There is an increased misalignment between employees and management and that hinders the implementation of key tasks as well as retention of top talent.
In this age and time, employee engagement and organisational alignment are critical for a business to sustain, as it increases productivity, and thereby profits. Nowadays, more companies are focussed on increasing employee engagement and enhancing communication between employees and top management.
A survey by POPin, however, has found that there is still a widespread lack of employee engagement and huge misalignment between employees and management. This misalignment hinders the implementation of key tasks as well as retention of top talent. POPin is an anonymous crowdsourcing platform for leaders to increase productivity and achieve goals.
Smooth flow of communication between management and employees is important to successfully implement a project or initiative. Companies arrange for town hall meetings to help increase communication. The survey found that 41 per cent of respondents consider town hall meetings ‘typically one sided’, where information flows from management to employees but not the other way around. About 47 per cent feel that employee opinions are only sometimes heard and addressed in such meetings. This is one big issue companies need to address. Around 45 per cent of respondents say that town hall employee meetings are not conducted at all.
One to one interaction has become important to increase employee productivity. Today management cannot depend on only e-mails to communicate and interact with employees. Feedback from employees is also essential.
Companies arrange for town hall meetings to help increase communication. The survey found that 41 per cent of respondents consider town hall meetings ‘typically one sided’, where information flows from management to employees but not the other way around.
The survey reveals that around 53 per cent of executives use e-mail as the ‘primary’ method of employee communication. Around 24 per cent of the executives surveyed said they obtain frequent feedback from employees, in person, but there is no quantifiable method to gauge employee satisfaction. While 52 per cent do converse with employees, they admit to avoiding giving candid feedback fearing negative career consequences.
Executives need to also consider and implement the feedback received from employees. The survey found that most managers do not prioritise employee feedback to increase productivity. Only 26 per cent of the managers give high priority to feedback received. While 55 per cent of the managers listen to employee concerns, they are challenged to address them. Also, 20 per cent of the executives find it too difficult to sift through feedback to identify employee challenges.
Around 45 per cent of respondents say that town hall employee meetings are not conducted at all.
Limited resources at the disposal of senior management form an obstacle to any further action. Around 36 per cent of the respondents feel that executives are “slow” with “limited resources to react in a timely manner” to employee concerns. Around 20 per cent say they have processes in place that enable senior management to react quickly to employee concerns.
According to the survey, 29 per cent of the executives are surprised when an employee resigns.
Employee retention has become important as the cost of hiring is increasing. According to the survey, 29 per cent of the executives are surprised when an employee resigns. Around 53 per cent of the managers are able to find out when an employee is unhappy, but are unable to remediate the problem. Only 18 per cent of the managers are able to correctly predict employee dissatisfaction and remediate the problem in time.
Organisations want a seamless flow of new ideas and concepts but most respondents say they have open-line communication between departments but there is no solid process to share ideas.
Today technology is playing a critical role in all stable businesses and most organisations are adopting it to stay ahead of the race. Adopting technology requires support from employees and management both. Only 29 per cent of respondents are well aligned and in lockstep with senior management in embracing technology. Around 14 per cent say that employees are reluctant to take on new ideas.
Organisations should be structured such that there is seamless flow of new ideas and concepts. The survey reveals that only 23 per cent of respondents say they have solid infrastructure in place to develop new ideas. Around 52 per cent say that they have open-line communication between departments but there is no solid process to share ideas.
Brian Anderson, chief marketing officer of POPin says “Businesses today are in crisis when it comes to employee engagement and organisational alignment. As social collaboration continues to create new methods of bringing people closer together, most companies continue to follow older, less-effective practices. Business leaders continue to prove they are completely unable to establish an effective process for employee engagement and fail to build organisational alignment on key initiatives.”
