Canadian companies fail to keep employees engaged

Is your workplace enthusiasm diminishing? Canadian companies are risking lower productivity and higher inefficiency due to a disengaged workforce, finds a recent study on the subject. If there was ever a wake-up call for Canadian employers, this might be it.

The newly released "Global Workforce Study" by professional services company Towers Watson shows that the majority (67 per cent) of Canadian workers are not fully engaged in their work and are frustrated by insufficient support from their organizations.

Companies with a lack of "sustainable engagement" risk becoming vulnerable to lower productivity and higher inefficiency, greater rates of absenteeism or employee turnover, and increased costs for chronic illnesses.

"Having fully engaged employees makes them more productive and makes your organization more successful," says Ofelia Isabel, Towers Watson's Canadian leader for talent and rewards in Toronto. "There's a real business case to pay attention to this but we've got a long way to go before we get to the levels of engagement that we really need to be successful as organizations."
Isabel says the equation for sustainable engagement is the sum of three distinct elements:

• traditional engagement (employees' willingness to give effort to their employer)

• enablement (having the tools, resources, and support to get work done efficiently)

• energy (defined as a work environment that actively supports physical, emotional, and interpersonal wellbeing)

"Over the last few years we've been talking about traditional engagement and we measure that by employees' willingness to give an organization their discretionary effort," she explains. "We started to look at whether or not it's sustainable. Can we be asking more of our employees when we know that we're operating in an environment where we're asking everyone to do more with less?"

Gina Ibghy, director of organizational development at Randstad Canada in Toronto, says her organization is also aware of a growing disconnect between employers and employees with respect to how the former engages with the latter.

"This situation is prevalent in the business world today for many reasons," she says. "In a conventional world where you had a certain amount of people to do a certain function, you didn't have to audit all the different areas in your company. Now that you have to be more efficient, certain questions are coming into play like 'does the (employee) understand their role?'

"There's another piece that's a little more ethereal which is why the business world is slow to react and that is are you listening to what the (employee) is explaining back to you? A lot of employers right now don't even have that conversation."

Mental health a huge factor in employee engagement

Equally important to the overall notion of sustainable engagement is the subject of employees' overall health, including mental health. Amongst all Canadian Towers Watson survey participants, only a third (38 per cent) believe that their organization and senior leaders encourage and support a healthy workforce and just 39 per cent think that senior leaders have a sincere interest in their wellbeing.

"Are people well enough emotionally and physically to get things done? Are organizations stressing work-life balance flexibility? If you look at organizations that do this well, the financial performance of those organizations is almost three times higher," she remarks. "(Mental welfare) is a critical component; it's probably still 'taboo' in certain circles though it's becoming less so. Mental wellbeing is a huge part of energy."

Is there a prevalent attitude at some Canadian organizations that employees should be grateful to simply have a job given the present state of the economy? Isabel says 'it definitely exists', but it's not just a question of hiring in general.

"The vast majority [of companies] tell us they're having a very hard time attracting critical skill employees; the type of talent that you need to be successful as an organization is very hard to find."

Randstad Canada's Ibghy used to live and work stateside. She admits she's unsure if such an attitude is common among Canadian employers.

"In the States, there's been a traumatic response to the downturn in the economy. I don't find that in Canada," she says. "I find employers here are extremely interested in engaging their people but I don't think they know how to do so."

For employers aiming to improve relationships with employees Ibghy recommends:

• The executive staff and human resource director should brainstorm to determine a unified path towards re-engaging with employees.

• Determine if your hiring practices and performance management processes gel.

• Embrace change management (defined as the management of change and development within a business). Have a solid plan in place.

• Ensure there's effective communication between senior management and staff; don't just broadcast. Communication should always be two-way.