We’ve long known that HR has moved beyond an admin and compliance function to that of a genuine strategic partner. But how does HR impact the bottom line ensuring that the organisation remains competitive and is in the best position to attract and retain top talent?

The Engage for Success movement shows a clear link between employee engagement and high business performance. The movement draws on many examples of companies and organisations where performance and profitability have been transformed by employee engagement, specifically through the so-called “Four Enablers”, which include:

• Strategic Narrative: Visible, empowering leadership providing a strong strategic narrative about the organisation, where it’s come from and where it’s going.
• Enabling Managers: Engaging managers who focus their people and give them scope, treat their people as individuals and coach and stretch their people.
• Employee Voice: Employee voice throughout the organisations, for reinforcing and challenging views, between functions and externally. Employees are seen not as the problem, rather as central to the solution, to be involved, listened to, and invited to contribute their experience, expertise and ideas.
• Organisational Integrity: Organisational integrity – the values on the wall are reflected in day to day behaviours. There is no ‘say –do’ gap. Promises made and promises kept, or an explanation given as to why not.

One of the primary benefits of successful HR initiatives is improved employee retention. High turnover and cost to hire can be very expensive for organisations due to all the costs associated with backfilling staff from advertising roles, screening and interviewing candidates, onboarding and loss of productivity. Improved cost to hire rates will reduce operating expenditure. Overall, more motivated, engaged staff will perform better and customers will be happier. Employees will be more likely to talk positively about their experience of work and recommend the organisation as a place to work.

The Engage for Success website puts forward a compelling case for employee engagement that really should be front and centre of our people strategies:

“Employee engagement is based on trust, integrity, two way commitment and communication between an organisation and its members. It is an approach that increases the chances of business success, contributing to organisational and individual performance, productivity and well-being. It can be measured. It varies from poor to great. It can be nurtured and dramatically increased; it can be lost and thrown away.”

I’ll leave you to ponder on that!

Useful reading

Engage for Success website: The Movement - Engage for Success

Engage for Success; Get Involved: Get Involved - Engage for Success