Not enough time spent on employee engagement, CIPR finds
A report commissioned by CIPR Inside has found that employee engagement is being held back in many organisations.
The research was carried out for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations by PR Academy and über engagement, with the key findings to be presented by Kevin Ruck of PR Academy at the CIPR Inside Annual Conference ‘Face the change – Employee Engagement in Turbulent Times’ in London on 6 October.
According to the research, 91% of practitioners spend less than a quarter of their time on employee feedback and research, while 71 % spend less than a quarter of their time on line manager and team communications. However, 81% said they want to give more attention to employee feedback, and 24% believe that their board think internal communications is really important.
This research forms phase one of a two-part study designed to explore the effectiveness of current internal communications practice, with 350 internal communicators giving their opinion on the current state of internal communications practice. Phase two, due to be carried out early next year, will find the views of senior managers.
Jane Wilson, CIPR CEO, said: “This report should be required board room reading. Employees can drive innovation and enable organisations to build better reputations if they are appropriately and fully engaged by their management. Most organisations are increasingly aware of the value of reputation management, but are held back where they do not place greater emphasis on engaging employees.
“This is research, which will be part of the CIPR’s contribution to the Government’s ongoing work on employee engagement, provides valuable insights into the support that internal communicators need to help organisations better fulfill their potential.”