Saying, staying and striving

There is evidence the public sector is lagging well behind the private sector as far as engaging and retaining their employees. Kate Pritchard, head of employee research (Europe), ORC International argues that the public sector could do worse than take some tips from its private sector counterparts

Benchmarking data helps organisations understand the wider picture on employee engagement, but is also a valuable tool for those taking part to see how they are performing against the norm in their industry sector. It can be vital for assessing the true level of motivation, satisfaction and loyalty. Putting it in Perspective (PiiP), a report produced by the employee research division of ORC International, looked at employee opinions and examined key aspects of engagement, satisfaction and motivation, based on annual data from the ORC Perspectives benchmarking database containing information from over 300 employee surveys it had conducted. The study represents the views of 1.5 million employees in the UK.

Satisfaction: public vs private

It is encouraging to see the majority of employees in the UK (68 per cent) are satisfied with their jobs, although the results of the benchmarking study show marked differences between industry sectors. The findings show public sector employers are falling behind. Indeed, housing associations and central government employees are among the least satisfied workers in the UK, both scoring well below the UK norm. In contrast, employees in the retail sector are the most satisfied with a score of five percentage points above average, citing autonomy, teamwork and customer interaction as the positive aspects of their job.

Organisational pride is another area where public sector workers in local government and central government fall short of the norm, with seven and eight percentage points below average.

Employees in the charities/not-for-profit sector buck this trend, scoring more highly than any other sector when asked how proud employees feel to work for their organisation. These employees notch up +10 percentage points. Generally, however, the private sector excels here with financial services, hi-tech and retail all performing well. All of these results seem to suggest pride is closely related to the employee’s belief in the end product or service the organisation is supplying. This could be worrying for governmental organisations in particular, as our research projects have shown employee engagement in local government does directly correlate with customer satisfaction with services.

Employee loyalty, an important aspect of engagement, is also questionable in the public sector. Less workers in the housing association, central government and not-for-profit sectors intend to be with their organisation in 12 months time than in any other sector, with those in the housing associations sector demonstrating the least loyalty of any industry (-13 percentage points).

Despite the generally negative public sector results, job security is one area where public sector employees feel more positive, with those working in housing associations rating job security four percentage point above the norm, those in local government one point and those in central government only slightly below the norm (-2 percentage points). However, these industries still rank far below their private sector counterparts where job security in financial services and retail soars with +15 and +14 respectively. Clearly, there are lessons to be learned from the private sector in how to manage employee confidence. This is especially crucial in government departments where restructuring and regulation are par for the course.

Management style and staff development

As all managers know, recognition and development are hugely important for keeping employees motivated and engaged. Recognition is an area where most employers could improve. Once again the area performing least well is in the public sector (local government at -3).

The best performing sectors are charities/not-for-profit. Brian Millar, HR director from the RSPCA, commented, “We have to try harder in the public sector, we cannot motivate our staff with bonuses so we have to be kinder and more thoughtful. We need to create a spirit of endeavour.” 

The area of training is also an area where the public sector seems to be under-delivering for their employees. Employees in local government and central government sectors are the least satisfied with the training they receive to do their job. The -9 percentage point score given by central government employees is in stark contrast to the +8 of workers in the retail sector. The highest scoring retailer is Sainsbury’s, which is committed to making training a priority. As Sainsbury’s HR Manager Kate Hollis commented, “Within retail, and particularly food retail, the implications of not training our staff are severe, with food safety issues, health and safety regulation, and age-restricted selling to contend with.”

Money matters

When looking at the area of employee engagement, the issue of pay, while not generally a long-term motivator, cannot be ignored – it is certainly something close to people’s hearts. This is the one area where the public sector outperforms the private sector with far more positivity from employees when considering their earnings against their duties and responsibilities. Once again the charities/not-for-profit leads the way, scoring 11 percentage points above the national average. Millar commented, “In a society where people are starting to question what they truly value, the not-for-profit sector attracts people who want to make a difference. We find that as long as we pay our employees a decent wage and treat them well, they remain loyal.”

Encouraging employees to ‘say, stay and strive’

Consistently achieving among the lowest scores, central government is clearly an area that needs to address its approach to management of employee engagement and, like other public sector industries, learn from the current successes being seen in the private sector. Prioritising training and using a management style that recognises achievement are key learnings for public sector employers. Ensuring employee engagement is monitored via employee research allows organisations to measure, understand and improve conditions for staff. Managers can then create bespoke solutions that address the specific needs of their staff and improve satisfaction, motivation and engagement.

It is important that managers assess their employees’ wish to say, stay and strive – the three key measures of employee engagement. If employees speak positively about their employer, intend to continue working with them and remain committed, and ‘strive’ to do the best they can for the organisation, then they are displaying the characteristics of an engaged employee.

Employee engagement in times of change

Despite employers’ best efforts to keep employees happy and engaged, sometimes things can happen that upset the equilibrium. Change is an inevitable part of business and most organisations will experience this at some point. The pace of organisational change is as fast as ever. The impact of legislation, globalisation and competition coupled with drives for greater performance, profit and efficiency all result in the need for change. It is the involvement of people in change that makes it particularly challenging. Predicting, understanding, planning and responding to the different ways staff interpret and react to change is a core challenge for managers. During times of change, employees are bound to feel uncertainty and this may cause wavering engagement, motivation and loyalty. The organisations that manage change best are those that thrive most.

The 2007 PiiP report looks at employee engagement during times of change – an area that should be a ‘hot topic’ for all businesses and HR managers in these times of unpredictability, mergers and acquisitions. There are lessons to be learned by businesses across both the public and private sector in how to manage inevitable changes while keeping employees engaged. Times of change unsettle staff, so the ORC PiiP benchmarking database has a separate set of engagement ‘norms’ for organisations going through change.

The results show that currently organisations across the UK are not managing change effectively and organisations are performing below the norm across all key areas. The area employees in the UK are most concerned by is organisational pride, which receives a score of 20 percentage points below average. The study also showed figures of more than -10 percentage points for each of the areas of job satisfaction, training and company loyalty. The report also shows that managers may not prioritise key parts of employee management during hectic times of change – the majority of employees involved in change in the UK in 2007 did not feel that their achievements at work were recognised and acknowledged by managers. A further worry is that it seems UK organisations are not improving their management of change. The percentage of employees who feel that their organisation manages change effectively has fallen by four per cent since 2000.

Making change work for you

Our work with businesses and managers from every type of sector imaginable has shown that the key to managing change effectively is communication. Managing change ineffectively can seriously affect employee engagement levels so it is imperative that during these times of change employers keep open channels of communication both from employer to employee and vice versa. Employers need to eradicate uncertainties and mistrust during volatile times and giving staff the chance to feedback on the change process using employee surveys can help workers feel part of the process and ensure they remain engaged.