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Role of the line manager in employee engagement

04 December 2014 Client Blogs
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It’s no secret that recruiting and retaining top talent is key to the success of an organisation. But with further pay freezes and cuts across the public sector, HR teams are under greater pressure to develop even more creative strategies to attract and retain the best employees.

Employee engagement must be seen as a top priority for HR and leadership teams, with strategies to improve employee engagement high on the agenda.

With many organisations having to focus heavily on ensuring cost targets are met and managing significant organisational changes with limited resources, it’s easy for employee engagement initiatives to fall down the priority list.

Employee engagement – effective management style is key

Pressures on remuneration - coupled with restructuring and redundancies – understandably has a significant impact on staff morale and productivity.

In the CIPD Employee Attitudes to Pay 2012 survey, response (in terms of agreement) to the statement 'I feel motivated to perform well in the work I do' by respondents who had a pay freeze or pay cut in 2012 was just 1% and -8% respectively. Public sector employees' response to the statement 'I feel valued as an employee' was -27%.

It is vital for senior leaders to lead from the front to champion employee engagement and for it be embraced by the entire organisation - especially line managers. This should be seen as a key part of overall organisational objectives to create a productive working culture.

Line managers should strive to ensure employees understand how they can develop and progress, with employees’ achievements and successes acknowledged and recognised.

Management styles should be continually evaluated and evolve to improve engagement. Line managers have the crucial responsibility of communicating effectively leadership vision to the front line and supporting employees to achieve their full potential.

Shifting cultures – the rise of generation Y

The need to adapt leadership and management style is even more critical with the shifting culture of today’s workforce, with generation Y taking up positions previously filled by the retiring baby boomer generation.

Gen Y employees typically seek a culture that encourages creative freedom, with less rigid policies and structures and consistent recognition for their achievements, in order to excel.

Effective internal communication is vital. Line management should seek to ensure employees feel engaged and are respected as key contributors to the organisation's strategic aims and vision.

In the CIPD spring 2013 Employee Outlook survey, response to the statement ‘They treat employees with respect’ scored -7%. Only 61% said they were satisfied with their relationship with their line manager.

Addressing this issue as part of the employee engagement strategy, and ensuring management styles and working culture/policies are adapted to suit the changing landscape, should be a top HR priority in order to compete for and retain top talent.

At Morgan Hunt our dedicated HR team has a wealth of HR recruitment experience, with specialist expertise recruiting widely across the public sector. We appreciate the essential function of HR and the importance of finding the right HR professionals – not only in terms of skills and experience, but also in terms of cultural fit and long-term development. To find out more contact us or call the team on 0207 419 8935.

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