A lack of engagement

Julian — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:35:07 +0000

I recently heard an HR director talk about her struggle to get the board to understand that the HR strategy – and engagement in particular – are the keys to driving performance, and that the ‘people agenda’ should fit coherently with the business strategy. Her view was that HR is not taken seriously enough, being seen instead as “pink and fluffy”; the ‘soft stuff’. That’s something we hear a lot in our work.

Clients often talk about the need for more adult-to-adult conversations where the leaders treat employees with respect and listen to and value their views and concerns. Time and again, however, engagement surveys tell us that this just isn’t happening. ‘Soft stuff’? Hardly. In my experience the ability to have these kinds of difficult conversations is the ‘hard stuff’.

This picture reminds me that the engagement gap is also between HR and the rest of the board. How can HR leaders engage with other leaders diferently?

What do you think?

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CIPD Employee Engagement Conference – Jan 2010

Julian — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:20:21 +0000

The question on everyone’s lips at the CIPD Conference – “What does a successful employee engagement strategy look like?”

I was at a conference last month, organised by CIPD on Employee Engagement. In a discussion around some of the Kingston Consortium research findings I heard someone say “What is the key to unlocking potential?”

So what does a successful employee engagement strategy look like? What’s your experience?

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Delta7 Change Ltd » Julian

A lack of engagement

CIPD Employee Engagement Conference – Jan 2010

The question on everyone’s lips at the CIPD Conference – “What does a successful employee engagement strategy look like?”