are unsure what the future may bring.  However, it is not so difficult to communicate how you are doing everything in your power to come through the downturn and protect your employees.  Leaders at all levels need to ensure this is the case, with the support coming from top level management.  
Leaders themselves need to take more action in times of uncertainty.  They need to engage with their employees on a personal level to understand their needs through difficult times.  For example, it may be the case that a team member’s husband has been made redundant.  This is going to result in increased pressure for that team member and the leader should take time to understand how they can assist.  Further, leaders need to lead by example, showing their employees how they can lead them through the recession and into the upturn.  This requires leaders to show confidence in the organisation and to relay this confidence throughout their team.  

Leaders essentially are at the core of ensuring employee engagement is high by understanding each of their employees as individuals.  It is essential to remember that we are all driven to perform in different ways.  For example, while one person may need constant reassurance that they are performing well, others may find this patronising.  If a leader can engage with each of their employees on an individual level and, essentially, adapt their leadership style to each, this will undoubtedly lead to higher levels of engagement.
One of the leading ways of ensuring employee engagement is high is through involvement.  This reiterates the above to some degree, in that employees should be communicated to at all times and involved in all company news.  However, involvement also goes much further to actively encourage your employees’ own views and opinions.  This could include involving your employees in key decisions.  It could mean relaying high level decisions to employees and asking for their feedback.  It could include creating a culture of innovation by encouraging employees to come up with their own ideas for improving the organisation and its products.  By involving your employees as much as is possible, you will see engagement increase dramatically through employees desire to be a part of the large family that is their organisation.
We started by talking about doom and gloom.  However, even if cuts have to be made, we can still continue to work with an engaged workforce.  This is will invariably help to pull the organisation through the recession and into the upturn.  



One of the leading ways of understanding how engaged your employees are is by conducting an employee survey.  Personnel Surveys are able to tailor a survey to meet your requirements, providing you with clear results and actions to implement.  Visit our website at www.personnelsurveys.co.uk for more information.

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Personnel Surveys are a dedicated employee surveys provider based in the Northwest. There is little point in measuring the current situation unless you are prepared to take action from the results. We assist in setting up an internal action group