The two ‘E’s to success - Engagement & Enablement

16-Jun-2010 - PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following two bleak years for the job market which saw employees grateful to avoid redundancies and many employers putting a freeze on recruitment, recent research from Hay Group, the global management consulting firm, reveals that the tide has turned with 59 per cent of employees in the United Kingdom starting the year with a firm resolution to look for a new job.

- 59 per cent of employees in the United Kingdom started 2010 with the firm resolution to look for a new job

- Cost of replacing employees can be between 50 per cent and 150 per cent of salary

- Employee engagement and talent retention cited as the first and second most important issues respectively by CEOs and HRDs going into 20103

- Organisations that engage and enable employees demonstrate a total reduction in voluntary turnover of 54 per cent4

- Companies in the top quartile on both engagement and enablement achieve revenue growth 4.5 times5 greater than their industry peers who focus on engagement alone

- Employees who are both highly engaged and enabled are 50 per cent6 more likely to outperform expectations.

Loss of talent delivers a hefty blow to a business’s bottom line, and Hay Group studies estimate the cost of replacing employees to be between 50 per cent and 150 per cent of salary5. With businesses potentially facing a significant ‘brain drain’ in 2010, the pressure is on to find effective ways and means of preventing mass exodus of talent as market conditions improve.

The two ‘E’s to success

Many top-performing businesses across Europe and the United States are already deploying effective employee engagement and enablement programmes as a business priority, to mitigate against staff turnover and drive performance and revenue as the global business community continues on its path to recovery. In fact employee engagement and retaining talent were cited as the first and second most important issues respectively by CEOs and HRDs going into 2010.

Hay Group defines an enabling work environment as one which empowers employees to ‘go the extra mile’ and provides the tools and processes to actively deal with employee frustrations. Companies effectively combining employee engagement and enablement report significantly improved revenue growth, staff retention and employee performance. The top organisations on both engagement and enablement achieve revenue growth 4.5 times greater than their industry peers who ranked lowest in the study.

Similarly companies with high levels of engagement show turnover rates at 40 per cent lower than companies with low levels of engagement. However, companies that both engage and enable employees demonstrate a total reduction in voluntary turnover of 54 per cent. Hay Group’s research also reveals that engaged employees are 10 per cent more likely to exceed performance expectations. Employees who are both highly engaged and enabled, however, are 50 per cent more likely to outperform expectations. Past studies have shown that the difference in productivity between superior and typical performers is 35 per cent on average, depending on job complexity.