31% of employers in Western
Europe say it's difficult to measure the ROI of engagement
on the wider business, and 30% say boardroom decision-makers cannot
easily understand its impact
68% of employers in Western
Europe still rely on traditional annual staff surveys to
measure engagement
LONDON, Jan. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Oracle has
today released findings from the second phase of its Western
European study focused on understanding employee engagement, which
reveals that there is an opportunity for HR teams to take ownership
of engagement in the boardroom, and demonstrate the value of a more
engaged workforce to decision-makers.
The employer viewpoint results of the Oracle Simply Talent 2: A
Western European Perspective study, which set out to understand the
drivers and benefits of employee engagement in Europe, polled 250 HR decision makers working
for large Western European businesses.
Findings from the survey reveal 93% of employers acknowledge
employee engagement is strategically important to their company. A
majority say it positively impacts collaboration between teams
65%), helps boost business performance (61%), and contributes to
improved customer service (60%).
However, the survey results also reveal current processes are
not optimised to drive engagement. Sixty-eight per cent (68%) of
businesses still rely on standard staff surveys to gauge engagement
levels, with only 37% using advanced analytics to measure
engagement.
Consequently, 31% of employers say they find it difficult to
measure the direct impact of engagement on the wider business and
nearly the same proportion (30%) admit this makes it difficult to
quantify the above benefits for company decision-makers.
Despite their crucial role in gauging and analyzing employee
engagement, HR teams are not currently seen as a major driver of
engagement for businesses. When asked who in the business has the
greatest impact on employee engagement, only 10% of employers said
HR, compared with 34% who said line managers and 28% who said the
senior leadership team.
This also echoes the comparatively low profile HR has with
employees, which was brought to light by the first phase of
Oracle's Simply Talent: A Western European Perspective study,
which surveyed 1,500 employees working for large Western European
businesses. Of those employees polled, only 3% said HR has the most
positive impact on engagement
Loïc Le Guisquet, President for Europe, Middle
East and Africa (EMEA) and
Asia Pacific regions
commented: "Employees are the front line, the public face, the
tangible personification of what a business represents. Therefore
being able to understand, and more importantly improve employee
engagement becomes an absolute priority for any of today's
successful leaders.
"A more rigorous engagement strategy has become indispensable,
and HR has a vital role to play in helping organizations make the
transition. Modern HR teams have access to data-based tools
allowing them to effectively measure employee engagement, and just
as crucially to quantify its impact on the business for the
decision-makers in the boardroom. In this way HR will find itself
at the centre of the business, driving engagement strategies that
best serve the organization's growth ambitions."
Combining Oracle's latest findings with those from the employee
viewpoint phase the research reveals that despite employers saying
line management has the greatest role in driving engagement,
employees still say poor communication from managers is the most
frequent reason for them feeling less engaged at work.
An overwhelming 90% percent of employers agree strong leadership
is effective in boosting employee productivity, with 34% saying
line management has the greatest role in driving employee
engagement, more than any other department in the business.
This appreciation for line management excellence is echoed by
employees. Nearly one-third single out good line management as
making them feel more engaged at work, and 41% say poor
communication from managers is the single most frequent reason for
them feeling less engaged. Despite this, only 13% of employers
consider a focus on line management excellence is most important to
making employees feel engaged at work.
Encouragingly, there are multiple areas where employer
priorities do align with those of employees.
- Fifty-eight percent (58%) of employers agree recognising the
excellence of individual employees has a strong positive impact on
engagement, a belief shared by 53% of employees
- Fifty-two percent (52%) of employers believe embracing teamwork
and collaboration positively impacts engagement, as do 53% of
employees
- 54% of employers say a good work/life balance makes workers
feel more engaged, and 50% of employees agree
Le Guisquet said: "These findings suggest that while everyone
agrees that line managers are responsible for creating high levels
of employee engagement, and that good communication is an essential
element of this, businesses have not developed their management
functions accordingly. Given the changing world of work and the
increasing demands of millennials it is essential that HR helps
create a culture of engagement within the organization, centered on
line managers as the key agents of change."
When it comes to the latest digital and mobile technologies, HR
tools, and social media platforms, Oracle's findings indicate only
a minority of employers view these as direct contributors to
improved engagement.
Employers certainly place stock in the practices that these
technologies enable. For example, 48% of employers say a healthy,
safe and comfortable working environment improves employee
performance, 45% credit flexible working hours, and 48% chalk this
up to offering training and development to employees – all areas
that can be enhanced with mobile and social tools.
And yet, only 15% of employers say using the latest digital and
mobile technology is most important to driving employee engagement,
while only 3% say enabling employees to use social platforms at
work is most important.
Additional Resources
- Oracle Simply Talent: A Western European Perspective
- Oracle HCM Cloud
- ORACLE HCM LINKED IN SHOWCASE PAGE
- ORACLE HCM TWITTER
- Facebook
Additional Information
For this research Oracle partnered with Opinium Research to
survey 1,511 individuals from large enterprises based around
Western Europe, with respondents
coming from countries including the UK, France, Germany, Sweden and the
Netherlands.
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