Employee Experience industry useful reports – February 2024
Are internal communicators in the real world or in caves?
Gallagher's 'State of the Sector' is one of the must-read internal comms annual reports.
Takeaways:
- 74% of respondents named employee engagement as a success factor - The strategic narrative is one of Engage for Success' enablers of engagement - but one of four - so it's a stretch to say that IC should pin its success mast to engagement, as there's many other factors, outside of IC's control.
- 63% of respondents see engaging teams on purpose, strategy and values as their number one priority - This is the core IC role, so it makes sense... connection to core purpose and all that.
- Communicating about world events was highlighted as a challenge - It's important that this isn't done in an ad-hoc way. There should be firm guidelines on what leaders should and shouldn't comment on internally.
- 58% of respondents say they lack the time and resources to undertake measurement - This is a business imperative. How can you judge how effective you are without it? It’s recommended to make time and buddy up with your IT team to implement the right tech to measure.
- 68% of respondents think AI will have an impact in the next five years - Are the other 32% still using chalk on blackboards?
- 84% of respondents say they rely on managers for communication to some degree - This really should be 100%. Managers lead teams and so should be supported to deliver the message locally.
As a contributor to the report says: 'Either we'll start to catch up and enter the real world or we'll continue to wallow and keep carving messages in caves.'
Link to report: https://www.ajg.com/employeeexperience/state-of-the-sector-2024/#anchor
HR leaders think 'excelling along the employee experience journey will have the most impact'
McKinsey & Company's new report, featuring interviews with more than 100 senior people leaders reveal how the HR operating model is changing to drive value in a volatile business environment.
Takeaways:
- The report lists eight innovation shifts driving HR’s new operating models: adopt agile principles, excel along the employee experience (EX) journey, re-empower frontline leaders in the business, offer individualised HR services, ‘productise’ HR services, integrate design and delivery with end-to-end accountability, move from process excellence to data excellence, automate HR solutions - There's a lot to unpack here; but what is true is that employees need to be thought as being as important as customers.
- According to the report, HR leaders think that excelling along the EX journey has the most impact - It's all about the moments that matter, so these should be co-created with your employees.
- The report states that 'putting EX first means allocating disproportionate resources toward “moments that matter”' - Although having lots of resource would be wonderful, you really don't need vast armies to improve EX... if you build it 'from the people, for the people' then it can be run like any change project.
- Whereas it’s wonderful that the people leaders interviewed see the value in EX, this isn’t translating into most organisations. EX remains a poor cousin to other business initiatives. Hopefully, many business leaders will read this report and get on it!
Link to article: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/hrs-new-operating-model
Can organisations shift out of 'the great gloom'?
HR Director discusses HR's non-negotiables for 2024.
Takeaways:
- A third of HR leaders have named retention to be the biggest challenge they face for 2024 - This should not just be a 'challenge' it should be a staple of ongoing commitment
- 51% of UK deskless employees say they feel expendable by their employer - This will certainly harm organisational productivity as well individual wellbeing... shouldn't every employee be your 'best asset'?
- When employees identify with and believe their workplace culture to be positive, they’re 3.8x more likely to be engaged - It's important to understand that you can't 'force' the culture and it should not be top-down... rather co-created with employees
- Employees should be 'seen as individuals for their contributions' - The personalisation of EX is long overdue, and we need to stop seeing employees as 'human resources'
As the article summarises: 'When businesses invest in their people, great things happen'. Amen.
Link to article: https://www.thehrdirector.com/features/employee-engagement/employee-experience-2024-hrs-4-non-negotiables/