“SLOWLY LIGHT STRENGTHENS, AND THE ROOM TAKES SHAPE.  IT STANDS PLAIN AS A WARDROBE, WHAT WE KNOW, HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN” – PHIIP LARKIN

How often do you hear the results of some research project and think, “I could have told you that”, or “didn’t everyone know that any way?” research serves to confirm hypotheses, or not.

I have always thought, that too many people get promoted because they are good at their job and not because they have the right behaviour, attitudes and abilities to succeed in the role they have been promoted to. So I was very interested to read an on-line article in PM Daily that summarised a research study by Gallup, which aimed to identify why employees are disengaged.

Gallup surveyed a massive 600,000 employees over 5 years, and guess what they discovered? “Many leaders have become leaders because they excelled in a more junior role. But often they don’t have a clue how to manage people.” (Peter Flade, Gallup’s managing partner for Europe)

The Gallup research discovered (or confirmed) a lot of other things too, they actually identified seven key issues that create demotivated staff.

1. Leaders aren’t involved or curious.

Too many employers focus on getting their junior employees motivated but forget the importance of getting their managers involved. Juniors then excel and become the new leaders and as Pete Flade explained however “Often they don’t have a clue how to manage people.” Leading to the demotivation of managers and their teams.

2. You have big goals but the basics aren’t in place

There’s nothing wrong with having a big end goal but the basics have to be in place. We are bombarded with rhetoric on mission, vision, values and strategy. But if the business is going to work employees need to know what is expected of them and have everything they need to do their job.

3. You’re using the economy as an excuse (or any other big excuse!)

“‘Our problem is the economy’, is the biggest excuse I hear,” says Flade. By being open, honest, communicating regularly and having an optimistic outlook, some companies managed to maintain an engaged workforce even through periods of pay freezes and redundancies.

4. You don’t trust your managers or hold them accountable.

How do you do this? “It’s simple” says Flade “things like coming up with action plans and following through on them. It’s an almost linear link between this and increased engagement.”

5. Your approach to performance management is unclear

Recognising a job well done is important, as is dealing with incidences when staff aren’t pulling their weight. “Most people come to work to grow and see the company do well,” explains Flade. “Where bad performance management exists, it’s very difficult for engagement to happen.” But it’s not about implementing a touchy feely culture either. “Some of the most engaged teams are the most stretched teams we see,” remarks Flade.

6. You pursue engagement for engagement’s sake

“If you sat managers down and asked them how increased engagement would help them, their answer would be very general,” says Flade. If you concentrate on achieving specific business priorities you will increase your chances of it happening, you create virtuous cycle, people are engaged and motivated if they are part of a winning team. Motivated and engaged staff will perform better and be more productive.

7. You don’t have cracking HR functions

Finally at last confirmation of what we have always instinctively known! In the companies Flade studied, those who had an engaged workforce had “somebody in the HR department who could wrestle the organisation”. The HR departments at the most engaged companies studied were brilliant at influencing, teaching and holding others accountable.

Now we know what we have always known. Thank you Gallup and Peter Flade we love you!

Diane Pagett

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