Engagement - it found that only 21 per cent of young workers were highly engaged with their work, compared to 31 per cent of workers in their 60s.

Career Development – 61 per cent of young workers believed that there were career options out there for them, but that these options were with another employer or even in another country. Six in ten were actively looking for a job, or would be in the next six months.

36 per cent of young employees felt that they were forced to settle for a job that they were unhappy with, and 37 per cent said that they were made to choose a different career path due to the economic conditions.

Employer – 39 per cent of younger workers thought that their employer was using the recession as justification for increasing their workload, whereas just 24 per cent of older workers thought so. 34 per cent of younger workers were worried about not having the resources to do their work effectively, compared to 22 per cent of workers in their 60s.

Stress – 40 per cent of younger workers reported that they were frequently stressed at work, with 31 per cent feeling pressured to work longer hours. 39 per cent are unhappy with their work-life balance and 32 per cent felt that work pressure and stress frequently impacted their health.

Perhaps the most concerning thing for Britain is that the level of engaged young workers in the UK is only 12 per cent – placing us as joint ninth worst nation alongside Belgium, Bulgaria, Romania and Sweden.

It’s important for employers to reach out to the younger generation of workers with policies and practices that appeal to them, which may not be quite the same things that enticed previous generations. There’s no longer such a thing as a job for life. Technological changes have resulted in the blurring of work-life boundaries.

The economic crisis has meant many businesses having to cut their costs, resulting in a lower budget for training and rewards, which means that free incentives, such as comprehensive feedback and support, is more important than ever. Unfortunately, managers seem to be struggling with this. A report by Threshold revealed that only 45 per cent of employees with a line manager felt that they were receiving helpful feedback from their manager on a regular basis, with only 44 per cent feeling that the feedback that was provided was helping them do their job better. Out of the sample size of 1,000, 41 per cent of people said that they were given detailed performance feedback by their line managers.

There is clear evidence to show that engaged employees are more productive, and therefore, more profitable for the business they work for. We’ve also found that they are happier and more likely to stay with the company. Businesses that cannot afford to provide younger workers with incentives that will improve their work-life balance, or help develop their skills, must at least get feedback and managerial support right, or risk disengagement and resentment from your employees and a negative impact on your bottom line.

A recent study produced by the CIPD found that those employees with the highest level of engagement cited variety, autonomy and meaningfulness in their role as important factors. The report also found that higher engagement correlated with stronger job performance and ‘citizenship behaviour’ (or being part of the team).

Engagement is a complex and fluctuating state. As employees are human beings rather than robots, it’s perfectly possible for an individual’s level of engagement to change on a daily basis. You may have a job working for a cause you believe in passionately, with good levels of variety and autonomy, but if you’re asked to stuff envelopes and make coffee for a few days in a row your level of job satisfaction and subsequent engagement is likely to drop (although, it depends on the person). The problem with these catch-all solutions is that the workforce comprises individuals, motivated and incentivised by different factors at different times. Their behaviour, responses and wants cannot be predicted. One-size-fits-all solutions can’t be applied to all people across all industries.

If managers are serious about employee engagement they need to tailor a solution to their own company by consulting the real experts – the staff that they are trying to engage. By going through a process which asks employees for their opinions, and takes action on the recommendations that they provide, managers show their employees that their opinions are important, that they have been, and will be, listened to with respect. These employees end the process with a feeling that they have made an impact on the business, and that their managers understand that their experience gives them a unique and important voice in the decision-making process. How, for example, can directors sitting in a boardroom know more about the customer than those on the shop-floor?

Discovering the secret to creating engaged employees is simple and challenging. All the employer has to do is consult their staff, yet this requires the business to understand the true value of the knowledge and experience that the employee possesses, and sometimes this can be the biggest stumbling block to engagement.

Be in positions of authority or be long-serving

It’s unsurprising that those employees who reported to be the most engaged in their jobs were the ones with the most power, authority and/or years of service under their belts. This isn’t really surprising, in fact it ticks all of the boxes in Herzberg’s theory on job satisfaction: achievement, advancement, recognition, responsibility and the work itself. Employees who have been with the company for several years are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and to feel comfortable in the role – therefore having a certain level of authority that comes with simply having more experience at the job than other co-workers.

Work on company strategy or in customer relations

Past research has found that involvement in decision making has a positive impact on employee engagement, as does the employee being able to see the end result of their work or manage a problem through to resolution. This could be one reason why small businesses have been found to offer better job satisfaction, as it’s expected that employees are more likely to be involved in multiple business areas and be given the authority to see tasks and projects through to conclusion.

Have seen action as a result of previous engagement surveys

Engagement surveys can’t just be used as a kind of 360 degree feedback for the company. If the business is going to take the time to carry out the survey, the management have to act on the results or risk alienating employees. The CBI published a report in March 2011 which showed that managers who had a history of making changes as a result of previous engagement surveys saw improved engagement and levels of participation in future surveys, because employees knew that their feedback would be considered, their suggestions implemented.

The BlessingWhite research also highlighted some discrepancies between engagement friendly actions and reality. The report provides the following example: “Less than half of Australian/New Zealand employees indicate that their managers provide regular feedback or have build a sense of belonging, while our analysis suggest that these actions have a substantial impact on engagement.”

So, while management may know what engages employees in general, there are clearly areas where the theory is not being put into practice.

But does it really matter?

At this point, our parents’ generation would point out that our reward for going to work and performing well is called a salary and that in this financial environment we should all be happy that we have a job and keep schtum. But employee engagement isn’t about self-indulgent workers having a moan. Having engaged employees is just as beneficial to the employer as the employee.

A Gallup report quotes the following example:  “Best Buy has already had success in connecting improved employee-engagement scores to store performance: it found that for every 10th of a point it boosted the former, its stores saw a $100,000 increase in operating income.” The report says that organizations that practice employee engagement out perform their competitors by 26 per cent gross margin and 85 per cent in sales growth. “Their customers buy more, spend more, return more often, and stay longer.” In short, if you want an example of how effective employee engagement can positively impact your bottom line – there it is.

Another factor worth considering is that well-worn term ‘Gen Y’. Unlike previous generations, they are the least likely to put their heads down and quietly get on with a job that doesn’t engage them. A report by Robert Half International, Generation Y: What Millennial workers want: how to attract and retain gen Y employees found that in the US, Gen Y’s top three career concerns were; financial security, job stability and career satisfaction, and around half of respondents expected to spend no more that one or two years in entry level jobs.

The report quotes Libby Sartain of Yahoo! as saying: “Millennials may be defined by the fact that they will never stop marketing themselves…This poses a real challenge to organisations and human resources. Our role will be one of constant re-recruiting for our own employees, while at the same time recruiting new employees.” Employees need to actively engage Gen Y or risk losing them and having to expend more time and money on recruitment, probably distributing more workload to already overstretched employees in the short term, putting their relationship with them at risk in the process.

Nobody is pretending that the process will be easy. Few people appreciate being told that they are doing something wrong, and it takes courage to admit that changes need to be made. But it’s clear that when suggestions are implemented, businesses can and do benefit from engaged employees.

Audi has seen phenomenal growth in the past two years, reporting record sales in 2010, and competing in new market segments with models such as the Audi A1 (Which Car? ‘Car of the Year’ 2011). It has ambitious plans: 13 new models are planned for launch in 2011.

Insight Exchange started working with Audi UK in 2009, to deliver a programme based on our ForUs methodology of business improvements, focusing on customer and staff experience initiatives. These are designed to support Audi’s business strategy of being the number one premium car brand, and number one for customer satisfaction among competing brands.

In the first of a series of blogs focusing on how Audi is delivering improved customer and staff experience, we caught up with Paul Sansom, Audi UK’s head of aftersales and service, to talk about how the programme is developing.

Audi UK’s strategy focuses on being the number one premium car brand, and number one for customer satisfaction among competing brands. This approach is firmly rooted in building satisfaction and loyalty among existing customers (so when they replace their car they buy another Audi) as well as growing new markets; and in developing a clear differentiation from its competitors not just in terms of the quality of the cars, but through the Audi customer experience and service.

Achieving this relies in part on two key factors defined by the Audi UK team: delivering excellent customer satisfaction, and making Audi the best place to work (in order to attract the best quality people, who will deliver that customer experience). We’ve worked with Audi to develop its ‘Staff Experience Improvement’(SEI) programme, that is the first stage in delivering customer experience excellence.

IE: What was the reason for you implementing the SEI programme?

PS: We wanted a 360-degree view of the company, including how our employees perceived working for Audi. One of our business goals is to become the best place to work in our sector. I’ve always believed that this is linked to delivering a great customer experience. We already had various processes in place including a number of staff and customer satisfaction surveys, and we were measuring staff turnover rates, so we knew that we were performing above the industry average, but we wanted to see if we could do even better.

Growth from new customers or new segments of the market is great, but ultimately there’s a limit to how long you can keep getting new customers, and this growth will slow down eventually. We need to make sure that we keep our existing customers so that every time they buy a new car, it’s an Audi. It’s not enough to differentiate just on the quality of the car build any more. You need to build loyalty and satisfaction from customers, which you can do through delivering great customer service. To achieve that, we need to attract the best possible people to work for us. There’s a real passion for the Audi brand, so we have a strong base to start from.

We have a real belief in the importance of delivering excellent customer experience and satisfaction. Most of this is delivered through human interaction, an individual in a Centre who goes the extra mile. It’s led by people who excel in the ‘art of the unexpected’. It makes sense that if your staff are happy and doing well, then you’ll see more of the individuals going the extra mile for customers, which improves the customer experience.

IE: You have a network of 117 Audi Centres across the UK. How did you work to get them on board with the programme?

PS: Firstly, it had to be a voluntary process. There’s no point in forcing something like this on a management team that doesn’t buy in to it. But we found that there was a real belief in the programme and so far between 40 and 50 percent of the network has gone through SEI. More will come on board through 2011 as they see the value that the programme has brought to the Centres who’re implementing it.

But it does require a cultural shift in thinking. This can’t be a one-off process, it has be about sustainable change. The first stage in the process is to work with the management team (including the business owners) of each Centre, to find out if they’re ready for the programme.

IE: Once they agreed, what happened next?

PS: The first stage was to present the SEI programme to all members of the Audi Centre team and explain what it was all about. The important thing here is that we got everyone involved at all levels of the business. This couldn’t just been seen as a management initiative. To make it work, everyone has to buy into it: business owners, sales and aftersales teams, mechanics, valets – the whole team.

We then did an online survey to find out what the broad issues were and how employees felt about the business. They could do this whenever they liked – at home or at work – and it was guaranteed to be completely anonymous. We had very high engagement levels – much higher than we expected, actually. This was a real chance for everyone to have their voices heard, no matter where they are in the business. The Insight Exchange team is very skilled at making sure all identities are concealed, so there was no worry about ‘they’ll know it was me that said that’ from the team. From the feedback, the IE team put together a sort of ‘weather chart’ which showed representative issues and comments. We went through this feedback with the management team. We kept it very positive and constructive – the whole point of this initiative is that this is about constructive change and improvement, not using it as a stick to beat people with. But human nature being what it is, criticism can be hard to hear, and you tend to go through three stages of response. The first stage is complete denial: ‘It’s not like that, it’s not true’. But SEI doesn’t focus on single responses, it’s representative and constructive. Mostly, we found the issues in each Centre were common across the whole network, including HQ (which has also done the SEI programme), and the industry in general. So no-one felt isolated or singled out for criticism. The second stage is guilt: ‘I had no idea they felt like that.’ And the third is action: ‘What can I do to change it and make the business better?’.

The next stage was the most important part of the SEI process. We worked with Insight Exchange to create workshops for all staff, which were held off site. We mix up people from all areas of the business to work together in teams, to come up with practical ideas to improve the business. We’ve found that the workshops create a real buzz among the teams, people really enjoy them and it gives frontline staff a chance to get their ideas heard. We get some great ideas from these sessions, and they prove to people that we’re really serious about making the business even better.

At this point, we work with Insight Exchange to create a Business Improvement Group, which is a group of central volunteers. Again, this is a real mix of field staff and management, to represent all areas of the business. They are responsible for making the improvement ideas happen. The group meets regularly, maybe every week in the early stages and then every few weeks or month after that, depending on how much needs to be done, until all the issues are solved.

IE: What kind of initiatives have been put in place as a result of the Business Improvement Groups?

PS: The first things that get done almost always relate to the physical working environment. Things like doing up the staff canteen, or providing more parking, or an outside smoking area, those kind of ‘quick fixes’. These things aren’t the main focus of SEI, but they are often things that really matter to people, and so they have an important role to play in convincing staff that management are listening to their feedback and doing something about it. A repaint of the office, or a new canteen area is a very visible and quick way to show this is a serious process. Then staff buy in to it and the real work can begin. It is important that the SEI is about culture, not just environment.

Then we can work on the more long-term improvements. It’s quite common in our industry for there to be real disconnect between the sales and aftersales departments, for example. Issues like that take longer to fix than the environment problems. The business improvement groups are responsible for coming up with ways that those things can be fixed.

One of our Centres that went through SEI applied the process to its customers, and worked with Insight Exchange to hold a series of co-creation workshops with customers to create new products and services that customers want from us.

We’ve also made changes centrally. We’ve created a development programme in leadership and motivation training for our business leaders which has had really positive feedback, and will help keep this cultural change that SEI creates alive.

The SEI programme has also led to Audi developing a new strand to its business strategy, focusing on ‘the human experience’. This industry isn’t just about cars any more, it’s also about people.

IE: What are the results of the programme so far?

PS: We’ve always measured staff turnover and customer satisfaction, and we measure SEI on both these things. We are seeing a trend for Centres who’ve gone through the SEI programme. From the point when the Centre first starts the process, through the programme over six to 12 months, there is a big improvement in how staff work together, which is having a positive impact on turnover and customer satisfaction.

We’ve also seen a link to business performance. Those Centres with improved satisfaction scores and lower staff turnover have seen an increase in profitability. Of course, there are lots of variables here so it’s impossible to attribute profitability directly to SEI, but I do know that Centres who’ve done SEI have seen an increase in profitability.

IE: What’s the future for SEI?

PS: In 2011 we have plans to get more ‘rich’ feedback from customers to link the staff experience to the improvement in customer experience. The next logical step is to create improvement programmes for customer experience improvement. First of all, we’ll use more open feedback methods with customers so that we can hear from the people who don’t fill in questionnaires – the ‘silent majority’, if you like. We expect to see more of our Centres going through SEI this year, too.

We see SEI as a kind of continuous personal development programme, but for the Audi brand. It’s an on-going process that is embedded in the network, and one that will continue into the future. All our Centres agree with that.

Audi UK’s strategy focuses on being the number one premium car brand, and number one for customer satisfaction among competing brands. This approach is firmly rooted in building satisfaction and loyalty among existing customers (so when they replace their car they buy another Audi) as well as growing new markets; and in developing a clear differentiation from its competitors not just in terms of the quality of the cars, but through the Audi customer experience and service.

Achieving this relies in part on two key factors defined by the Audi UK team: delivering excellent customer satisfaction, and making Audi the best place to work (in order to attract the best quality people, who will deliver that customer experience).

Staff Experience Improvement

Two years ago, Audi UK’s head of aftersales and service, Paul Sansom, started working on a programme of ‘Staff Experience Improvement’ (SEI), that would give Audi a 360-degree view of the company, including from the employees’ point of view. The aim was to achieve the ambition of becoming the best place to work, which would in turn link to delivering a great customer experience. Audi’s network of 117 franchises across the UK were already carrying out staff and customer satisfaction surveys, and measuring staff turnover rates, and were performing above the industry average. But there was still room to do even better.

Often, satisfaction surveys are used as a benchmark against industry standards, or as a sort of league table pitting individual Centres against each other. But Audi wanted to create a more sustainable programme of change, to precipitate a cultural shift within the organisation that would, ultimately, help the business perform to the best of its ability. The brand has a real passion and belief in the importance of delivering better customer experience and satisfaction, and understands that this is down to the people it employs. Sansom says: “Great customer experience is usually delivered through human interaction – someone in a Centre who goes the extra mile. It’s led by individuals, who excel in the ‘art of the unexpected’.”

In 2009, Sansom began working with Insight Exchange – a consultancy specialising in improving employee and customer experience. Insight Exchange’s ‘ForUs‘ methodology is designed to help brands improve their staff and customer experience, by working with employees at all levels of an organisation to develop and carry out improvements to the business. ForUs works on the basis that working with the people at the frontline of the business – those who have the most direct contact with customers – can generate ideas and enthusiasm for improvements that have a real impact on the business.

Working with Audi Centres

Audi Centres were invited to work with Insight Exchange on the SEI programme on a purely voluntary basis (nearly 50 per cent of the Audi UK network has taken part to date, with more expected to come on board through 2011 as they start to see the benefits experienced by participating Centres). The process began with Audi UK and Insight Exchange working with the business owners of Audi Centres, to see how receptive they were to the programme, what initiatives they already had in place, and whether there was an appetite for change.

One of the Centres which has taken part is Crawley Audi, part of Inchcape (one of the largest franchised dealer groups in the UK operating in the South East, the Midlands and the North West). Toby Burton, head of business for Crawley Audi, explains his reasons for taking part: “I always believed that the performance of the business is related to the happiness of the employees, and I wanted to see if he could link the two things directly.”

How the programme works

The Centres that agree to take part in the programme start with an initial discussion meeting where Insight Exchange and Sansom’s team explain how the programme works, what they hope to achieve by improving the staff experience and the potential positive impact on business performance. The response has been incredibly positive: here are a team of people asking not for benchmarking figures, but for employees’ views and suggestions for changes that will improve the business. The Audi brand is one that generates real passion not just from customers but from its employees, who are for the most part keen to get involved with a positive change.

The next step in the programme is to get a very top-level idea of how employees feel about the business.  All employees complete what Sansom refers to as a ‘diagnostic’ survey – an online survey of staff, carried out online and anonymously – to understand how employees feel about working for Audi, whether there is an appetite for change, and the areas of the business that could be improved.

This initial feedback is analysed by Insight Exchange, and all responses are kept completely confidential. Sansom says: “One of the important things that Insight Exchange does it to make sure that no feedback can be traced to an individual. The team is very skilled at making sure all identities are concealed.” The Insight Exchange team then presents a “weather chart” of feedback, highlighting representative comments and common issues, which is shared with the Centre staff.

Once that has been completed, the main focus of the SEI programme – working with Audi employees to develop business improvement initiatives – begins. Insight Exchange works with the Centre to run a workshop (or series of workshops) for all staff, held off site. Employees work together in teams, which mix up people from all areas of the business, to come up with practical, actionable ideas to improve the business. The workshops are completely interactive, and are designed to tap into the energy and passion that employees have for the Audi brand, rather than simply relying on management to come up with new initiatives.

Keeping feedback positive

Feedback is presented to the Audi Centre management team in a way that is kept positive and constructive. Sansom says: “However well a Centre is performing, it can be hard for management to hear criticism, even when its constructive.”

He says there is a common cycle that management teams go through when facing criticism:

1.  Denial

“A manager’s initial reaction is often ‘It’s not like there here’,” says Sansom. “But the beauty of the Insight Exchange programme is it doesn’t take a single piece of feedback and escalate it, it’s always representative of the general feeling. Very often it’s the case that feedback from staff at one Centre reflects other audits, or general industry issues, so you can say ‘the things we’ve found here are very similar to what we found in X Centre,’. No-one is singled out for criticism, this is all about finding ways to improve.”

2.  Guilt

“A common response  is to say ‘I had no idea they felt like that’, and to want to put it right”, says Sansom. “We focus on why we’re doing the programme, which is to improve the business, not create a blame culture.”

3.  Action

The response from business owners has been incredibly positive, says Sansom: “There is a real desire to change anything that isn’t working, and make the Centres great places to work. The next stage in the cycle is to say ‘What can I do to change it and make it better?’”

The working environment

Much feedback initially relates to the working environment. Emotive issues that are immediately important to employees can be very simple to fix, such as improving the staff canteen or providing more parking facilities While the point of the programme is about long-term, sustainable change, the ‘quick fixes’ can be a real boost to staff morale, and help to show that management is really committed to change, says Sansom. “Making some environmental changes that people really care about have an important role to play in convincing staff that management are taking feedback seriously. A repaint of the office, or a new canteen area is a very visible and quick way to show this is a serious process. Then staff buy in to it and the real work can begin.”

Even these environment fixes have a business benefit, as Toby Burton explains: “Our employees could suggest any improvements as long as they had a clear business benefit. We found that computer speeds were slow, so we replaced and upgraded the computers, which has a clear benefit. Another issue for employees was parking. We agreed to make more parking available to staff, which has had some real benefits. Firstly people can come and go more safely during the dark winter evenings, and secondly they’re more likely to get to work on time if they drive.”

Sustainable business improvement

To start the real work, a Business Improvement Group is created, made up of volunteers from all areas of the business, from field staff to management. The group meets regularly with the Insight Exchange team to discuss issues and come up with practical, actionable ideas to improve the business. “There will always be improvements to be made,” says Sansom. “This process represents a cultural and behavioural shift in the business, and isn’t a one-off initiative.”

Examples of these actionable ideas are clearly seen in Audi Crawley. “We have a series of ‘values weeks’, where we all focus on one of the business values and do things relating to that value” says Burton. “The idea is to bring our values to life, and make them part of the business, as well as having some fun with it. People will suggest ways to make the values real.”

The Crawley Business Improvement Group also came up with the initiative to design a new induction scheme for new members of staff, which would embed the company values in anyone joining the company straight away. All new joiners spend the first two days of their employment with a member of the Business Improvement Group, and are introduced to all departments through the business, get an introduction to the SEI process and learn about Inchcape and Audi.

There have been some common themes across the Centres. Sansom says: “Strong leadership is critical within each Centre. So, Audi has invested in leadership and motivation training for all our business heads.”

Involving customers in co-creation workshops

After going through the SEI programme, Steve Russell, business owner of Audi Poole (one of the original pilot Centres for the SEI programme), worked with Insight Exchange to create a separate initiative to introduce customers to the improvement process by way of a series of co-creation workshops. A representative sample of Audi customers who felt they had constructive suggestions for improvements were invited to take part in a workshop run by Insight Exchange. They discussed issues – positive and negative – about their experiences with Audi, and came up with ideas and suggestions for change. All the customers were genuinely engaged with the process (one even returned the following weekend and bought a car!). The workshops were filmed, and Insight Exchange presented a representative short film of customer feedback. The Business Improvement Group was then tasked with coming up with improvement initiatives that would raise the standard to meet the ambition to achieve a ‘brilliant’ (not just ‘satisfying’) customer experience.

The first initiative as a result of the co-creation workshop was to introduce a free oil and screenwash top up service for Audi customers. If you drive an Audi and you’re in the Poole area and need a top up of oil or screenwash, you can now drive in and it’ll be done for you. There’s no charge, no booking necessary, no paperwork, and no process. Russell calls this a return to good old fashioned service: “The kind you used to get at filling stations, or the village garage.” Initial results show that this has created enormous goodwill among customers, and has been really successful in creating loyalty and value.

The second initiative that resulted from the workshop was a change in sales policy. It became clear that customers didn’t want to combine the paperwork of a new car with its delivery. Russell says: “Taking delivery of a new car should be a really exciting and positive experience – a cause for celebration. Having to do the paperwork on the day you take delivery of the car tarnished the experience for some people. So we’ve created a system where customers come in two days before they take delivery and do all the paperwork and financing. Then when they come back for the car two days later, they can focus on the car, and it’s a real celebration.”

Measuring results

The programme is measured by a reduction in staff turnover, an improvement in customer satisfaction and, ultimately, an improvement in financial performance.

“We’ve seen that those Centres with improved satisfaction scores and lower staff turnover figures see an increase in profitability,” says Sansom. “Of course, there are many variables, but we know that the Centres that have been through SEI programmes have seen an increase in profitability and performance.”

Burton supports this view. “I’ve always believed that making the work environment a better place leads to improvements in the bottom line. It’s hard to prove; ultimate it’s a gut instinct, but all the signs are right. I feel SEI has contributed to our profitability, and that people want to work here.”   Crawley Audi was also a runner up in Audi’s Q Power award for one of the five best improved Centres. Burton says: “I think SEI has had a real part in that.”

Russell says: “It’s really hard to link staff turnover reduction or increase profitability to SEI. But the bottom line is, you have a choice. If you choose not to engage with your staff or customers, what kind of business are you creating? If you engage with staff, they’ll go the extra mile to delight customers. If you engage with customers, they’ll be more loyal. Intuitively, this is linked to profitability – creating and building a better business.”

He adds: “Insight Exchange are the consultants that make this happen. They add the value, in ways that are much greater than simply running the programme. The most striking thing is the positive energy that the team bring to the process, getting everyone involved and inspiring a real desire to create a better business.”

When the CIPD last published these figures in 2008, 75 per cent of respondents said that employee engagement was the most likely future focus, and 63 per cent said it was also the most desirable. So, while still seen as the greatest area of focus for developing employment relationships, employee engagement is seemingly declining in popularity with employers – or at least with some of those surveyed.

Out of the four sector surveyed respondents from the manufacturing and production sector were most likely to agree that a greater focus on employee engagement was both likely and desirable (seven in 10 agreed), the private and public sector respondents were slightly less certain (with around six in 10 agreeing), and the not-for-profit (NPO) sector clearly needed most convincing with around half of respondents thinking that employee engagement was both desirable and likely.

Looking at the report, it’s interesting to see that the more a sector depends on employee performance (and the impact performance has on results, output and customer service levels) the more the employer seems to value employee engagement. But while NPOs don’t have to worry about delivering the best results for shareholders, they still have a product to deliver, whether that’s shipping aid to a far flung corner of the globe hit by a natural disaster, or preparing for a big national conference. The value and experience that employees in NPOs can provide to their organisation are just as valuable as any private sector worker provides to their company. They can help make the organisation work in a better, more efficient way – which will only benefit the goals of the NPO. It makes little sense for NPOs to place a low value on employee engagement when it can provide them with so much in return for the initial investment.

As outlined in the 2009 report, “Engaging for Success: enhancing performance through employee engagement” not implementing an employee engagement programme can have a significant impact on business change programmes, productivity and morale. Whereas, embracing an engagement programme can create a relationship of trust between employer and employee and deepen the commitment that individual employees have towards their employer. Successful employee engagement programmes have even been cited as the reason for a reduction in sick days taken.

Now that the UK government as emphasised the importance of employee engagement for  continued economic growth it can only be hoped that employers from all sectors start to realise the importance of listening to, and working with their employees to help achieve their company or organisations goals.

According to the report, Lloyds measures around 2.1 complaints per 1000 customers and aims to reduce this to 1.9 complaints per 1000 customers. (Note that the majority of complaints relate to the mis-selling of PPI. These are being excluded from its targets.)

It’s incredibly hard to set a customer service benchmark when you have a dispersed or franchised business. Too often, customer strategies are set from the centre with no input from the people who actually deal with customers: frontline customer service staff (in this case, counter staff). It is these people who will have the answer to reducing complaints, and who will, if asked in the right way, come up with ideas that will improve the customer experience and therefore reduce complaints.

When you walk into a bank, it is the person you see behind the counter who decides what your customer experience will be like. Great service is delivered by individuals who deal with customers. They, more than anyone in Lloyds HQ, will understand what measures the bank can take to improve service and reduce complaints. Let’s hope Horta- Osório asks them.

“In each of us there is a level of capability and potential. If I am managed in one way, then this can come out. Our challenge is how we can get that extra bit out… Conscious or not, this is the philosophy of most employees – ‘I am not a human resource. I am not human capital. I am a human being. If treated like a human being, I will make a greater contribution.’.”

The government’s interest in this is fairly obvious: create a workforce that will help to grow the private sector economy to take up the slack from the cuts in public sector spending. It’s a really interesting move. Employee engagement has long been linked to business success and growth by some of the most forward thinking companies. But I’m interested – and encouraged – to see that this view is now so widely accepted that government is promoting employee engagement as critical to business growth.

We’ve moved from a manufacturing-based economy – one that largely relies on the quality of the products it makes – to one that is reliant on service. The delivery of service is reliant on individuals, and those individuals are motivated by engagement and their experience in the workplace. As a result, the employee experience is becoming increasingly important to the success of businesses, and therefore our economy.

This initiative by government is a sure sign that our collective mindset towards a service-based economy has irrevocably shifted. We’ll be watching with interest.

In fact the top four reasons for poor service from the customer’s point of view are being ‘trapped’ on an automated self-service phone line; waiting too long for service; having to repeat themselves and customer service representatives who cannot answer their questions.

But think about it from the point of view of the customer service representative. Many have to come into work every day and follow a script that does not allow them to show their personality or even give them the flexibility to solve the customer’s problem. It’s not a great working environment and can often lead to stress, pressure and a feeling of being robotic in dealings with customers.

The end result is that while the customer may have battled through the automated system to reach a person, all they get to talk to is another machine – albeit one that is delivered through a human being.

The outcome is likely to a demotivated employee and an unhappy customer, with a significant price tag. UK companies are losing £15 billion a year to competitors through poor customer service according to The Cost of Poor Customer Service: The Economic Impact of the Customer Experience.

Our approach to fixing this problem is to go to the people who talk to the customers and get their views on what can be done to fix any problems with the customer service systems. Managers are often surprised to discover the passion and enthusiasm that comes from allowing customer service teams to find a way of fixing problems that the systems are themselves creating. Taking advantage of people’s natural wish and drive to do well – and succeed – can be the most powerful tool available to customer service management.

We know that with customers’ expectations growing and customer service issues becoming public almost as soon as they occur, the job of managing customer service is becoming increasingly tough. But it will be those companies that put the humanity back into customer service and use technology to support employees rather than replace them that win out – growing revenues, reducing employee churn and building loyal customers in the process.

If you’d like to read more about how to avoid dehumanising your customer service representatives please download our insight paper “Please press 1 for…”

Well, no, not if your aim is to create long-term customer loyalty and the associated profits. Brands need to connect with their customers, to know exactly what value the brand provides to them. To be able to articulate how the brand fits into their everyday lives. This connection is made increasingly difficult to establish when the very way that businesses operate can clash so violently with the way people go about their everyday lives. This really means becoming customer-centric rather than customer focussed.

So, how can brands become customer-centric?

Apart from a basic cultural shift – from viewing the consumer as a sale to be converted, to understanding the real significance of the value of each individual brings to a brand (and visa-versa) – there are specific actions that brands can take.

A good first step is to get the front line, customer facing staff involved in understanding what the customer wants. After all it is these guys that have to deal with the good and bad that is thrown at customer service teams every day of the week and so have intimate knowledge of the customers’ wants, desires and complaints. This process doesn’t have to be expensive or particularly complicated but it does require the management to be committed to change to be effective. Only this way will you generate the necessary social capital to make culture change possible.

Secondly, rather than trying to reduce individual consumers to statistics and trends through quantitative research, taking a qualitative approach can provide insights into the softer aspects of a brand that are so important in delivering customer value and being customer centric.

For more advice on how your brand can create a customer-centric culture, see our insight paper, Becoming Customer-Centric: you’ll never be customer-centric until you love your customers and create a collaborative culture, available for free at insightexchange.co.uk/resources/