07 January 2010
Research finds a rise in employee engagement levels during recession
Hewitt Associates focuses on employee engagement to seek out Canada's most employee-friendly companies, but is retention a true indicator of a happy workforce?
Employee engagement levels in Canada's leading companies have risen sharply, despite the tough economic conditions of the past year, HR consulting and outsourcing company Hewitt Associates has revealed in its list of the country's best employers.
The research found that employee engagment levels at these companies had increased, despite the financial challenges they faced.
The 2010 list of the 50 best employers in Canada found that employee engagement levels within some of the country's top firms had increased during the recession, averaging 69% compared to 65% the previous year. Construction firm PCL Constructer was found to be Canada's best employer followed by Ellis Don Corporation and Cisco Canada.
Contrary to widespread belief that engagement levels fall during an economic downturn, Ted Emond, a senior consultant in Hewitt’s Toronto office, says that the global recession has created higher levels of employee engagement within organizations.
“The fact that employee engagement increases during an economic downturn is not unexpected,” he says. “One of the determinants of engagement is a willingness to remain with one’s current employer, so when there are fewer options, many employees are glad to stay put and hang on to the job they have,” he adds.
Hewitt explored two other indicators of engagement: how positively employees speak about their employer to others, and how motivated they are to go “above and beyond” to contribute to business success. This three-indicator model is widely recognized as the "Say, Stay, Strive" model of employee engagement.
“When employers drill down into the data they receive as a study participant, they are able to determine whether their scores are higher because overall engagement has increased, or simply because employees are stuck, says Edmond. "If the latter, organizations run the risk of losing key talent to competitors once the economy improves," he adds.
Most of the companies that made Hewitt Canada's top 50 have robust internal communication strategies in place.
How does participating in such a study benefit companies?
The corporate world is seeing more and more of these lists appear every year. In the UK, The Sunday Times daily newspaper publishes its 100 Best Companies to Work For list (led by Best Companies Partnership), in the US Fortune magazine publishes its Top 100 Companies to Work For, while Forbes lists its 200 and 400 best companies to work for.
But what do organizations gain from participating in such studies and what happens afterwards? Is it just a case of a pat on the back or does it go beyond that?
For Cisco Canada, taking part in Hewitt's study validated the "hunch" the company had that its employee engagement levels were above average.
Willa Black, Cisco Canada’s Vice-President, Corporate Affairs says that participating in the study provided her team and the company with an external benchmark. "We wanted to conduct an independent survey of our employees to ensure we received frank feedback, and the Best Employers study made it easy to do that,” says Black.
Communication a common factor
Effective communication and employee engagement go hand-in-hand and the majority of the companies that appear in Hewitt Canada's top 50 were found to have robust internal communication strategies in place. Black says Cisco communicates from the top down, bottom up as well as from the middle out.
LoyaltyOne, that failed to make the list last year, drastically improved its communication strategy which led to its entry at number 21 in this year's list. “We stepped up our level of communication, clearly articulating our long-term vision and objectives, so that our employees could align their own goals with them, " says Bryan Pearson, President and CEO of LoyaltyOne. "The result is that employees see that their work matters and they feel like an integral part of the organization,” he added.
Retention is often seen as an indicator of an engaged workforce, however during a recession many experts believe that it should be questioned. An employee's willingness to remain with a company for the sake of fewer opportunities elsewhere can often be seen as an unreliable indication of employee engagement. Cory Garlough, Vice President, Global Employment Strategies, at
Scotiabank (ranked 24) believes that engagement is far from static which means an outside perspective is often necessary to determine the validity of engagement levels.
"We weren’t surprised that our engagement levels increased during the recession,” says Garlough. "However, we wanted to know whether the people who were staying were really engaged or just ‘hunkering down.’ We needed to ensure we kept good talent when the economy rebounded."
Tackling cynicism
Employee engagement in the workplace and "best company" lists, however, often come under scrutiny both inside and outside organizations. Comments left on The Globe and Mail's online news story of Hewitt's list typically demonstrate this cynicism. How do organizations respond to comments such as: "These kinds of surveys are so arbitrary! The company I work for participates in one of them (not this one) and every year toots its horn about what a great place to work it is. Turnover numbers don't confirm that however. Somebody else is deciding, for me, what is a good/not good place to work"?
Kellie Garrett, Senior Vice-president of Strategy Knowledge and Reputation for Farm Credit Canada (ranked nine on the list) says: “For FCC it’s not about where we rank on the list. We focus on what employees are telling us and where we need to improve.”
Have your say
What is your opinion on "best company" lists? Do you think they boost employee morale and engagement or do employees see them as a PR initiative?
Recommended resources:
Engagement: A new approach for a new decade
How to ensure you're taking the right approach to engagement
TOP TIPS: Helping employees adapt to change
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