KNOWLEDGE

Creating anengaged
workforceMark Eydman, CQP MCQI, Founder and Lead Consultant of Six Pillars
Consulting, UK, explains the importance of an engaged workforce andhow organisations can create one to boost business performanceP

eople are at the heart of a
successful quality management
system and their engagement
is key if that success is tobe achieved. ISO 9001 requires top
management to achieve this state as acondition for certification, but what isan “engaged employee”, how can thisbe achieved and what are the explicit
benefits that accrue as a result?
Too often, employee engagement isseen as desirable, but the benefits are
not considered explicitly; measurementis sporadic and flawed, and few
impactful plans to drive improvement
are formulated and executed.
Why is there this gap between
knowledge and action? This is adifficult question to answer, however
personal observation suggests thereis organisational awareness of anengagement gap but a reluctance tobring this explicitly
into the public domain.
Who wants to confirm that
employees are not engaged to therequired degree, especially whensolutions are not immediatelyapparent? Unfortunately, the absenceof measurement does not eliminate
the problem.

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What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is the extent
to which employees feel passionate
about their jobs, are committed to theorganisation and put discretionary
effort into their work. By creatingand retaining an engaged workforce,
employees will help to boost
productivity, support customer loyalty
and enhance organisational quality.
They are also more likely to stay withthe business for longer.

Why should you develop anengaged workforce?

The benefits of employee engagement
are widely acknowledged. “Engagementof people” is recognised in ISO
9001:2015 as one of the seven
Quality Management Principles, withengagement defined in ISO 9001:2015
as “involvement in, and contribution to,activities to achieve shared objectives”.
ISO 9004:2015 goes further anddescribes the requirement for any
organisation to drive employee
engagement through maintained
processes that are supported bymanagers at all levels. Some ofthe described activities to beconsidered include:••••

Knowledge sharing;
Efforts to utilise competence;
Personal development programmes;
Frequent review of employee
satisfaction;• Mentoring and coaching;•	Opportunities for team
improvement activities.

Measurement andimprovement

So, with the importance of employee
engagement recognised, and studies(gallup.com) suggesting potential
impacts of up to 20 per cent on
profitability and 40 per cent in quality(defects reduction), how do we
implement these measurement andimprovement programmes?
Various methods have been deployedwith mixed success to measureemployee engagement. These include
pulse surveys, focus groups, exit
interviews and more structured
survey programmes.
While a full critique of these methods
is beyond the scope of this article, careshould always be taken to ensure thatthe method is appropriate to the aim,
and that feedback and willingness to act
on the results are key components.

Efforts toutilise
competence02

Knowledge
sharing01

Personaldevelopment
programmes

03

ENGAGEDWORKFORCE
06

Opportunities
for team
improvement
activities

TOP TIPS TO
CREATING ANENGAGEDWORKFORCE

04

Frequent
review ofemployee
satisfaction

05
Mentoringandcoaching

While any plan to develop
employee engagement must be
based on direct feedback fromyour organisations’ employees,common actions to drive
improvement include:

1
Providing clarity on
workplace expectations.

2
Providing all the resources toallow people to do their best
every day.

3
A typical approach is the use of anannual survey. For the best result, asimple approach is suggested, witha numeric question to provide tracking
data, as well as some open questions
to explore barriers and driversof engagement.
With surveys of this type,confidentiality can be key, andconsideration may be given to the useof a third party to conduct the work.
It is typical to confirm that identifiable
feedback will only be released whereindividual safety may require it.
As quality professionals, our ongoing
aim is to have not only engaged
employees, but also for them to beengaged with our quality journey.
This aim is not without its difficulties,
and the recently developed ISO
10018:2020 - Quality Management– Guidelines for people engagement,
considers some of the common
challenges. These include:•	Quality has a reputation of being
linked to compliance rather thana collective pursuit of excellence.
• 	Quality is seen as a technicaldiscipline and not “the best way to
get things done” of relevance to all.
• 	Language and tools can be used tomake quality seem inaccessible tothose who are not formally trained.
• 	Quality professionals often lack the“softer skills” necessary to change
the paradigm.
ISO 10018:2020 continues to
explore those themes at a highlevel, showing how challenges canbe overcome. Driving improvement
around leadership, organisational
strategy, knowledge, awareness andcompetence development is advocatedand connected with ongoingorganisational success.

Staff retention

Engaged employees stay longer,
contribute more to a business andare likely to recommend yourorganisation to other potential
talent. Addressing this opportunity
systematically can bring significant
benefits to any organisation, asmentioned previously in this article.
If your employees ask what they
can do to inspire others, help theircolleagues, and actively communicate
their excitement working at theorganisation, then you’re probably
on the right track to creating anengaged workforce.

Encouraging managers at alllevels to provide deserved
praise regularly.

4
Ensuring that every employee
has someone who cares about
them and their development.

5
Finding ways to allow employees
to share their opinions and thenfeel that these count.

6
Ensuring that everyone feels
connected with the organisation’smission or purpose.

7
Developing an effective
process for gathering employee
engagement feedback data,
develop a culture of open andhonest participation and ensure
action is taken where needed.

8
Recognising and celebrating
the links between employee
engagement and business success.

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