A-Performers.com Employee Engagement Summit 2009

A-Performers.com recently held its first Employee Engagement Summit to address the challenges and solutions of employee engagement. In this piece, HR Magazine, official media partner of the event, consolidates advice for HR from each of the keynote speakers at the event.

Happy Staff Index
After a welcome from emcee Paul Arkwright, Publisher of HR Magazine, the morning session kicked of with Gary Leung, Head of Investment, Consumer Banking, Standard Chartered Bank (HK) Limited. Speaking from the perspective of someone who experiences the results of initiatives and programmes that HR have implemented, Leung bore testament to the benefits of engaging and motivating staff every day. This is something Leung believes is especially important during economic instability, stating, “If you have great managers and employees, then the company will have sustainable growth, loyal customers, real profit and stock increases.”

Leung quipped that Standard Chartered's version of the HSI is the ‘Happy Staff Index’, believing that the key to happy staff is having a strategic framework and being ‘clear and honest’. Leung noted the importance of measuring staff engagement which at Standard Chartered is achieved via an annual staff engagement survey. The survey asks questions such as:

This approach appears to working, as employee engagement at Standard Chartered had consistently increased over the past eight years. This success in staff engagement also translates into the bottom line, with research showing a strong correlation between employee engagement and business results. To help further promote staff wellbeing the bank has implemented a number of measures. These include: a ban on meetings after 5pm on Fridays, paid ‘birthday leave’, and a monthly ‘wellbeing day’ when staff are allowed to leave the office a bit earlier.

One-team Approach
Dr. Christine Lai, Regional HR Director, Pearson Education Asia then addressed shared her success story of engaging people's minds and hearts and turning results to action through employee wellness programmes. Lai emphasised the importance of understanding staff needs to achieve employee engagement adding that if staff are not engaged it is a failure of leadership. Lai added that, “Engagement helps individuals and companies to go the extra mile, to be creative and to accelerate change…Engaging their hearts and mind will not only help drive productivity but also accumulate social capital and discretionary efforts."

Pearson Education advocates such initiatives on a global, regional and local scales and Lai underscored the need for these to be owned and managed by staff through a one-team approach. Lai emphasised the importance of communication, and explained how it supports sustainable and continuous cultural change. She added, “It is necessary to share a common vision and communicate in a participative process from top to middle management. Middle levels are critical and need to be engaged from beginning to end and in review stages.” Lai highlighted the importance of challenging those who extensively delegate, and ensuring that managers are visible. To help HR overcome potential resistance from management and junior staff, she suggested brainstorming collaboratively and showing successful cases from other companies.

For Lai, success originates from a nurturing culture, a vigorous approach and engaged employees. When asked whether Gen-Y were more difficult to manage in terms of engagement and what policies could be used to overcome this, Lai explained that it comes under the umbrella of inclusion, and like any diversity issue is a part of a learning process. She cited the example of Pearson in the US where there is no retirement age, and the company has a scheme whereby an older colleague comes in twice a week to mentor the younger generations. Lai concluded, “Social capital relies on strong relationships, trust, and communicating and connecting people. Human capital is human resources and is about capturing and nurturing talents within organisations.”

Thinking creatively about MPF
Luzia Hung, Chief of Pension & Group Business, AXA China Region Insurance Company Limited spoke on boosting staff engagement with effective employee benefits programmes. She listed the most commonly desired employee benefits as: a pension, medical coverage, group life coverage, benefits for dependants—medical and education, and a discount on company products.

Hung explained how employees had become much more aware of retirement needs since the launch of the MPF. She extolled the virtues of additional voluntary contributions under the scheme. Although the minimum employer contribution is 5%, some employers give 15% if an employee has worked at the company for more than 10yrs, with 8-10% being the average. These additional voluntary contributions not only enable employees to save more, but also help employers attract higher quality employees, enhance loyalty, and reduce tax burdens as they are tax deductible.

Currently, employers select the MPF service provider and only when an employee leaves the company can they access their contribution and choose their own service provider. In 2011 the current MPF scheme will evolve to provide ‘member choice’ allowing employees to transfer mandatory payments to a provider of their choice. Following its implementation, staff who stay with their employer will be able to transfer their contribution, but not the employer’s, to the provider of their choice.

There are over 38 MPF schemes in Hong Kong, and for HR it can be a daunting challenge to know the ins and outs of each one. Hung advised HR managers to provide new employees with an enrollment package, and a briefing on what options are available to them. She also suggested HR contact service providers for advice and invite them to come and talk to staff. Citing a survey by Towers Perrin, now Towers Watson, Hung pointed out that 83% of employees would like their employer to provide education and advice about saving. “Benefits should involve choice and mirror diversity.” said Hung, concluding, “One must think creatively, and conduct a survey to find out what employees want and need, then design a package that engages them.”

Engaging minds, capturing hearts & moving feet
Professor Kathleen Slaughter, Dean, Ivey Asia, Richard Ivey School of Business (Asia) Limited was next to the stage to share her take on engaging employees.  Slaughter believes employee engagement should be a high priority for HR due to changing demographics and the importance of employee retention. She said, “If we [HR] don't keep them engaged, somebody else will.” Slaughter spoke about the importance of fostering a ‘culture of engagement’ and explained that this is an ongoing process. She pointed out that engaged employees inspired by and committed to their work, willingly contributing discretionary time to their jobs. Despite this, Slaughter highlighted that only a little over 20% of employees are actually engaged, and this lack of engagement can result in wasted potential, apathy and hostility. According to Slaughter, only 30% of employees felt senior management communicated honestly and openly on an ongoing basis, and she identified several potential barriers to employee engagement.

Things employees need for greater engagement
Understanding of strategies
Understanding of business fundamentals
Meaningful feedback
A tangible stake in results
Ongoing reinforcement
Alignment between pay and performance
Connection between operating decisions and drivers value
Closeness with shareholders

Slaughter shared the ten Cs of employee engagement from the Ivey Business Journal: connect, clarity, convey, congratulate, contribute, careers, control, collaborate, credibility and confidence. Highlighting connection as the most important factor, she urged HR to check staff have a good relationship with their leaders, and that managers have adequate people skills as, “Talking to people is key”. Slaughter concluded, “You have engaged employees when they think and act in the best interest of organisation and are aligned with the corporate strategy.”

Survey less…act more
Florence Ng, Senior Director, Country Human Resources Hong Kong, Philips Electronics Group kicked off the afternoon session explaining how leadership development could be used to engage talent and allow sustainable business growth. She defined engagement as an employee's involvement with and commitment to their work, pointing out that only 10% of Chinese employees believed they were fully engaged. Ng pointed out that in 2009 the overall employee engagement index dropped 9% and that of high performers dropped 23% with staff just doing their jobs with little involvement or commitment.

Ng explained that staff need to be clear about their roles and how they can contribute to the company. She advised providing staff with the training and soft skills necessary to enhance their performance, citing the example at Philips where staff are assigned two coaches and mentors. Ng added that engaging employees through intellectual and emotional connection leads to staff that are passionate and loyal. Leaders are essential, to communicate and maintain connections, build trust, inspire, have a strong vision and foster teamwork. Ng highlighted the importance of leaders clearly defining what they want people to achieve, in order to position the company for continued success, deliver results and make change happen.

Sharing the four Ds from Philips, Ng explained the company philosophy of creating an environment where all staff can: delight customers, deliver great results, develop people and depend on each other. Ng explained how staff are developed through master classes on growth and performance, she added, “…while they [Philips] seek to develop leaders, leadership is a choice—you have to influence it, not force it.” With this in mind, Philips adopts a 70:20:10 ratio for staff development with 70% on the job assignment, 20% feedback from management and 10% training.

In the light of engagement being a long-term process Ng concluded, “It is necessary to spend time with people. Don't avoid answering their questions—answer them honestly and clarify. Survey less and act more.”

Leveraging staff in uncertain times
Marieke van Raaij, Group Leader, Greater China, Towers Perrin then looked at leveraging staff in uncertain times and gave an insight into their newly released benchmarks and best practice sharing. Raaij, pointed out that while there have been hiring freezes and the introduction of unpaid leave, average salary increases in Hong Kong, within companies that reported salary increases, rose by 3.3% in 2009 and were predicted to rise further in 2010. Asia salary increases dropped in 2009 and 40% of companies froze salaries—a figure expected to fall to 15% in 2010.

Engagement in Hong Kong has slowly increasing year on year, with a jump in 2008. Raaij also pointed out that there is loyalty and commitment among employees with 57% of respondents not considering leaving their current job. Despite this, she warned that as the economy improves and the job market becomes more competitive, retention of key talent is likely to be a greater concern. Raaij highlighted three key engagement drivers: ongoing leadership, image, and career development opportunities. In Asia, leadership was the highest driver, 72%, followed by image, 60%, and then career development, 44%. Benefits were ranked significantly lower at 16%. Raaij pointed out the importance of HR setting benchmarks: comparing job functions within the industry to national averages. Key questions HR should be asking their staff could include:

• Do I have confidence in decisions made by senior management?
• Does company management provide a clear sense of direction?
• Is management interested in the well being of employees?
• Do I believe strongly in the company’s products and services and is the company highly regarded by its customers and socially responsible in the community?

On a positive note for HR, Raaij added that career development in Hong Kong is up 4% compared to a downward global trend and has also seen an upturn in communication and efforts to obtain staff opinions. Likewise, companies are providing a clearer understanding of goals and objectives of departments, divisions and the company as a whole and there has been a slight upward trend in work-life balance with work schedules becoming more flexible. Raaij summed up that “Employee engagement is on the increase. There has been a focus on leadership, image and career development and companies are maintaining CSR scores to help win over younger generations.”

Creating a positive workplace
Agnes Koon, Vice President, Hong Kong Women Professionals & Entrepreneurs Association spoke about ensuring business success through employee well-being and strategic insights. She pointed out that over 90% of GDP in Hong Kong is related to services. Stressing that humans are the biggest asset of any company; Koon pointed out the strong correlation that employee wellbeing had with business success in terms of better performance, commitment and lower absenteeism.  She added, “Wellbeing is objective and subjective—weighted by a personal set of values. The average working person spends a quarter to a third of their life in the workplace and therefore it is an influential part of an individual’s wellness.”

Listing the benefits of employee wellbeing, Koon cited: citizenship at work and a sense of belonging; improved staff motivation and retention; reduced costs of staff turnover; reduced absenteeism; and improved employee commitment.

She noted that successful engagement strategies have to have commitment from the top, and each level of a company shares the responsibility for success. Employees should be well informed and HR managers should ask for employees’ advice and involvement and get feedback. Koon then highlighted numerous points HR should try to ensure to maintain a positive workplace.

In positive workplaces HR should provide the following:

• A clear job description with clear expectations, standards and requirements.
• Basic materials, equipment and training for staff to do their job.
• Recognition—essential in people management.
• A sense of belonging and citizenship for employees and ensure their opinions are heard.
• Team building—as friendship at work is vital for a successful company.
• Support, guidance, sharing and fun through team building.
• Opportunities to learn and grow—personal development is crucial
• Wellbeing schemes—physical and psychological health is very important.
• Medical insurance, check-ups, inoculations, dental care and health talks.
• A safe and healthy workplace.

To help achieve these goals, Koon advised those in HR to enhance employee engagement by providing clear, supportive performance objectives and good HR practices including flexible schedules, enhanced work-life balance initiatives, and team building activities.

Respect and recognition
Dr Robert Chung Ting-yiu, Director of the Public Opinion Programme (POP) at the University of Hong Kong gave the final keynote sharing results on job satisfaction and staff retention from the Headline Jobs Quality Workplace Index, 2009. The survey looked at two main areas: job seeking and staff retention; and job satisfaction and employee engagement. Dr Chung revealed that the five main drivers of job satisfaction, according to the survey results, were compensation, recognition, relationship, job nature and advancement.

The results showed that the number of respondents intending to find a new job had increased from 18% at the beginning of 2009 to 22%. Furthermore 61% of respondents were unhappy with their job and planned to look for a new one in the near future.

Regarding job satisfaction, 56% of respondents said they were happy, however, a larger number of employers, 68%, thought that their employees are happy. This difference was larger than found six months ago, indicating a widening gap between employee and employer trains of thought on the topic. The main reasons given for staff dissatisfaction were: salary, benefits, management recognition, the possibility of career advancement and corporate culture. Despite this, 78% of staff felt they had a safe working environment, 74% indicating a good relationship with co-workers, and overall 66% of respondents were satisfied with their job and only 16% would look for a new one.

The survey also included several questions to gauge employee engagement. Firstly concerning morale, and whether staff felt their associates were committed to doing quality work, 57% said yes. Secondly, in respect of ethos and whether the company mission made staff feel their job was important and meaningful 60% said yes. Regarding respect at work and whether staff felt their opinions counted, 52% of respondents said sometimes, with only 4% giving a definite yes.  In response to a question asking staff if they had recently received recognition or praise, 43% said yes and 58% said no.

Dr Chung summed up the results: respect and recognition were found to be the most important factors of engagement, while compensation and advancement were not as important to job satisfaction. Dr Chung pointed out that job satisfaction and staff retention were closely related—both during economic recession and recovery.