Pinpointing The Causes Of Low Engagement
Situation
Staff engagement scores were trending consistently behind competitor and business sector benchmarks. This was despite actions plans being developed and rolled out every year. The senior management team was justifiably alarmed by this and resolved to understand the causes and increase engagement levels across the company and within individual functions.
Task
To carry out an organisation-wide cultural assessment in order to understand the root causes for the consistently poor level of engagement, and identify ways to improve it.
Actions
- A leading cultural diagnostic tool was used to assess the levels of cultural health and stress in the organisation, and the extent to which this was affecting employee engagement
- The insights generated were used to structure and deliver employee focus groups. These explored in greater depth the causes and specific cultural attributes associated with low and high levels of cultural health, and their impact on employee engagement
- The results of the cultural assessment were calibrated with the employee engagement scores to identify improvements and areas needing further work
Results
- There was much greater clarity about the cultural factors that were driving different levels of employee engagement across the company
- Plans were developed and implemented to address the specific root causes for higher levels of cultural stress, which were contributing to low levels of engagement. These were focused on leadership and communication
- The cultural assessment was carried out on a recurring basis to track progress and monitor the impact on employee engagement