What

1
Whats bugging employees?

• Simon Atkinson
• Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute
• 25 April 2006

2
Whats the prevailing mood in the typical UK
workplace?
3
Our research among employees shows.

• Around half of British employees would speak
  highly of their organisation as an employer
• Just two in five British employees agree they
  feel valued and recognised in their current roles
• Less than half receive regular performance
  feedback from their line manager
• Only a fifth feel involved in their
  organisation, but two in five would like greater
  involvement
• Just a fifth feel they have a clear career path
  with their current organisation (but many more
  would like one)

Source Ipsos MORI/Insight normative database
4
The default position for UK employees private
AND public sector.

• Morale is NOT good
• Promotion is NOT on merit
• My career path is NOT clear
• Information about decisions is NOT well
  communicated
• Comms/cooperation in my department IS good
• But comms/cooperation between depts is NOT
• Good ideas are NOT shared
• I DO understand the need for change
• But it is NOT well managed
• Staff are NOT consulted

Source Ipsos MORI/Insight normative database
5
On the other hand
6

• We like our jobs
• We are committed to what we do
• We expected to stay with the organisation
• .at least for the next couple of years!!

7
Whats bugging those who do leave? A retail case
study
8
Retail case history impact of experience on
employer advocacy
Be critical
Speak highly
31
All leavers
29
Base 300 former employees of British retail
company
9
Retail case history impact of experience on
employer advocacy
Be critical
Speak highly
Main reason for leaving
33
Lack recognition
83
26
Relationship with line mgr
70
34
Lack interesting/varied work
57
24
Lack career opps
56
21
Insufficient training/devt
49
37
Pay
48
Base 300 former employees of British retail
company
10
EXIT retail case history key reasons for
resigning
Spontaneous
Working relationship with line manager
Offered another job
Unsociable hours
Low pay
Lack interesting/varied work
Poor working environment
Too many hours
Lack career opportunities
Insufficient training/devt
Work related stress
Educational commitments
Lack of recognition
Base 300 former employees of British retailer
11
What can we learn from excellent
organisations?A case study from local government
12
Excellent councils are the best places to work
Q I am now going to ask you to rate Authority
name as a place to work compared with other
organisations? Would you rate it as?
Above ave
Average
Below average
Excellent
68
27
1
13
Excellent councils are the best places to work
Q I am now going to ask you to rate Authority
name as a place to work compared with other
organisations? Would you rate it as?
Above ave
Average
Below average
Excellent
68
27
1
Poor
20
45
24
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
14
Excellent councils are the best places to work
Q I am now going to ask you to rate Authority
name as a place to work compared with other
organisations? Would you rate it as?
Above ave
Average
Below average
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
15
Job satisfaction is higher in better performers
very satisfied with their present job
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
16
But views on pay are similar everywhere
strongly agree that my pay is fair
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
17

• But..

18
Commitment to staying in same organisation
similar everywhere
strongly agree
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
19
Too much bureaucracy everywhere!
strongly agree there is too much bureaucracy
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
20
Stress at work is affecting personal life no
significant differences..
strongly agree
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
21

• So what is different in the most effective??

22
Bit better at recognising staff.
strongly agree
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
23
Staff feel they are kept better informed
strongly agree
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
24
Staff are consulted on management decisions
strongly agree
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
25
Staff much more confident about customer care
Strongly agree
My organisation is focused on the needs of its
customers
My organisation provides good value for money to
customers
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
26
Best have more internal cohesion overall
Strongly agree
I understand my organisations overall objectives
I understand my units overall objectives
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
27
Much more confidence in senior management
Disagree
Senior management have a clear vision of where
the organisation is going
I have confidence in the senior management team
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
28
As a result of all of these things.
29
Best most likely to tell people outside they are
great!
Strongly agree that they would speak highly of
the authority to others outside the organisation
Overall
Excellent
Good
Fair
Weak
Poor
Base All respondents (500). Fieldwork 12th
27th May 2005
30
UK employers of choice
Source Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For/
March 2006
31
Doing employee research whats changing?
32
Employee research in 2006 what there is more
of...

• Talent management
• Employee well-being/work life balance
• Living the brand/values
• Using the research to help think about
  recruitment
• Using the research to link with what the
  public/customer think

Source Ipsos MORI/Insight normative database
33
The impact of employee behaviour on customer
loyalty
Reasons for repurchasing
Reasons for recommending
Quality of products/services
Price of products/services
How staff treated you
After sales service
Range of products/services
Handling of enquiry/complaint
Staff knowledge of prod/services
Promotions/special offers
Knowledge of brand/reputation
Staff enthusiasm for prod/services
How staff represented company
Its reputation as an employer
Source Ipsos MORI/MCA Research Adults GB (925)
34
HR director April 2006
Employee engagement....are we looking for this
(pause while thinks hard)........ no, I don't
think that's on our agenda, is it?    
35
HR director April 2006
Employee engagement....are we looking for this
(pause while thinks hard)........ no, I don't
think that's on our agenda, is it?    
36
What should be on our checklist if we are
thinking about researching our employees?
37
Think about the pressures facing your
organisation
Skills shortages retention issues
Ageing population
Economic slow down
Competitive advantage through branding
TRUST ENGAGEMENT ETHICS
Global talent pool

Seeking true diversity
New technology tools
EU legislation
38
.think about WHY you want to do the research
Improve customer satisfaction/ business
SWOT analysis
Boost employee engagement
Why are you doing this?
To become a more attractive employer
Improve leadership/ performance
Improve internal comms
Identify enablers/ barriers to high performance
Manage the impact of change
39
. do we have a framework like this we want to
explore.?
Bystanders Understand organisational goals but
lack drive to support them
Champions Willing and able to support business
goals
High
Understanding of business goals and role in
achieving them
Weak Links Waiting to be engaged, or lost
interest and switched off
Loose Cannons Motivated but lack understanding
how to support business goals
Med/Low
Commitment to achieving business goals
Med/Low
High
Source Ipsos MORI/MCA Research Adults GB (925)
40
Think about what you want to be measuring.

• Opinions?
• Attitudes?
• Values?
• Behaviours?
• Closed questions?
• Open-ended questions?
• Qualitative?
• Quantitative?

41
Think about how you are going to analyse the
findings
Mean Familiarity Score
Source Ipsos MORI/Leisure sector company Base
Sample of new joiners
42
Think about what you are going to do with the
findings before you start.

• Stage 1 Evaluation
• Determining the key issues
• Identifying root causes
• Prioritisation improvement areas

• Stage 4 Review
• Review action
• Measure progress
• Identify success
• Communicate progress

ACTION PLANNING KEY STAGES

• Stage 2 Planning
• Improvement actions
• Existing initiatives
• Quick wins
• Improvement targets

• Stage 3 Implementation
• Allocating resources
• Determining accountability
• Formal record of plan

43
.and think about who is in charge
44
Think about what questions you want your managers
to be thinking about.

• After today
• Detailed analysis
• Looking at my service area
• Understanding key cohorts grade, length of
  service
• Linking to our customer satisfaction data

• Today
• How are staff feeling about the organisation?
• Are things improving?
• What issues should WE be talking about?

45
Whats bugging employees?

• Simon Atkinson
• Ipsos MORI Social Research Institute
• 25 April 2006