The Shocking State of Employee Engagement
Research has found that only 42% of employees surveyed have access to a channel in which they can share feedback with their organisations.
And yet even for this 42%, it is not done effectively.
“The 2017 State of Employee Engagement Report” by Saba was featured on CLO Media recently.
It was a large survey reaching 1,800 HR leaders and employees, which uncovered some interesting findings and offers food for thought.
With a lack of visibility from effective feedback methods, HR & Learning are – as the report states – “running blind”. Saba contest that there is in fact a significant gap between learning & HR leaders and employees when it comes to the perception and reality of the effectiveness of learning initiatives.
They found that 80% of HR leaders believe they are delivering successful L & D. Unfortunately in contradiction, 33% of employees suggested that training and development programs are not too effective, or not at all effective.
“The ultimate goal of talent programs is to improve performance – both for individual employees, and for the business overall. When these programs do not drive performance, by improving skills, advancing careers, or improving engagement and retention, a perception gap is created between management and employees around just how effective these talent programs really are” – Saba, The 2017 State of Employee Engagement Report, pg. 10
Shockingly – due to ineffective training and development the survey found nearly 70% of employees said they would take an offer outside the organisation if it came along.
As we all know, effective learning is critical for employee engagement and retention.
Saba conclude that we have come a long way – but there’s still more work to do! And they are right.
I often talk about how learning must both generate clear outcomes and align to the business goals and Saba agree, suggesting that organisations need focus on performance-oriented outcomes that connect initiatives to critical outcomes, and create a channel for more frequent and consistent employee feedback.
Tie that in with a robust transfer of learning solution to support people in creating sustainable change – and bingo – you’ll be on to something! Often learning transfer is a great vehicle for creating and measuring change.
To read more about how to turn learning into action and in turn a despairing employee into an effusive one, join our learning transfer community for a free chapter of my book, Turning Learning into Action.
With these factors in place HR & Learning will be able to create and demonstrate the impact possible on the overall performance of people and business outcomes