The survey says senior managers key to staff engagement

It affects everything from retention levels to rates of absence from the workplace  to an employee’s willingness to go beyond what they are asked to do.

Engagement is becoming more widely recognised as a key driver of organisational success. Staff at companies with high engagement levels take perhaps half the number of sick days and have lower levels of workplace stress than companies with low levels of engagement. Engagement is a better predictor of wellbeing among employees than benefits such as flextime and opportunities to work from home.

But how do you keep staff engaged?

The strongest influence, according to research from New South Wales, is an employee’s experience with senior managers, followed by their own manager.

Organisational factors such as commitment to employee development, organisational involvement in the community and confidence in the way grievances are resolved play a key role too.

NSW returned similar results to the United Kingdom, where surveys “have shown consistently that leadership and managing change is the strongest driver of employee engagement in the Civil Service”, followed by feelings about one’s own work and direct manager. Organisational objectives and purpose, as well as resources and workload, are also strongly associated with changes in levels of employee engagement in the UK.

The NSW results are based on the People Matter survey, which asks employees’ views on how well their organisation applies the public sector’s values and employment practices, and gathers information about how organisations, managers and workgroups operate.

The engagement index calculates the extent to which employees feel motivated by, inspired by, attached to and proud of their organisation, and would be willing to recommend it as a great place to work. The calculation is based on the UK Civil Service engagement index.

In 2014, the NSW engagement index score was 65%, a similar number to other public sectors using the same index system — including Victoria at 67%, Queensland at 58% and the UK at 58%. The Commonwealth public service uses a different scoring system and is not directly comparable.

It also shows the links between particular areas and overall employee satisfaction: employees who responded positively to the general engagement statements were more likely to respond positively about senior management, organisations, managers and workgroups. According to the NSW Public Service Commission:

“This confirms the importance of leadership to engagement in the workplace and the impact on business outcomes.”

Unsurprisingly, people planning to leave their job have lower levels of engagement (44%) than employees intending to stay (71%). This pattern remains consistent when tested for factors including age, gender and tenure. The PSC reported:

“Better leadership from senior managers and line managers — more significantly than all other factors — would motivate those intending to leave the sector to change their mind and stay.

“The numbers below also show that employees want more involvement in decisions, increased recognition and better accountability for performance.”

Research shows that organisations tend to underestimate the importance of trust and confidence in senior management, and overestimate the influence of frontline managers, on retention and engagement.

The NSW People Matter survey will be conducted annually from 2016, giving agencies more regular data but also shortening the length of time between bad results for those lagging behind.

‘Select the right managers’

Gallup, which conducts regular workplace surveys, offers a few key points of advice in its State of the American Workplace report. Though the document is targeted towards the private sector, much is applicable to government.

• Select the right managers. “Instead of using management jobs as promotional prizes for all career paths, companies should treat these roles as unique with distinct functional demands that require a specific talent set,” Gallup argued. “They should select managers with the right talents for supporting, positioning, empowering, and engaging their staff.”
• Coach managers and hold them accountable for their employees’ engagement levels. This can be done by tracking their progress, incorporating it into performance management and using it as a criterion for promotion.
• Define engagement goals in realistic, everyday terms. “While the overall organisation may set lofty goals for engagement, leaders must make these objectives meaningful to employees’ day-to-day experiences to bring engagement to life,” they said. “Ensure that managers discuss employee engagement elements at weekly meetings, impact planning sessions, and in one-on-one sessions with employees to weave engagement into daily interactions and activities.”
• Think about the impact of senior leaders on the local level. “Transformation occurs at the local level, but it only happens when the tone is set from the top down,” according to Gallup. Organisations obtain the most benefit from engagement drives when leaders weave employee engagement into performance expectations for managers and enable them to execute on those expectations. “Managers and employees must feel empowered by leadership to make a significant difference in their immediate environment.”
• Find ways to connect with each employee. Each employee has requires different approaches to improving engagement. Managers should consider what role an employee’s profile — age, gender, tenure, and other variables — plays in shaping their workplace experience. “Managers should also know that every interaction with an employee has the potential to influence his or her engagement and inspire discretionary effort,” reminded Gallup.