Best Companies urges managers to keep staff engaged during the downturn

As the recession continues to bite, and news of lay-offs become commonplace, Jonathan Austin, Chief Executive of Best Companies, the emotional engagement specialists, urges bosses to work harder at keeping staff engaged:

ìItís more important than ever in difficult times to remember the factors that drive engagement among staff – and all too easy to let it fall from your agenda. But this is critical for maintaining morale and keeping business performance at a high level.î

Best Companies data shows that where answers to the question ìSenior managers here do a lot of telling and not much listeningî are strongly negative, only 31% of employees are engaged. Where there is a listening culture and answers are positive or strongly positive then 96% of employees are engaged.

Jonathan recommends the following to keep engagement high during difficult times:

ìCommunicate. Everyone in the organisation needs to know what is going on but you need to tell it like it is. Use language that is honest, that everyone can relate to and avoid the temptation to dress up bad news. Iíve even heard redundancies referred to as synergy-related headcount adjustmentsî, which is an appalling euphemism and will be likely to boost disengagement levels among the ësurvivorsí of the organisation.

ìLeaders need to be visible and accessible. During difficult times it is all too easy to look internally to try resolve things. People will assume the worst if their leaders are not around so show up, walk around and reassure your people. Be on hand to answer questions and give information about what is going on.

ìRemember the vision: Stay focused on the long term objectives for your organisation. Align the workforce behind the organisational vision to make sure everyone is pulling together and feels part of a team. This will require strong leadership and is an effective way to combat disengagement. Employee engagement is often linked to the effectiveness and performance of the senior management team so set an example to be followed.

ìFinally, donít abandon training and development. Although these budgets are likely to be the first to get cut, personal growth is important to engagement and development opportunities are a key factor in retention. Let staff know the organisation values them as individuals, is investing in their future and that the brakes arenít on in terms of their own personal development.î