To answer your question
on the connection
between leadership and
engagement,
we've asked our
expert, Andrew Bell.
If you'd like to ask a
question on this topic or
any other pressing human
resources challenges you
might be facing, email us
at editor-hqap@hewitt.com
and we'll share responses
to selected questions on a
regular basis.
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Global Leadership and Engagement
Question: We are looking at how to go about developing
more global leadership capabilities within our
organization and are particularly interested in whether
there is a relationship between global leadership and
engagement scores?
Answer: This is a slightly difficult question to answer generically because
different companies think differently about the notion of "global leadership
capabilities" and it's difficult, therefore, to collect and review comparative data
from many organizations. That said, there is no doubt that our data shows a very
strong relationship between a range of leadership competencies and employee
engagement scores. Employee engagement is influenced by a wide variety of
factors - how I feel about my day-to-day work, relationships with my colleagues,
my manager, my future career opportunities, to name a few - but we do always
see very strong positive perceptions of leadership capabilities from employees in
Best Employer organizations across the world.
In organizations with high employee engagement anywhere in the world, the
following common practices are evident in leaders:
Communication. Clarity and consistency of message. These leaders communicate
to employees much more often (about three times more) than their counterparts
in organizations with average engagement. They create more opportunities for
two-way communication directly with employees, as well as keep employees much
better informed about organizational goals and strategy and progress against
those goals. Most important, employees in high-engagement businesses trust the
communication from their leaders.
Hope for the future. We all want to work in an organization that provides a sense
of meaning and purpose for us. These leaders make us feel good about what we
do and excited about the future and our role in building a great future for the
organization and for ourselves.
Investment in talent. Leaders in high-engagement organizations take a personal
interest in the success of their employees-all employees. Their personal values
inform their belief that every person makes a difference to the success of the
business. They are personally involved in identifying and developing high-potential
talent and build a sense of collective will and collaboration throughout the business.
Orientation to growth and performance. Leaders in high-engagement
organizations are rigorous about performance.
They are requiring, and they provide the
support and development for employees to
achieve their goals. These leaders are also
much more likely to have a growth agenda
providing a catalyst for new opportunities.
To be effective as a global leader, we
need to add into this mix the capability
to apply these principles across cultures.
These characteristics are fundamental to the
achievement of high employee engagement
wherever you operate around the world.
As we have seen, your employees'
engagement is influenced by a complex
interplay of factors, but the data is clear that
your organization can't consistently achieve
world-class performance-driving levels of
engagement without the majority of your
leaders exhibiting these characteristics.
About our Expert
Andrew Bell is the Global Leader
of Hewitt's Talent & Organization
Consulting organization. Andrew
is the co-author of Leadership
and Talent in Asia: How the Best
Employers Deliver Extraordinary
Performance, John Wiley and
Sons, 2004, and a contributing
author to Gayle Avery,
Understanding Leadership, Sage,
2003. Andrew holds a First-Class
Honors Degree in Modern History
and Politics, a Graduate Diploma
in Human Resource Management,
and a Masters in Human
Resource (Change) Management. andrew.bell@hewitt.com |
