Often I get asked ‘what is your employee engagement secret?’. Megan (RedBalloon Employee Experience Manager)  argues that we don’t have an engagement secret (maybe because we will tell anyone who is interested what we’ve learned – so by definition it’s not a secret). It does take focused commitment from every leader in a business – consistently.

Employee engagement is a journey not an activity. Some organizations are further along their journey than others – but how do you know where your organization is up to in the journey. That is why RedBalloon and Shirlaws came together late last year to undertake some research into organaizational engagement capability. More than 300 organizations participated in the research.

This week we will be launching the results at an event on 2 February in Sydney – I think there are a few places left if you would like to attend…here’s the link to details and tickets.

Some of the findings

1. Training & development, non-cash rewards & incentives, internal communications and flexible working arrangements are the most popular forms of engagement spend across the board, regardless of engagement score
2. Coaching and buddy programs along with a social club are around twice as likely to feature on the menu for engagement in organizations with an engagement score of 80%+ as they are in the group scoring 40-60%
3. A high level of capability in the areas of purpose, culture and recognition doubles your organizations chances of achieving an engagement score of 80% and above
4. Organizations with an engagement score of more than 80% are 30% more capable than those with average levels of engagement
5. Increasing capability from below 50 to above 70 (out of a possible 100) increases your chances of achieving a 80%+ engagement score by x11

I look forward to seeing you at the event….