Employee Engagement Strategy 2015-18

The Strategy

Engaged employees will:

1. What is employee
engagement?
Employee engagement is a workplace approach
designed to ensure that employees are
committed to their organisations goals and
values, motivated to contribute to
organisational success and are able, at the same
time, to enhance their own sense of well-being.
Engagement is therefore a tool for
organisational success:

This is about how

we create the
conditions in which
employees offer more
of their capability
and potential.
David MacLeod, Engaging for
Success report

Indeed the MacLeod Report found

that high levels of engagement are
associated with better outcomes in
the public sector.1

Experience a blend of job satisfaction, organisational commitment, involvement in the direction of their own job and
a feeling of empowerment when at work.
Be advocates for their organisation and the work it does, by recommending it as a place to work or be a customer of.
Have a motivation to perform well, a desire to improve the way things are in their organisation and to make a
difference to peoples lives.
Work well in teams, encouraging and facilitating the development of others to achieve positive outcomes.
Think, behave and act in a positive way.
Be enabled to be innovative and contribute ideas that are listened to and acted upon.
It is suggested that engagement is developed when the workforce is fully aware of business context and understands
the line of sight (or golden thread) between their own job role and the purpose and objectives of the organisation.
Leaders and line managers have a critical role in creating a culture of employee engagement and enabling staff to make
a difference to the lives of their customers.

2. Strategic context within

Warwickshire County
Council
The Employee Engagement Strategy aims
to increase the staff survey response rate
and engagement score and to support
the development of a more engaged
workforce who can deliver the One
Organisation Plan and Workforce Strategy
2014-8. Engagement itself is not the end
goal, it is however business critical as a
more engaged workforce can support the
delivery of the organisations goals in the
context of transformation.

2.1 Workforce Strategy

2014-8

2.2 One Organisational

Plan (OOP)

This Employee Engagement Strategy

will support the achievement of the
Workforce Strategy 2014-8 which sets
out the direction for our approach to
making the most of our staff and their
talents. Focusing on engagement
is highlighted as one way to deliver
against the Efficiency key theme.

A more engaged workforce

supports the organisational
aims and ambitions as laid
out in OOP and are integral
to its delivery, that is, by
being highly skilled and
supported they can contribute
to the outcome of resources
and services are targeted
effectively and efficiently
whether delivered by the local
authority, commissioned or in
partnership.

Engaged individuals are also more

likely to be demonstrating the
behaviours defined in the Working for
Warwickshire competency framework.

1. Engaging For Success: enhancing performance through employee engagementreport to government (also known as the MacLeod Report)

3. Why is employee engagement

important?

4. The benefits to
employees

Research shows that improving employee

engagement has a positive and significant effect on
organisational performance, including productivity,
financial performance and efficiencies.

In addition to the benefits for business

performance, engagement also benefits
the employees themselves, for example:

Evidence has been found in public, private and voluntary sectors of a direct correlation in
organisations between highly engaged staff and:

Productivity
Financial efficiencies
Customer satisfaction
Innovation
Revenue generation

Absence
Wellbeing
Retention
Health & Safety

Warwickshire County Council can therefore benefit from engaged employees because, as well as being
happier, healthier and more fulfilled, they deliver improved performance. There are nuances in the drivers
and outcomes of employee engagement, but the basic link is that if we improve employee engagement we
will see improvements in organisational performance.
There is a risk that failure to focus on this could increase disengagement at a time when the council
needs its employees contributions more than ever. The CIPD states that As well as productivity losses,
organisations may lose their best people and face huge difficulties when embedding organisational change
if employees are not on board. Disengagement also threatens effective collaboration, innovation and
human capital management, as employees will not be inclined to use their tacit knowledge and skills for
the good of the organisation.2

2. Chartered Institute Personnel & Development (CIPD)

Employee Engagement Factsheet 2014

This Employee Engagement Strategy is also aligned to work on workforce planning, talent management
and leadership development.
3

A positive state for the individual

which is a precursor to success
Feeling happier, healthier and more
fulfilled
Greater motivation and morale and
therefore productivity
More commitment to the
organisations goals and therefore
sense of purpose

5. What are Enablers of Engagement?

Four common themes emerged from the extensive research
captured in the MacLeod Report.
1. Visible, empowering leadership providing astrong
strategic narrativeabout the organisation, where its
come from and where its going.
2. Engaging managerswho focus their people and give
them scope, treat their people as individuals and coach
and stretch their people.
3. There isemployee voicethroughout the organisations,
for reinforcing and challenging views, between
functions and externally, employees are seen as central
to the solution.
4. There is organisationalintegrity the values on the
wall are reflected in day to day behaviours. There is no
say do gap.

6. How is employee engagement measured?

The Staff Survey is a tool to allow us to find out how engaged
our people are, to address our particular issues and to analyse
the factors behind successes.
In 2014, engagement scores were calculated for the first time
from the results at a corporate, Group and Business Unit level.
In order to generate our engagement score we have used a
recognised model provided by ORC (international research
and benchmarking organisation) which identifies six specific
questions from the staff survey.

For the County Council the Engagement Score has been

calculated by looking at the net positive responses to these six
questions. The score for 2014 is 66.9% a slight increase from
65.8% in 2012. There is of course, variation within the results
between Business Units and Groups, and these have been
communicated to Strategic Directors and Heads of Service
directly.
This engagement score of 66.9% compares favourably to local
government and the public sector on comparable questions
according to ORC research:

Table 1

WCC % positive

Public Sector
benchmark

Local Government
benchmark

I am proud to work for WCC

66

66

67

Overall I am satisfied working for WCC

73

69

72

I believe I have the opportunity for personal development and growth

whilst at work in the CC

51

55

51

The County Council is a good employer

72

61

61

My immediate manager encourages me to propose new ideas and to

improve the quality of our services to our customers

74

72

74

I think it is safe to speak up and challenge the way things are done
at work

67

43

44

Overall score (average)

67

61

62

The response rate to the staff survey in 2014 was 49.8% of nonschools workforce. This means that a considerable proportion of
the workforce is not contributing their views and we are unable at
present to measure their engagement score.
The Staff Survey is an important part of the process, but only part
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of it. Further ways to measure engagement on an ongoing basis

include using focus groups, pulse surveys and employee forums
There is an expectation within WCC that all managers
demonstrate engaging behaviours and are champions of the
Enablers of Engagement, staff survey and action planning.

8. Engagement strategies and initiatives - Action plan

This strategic plan outlines the strategies and initiatives to support enhanced employee engagement at Warwickshire County Council
and achieve the vision of an engaged workforce.
We will:

Table 3

7. What outcomes will be delivered?

The business focused outcomes that will be delivered by this
strategy are:

Initiative
8.1

Actions

Staff survey


More engaged workforce highlighted by
improvements in engagement score which in turn
should create tangible benefits including:
Improved productivity
Improved financial performance

Higher levels of customer service and advocacy
Increased innovation

Increased staff retention and reduced recruitment costs
Improved morale and wellbeing
Improved H&S performance
In addition to changes in our staff survey results and
engagement score, we will also therefore be able to monitor
changes in our organisational performance such as:

Table 2
WCC (excluding schools)

*2014-15 Information

Staff retention/labour turnover

13.6% per FTE

Sickness Absence

10.13 days per FTE

Operate the full staff survey on a once every 2 years basis with
the next survey in summer 2016 using the Observatory to
manage the survey.

Set a target response rate of 54.8% (an increase of 5% on 2014

survey).

Survey design review questions and how demographic data

is used, Engage with Group Employee Forums.

Branding of survey - Develop a visual identity and title to

reflect engagement focus.

Responses - Identify how best to engage with hard to reach

sections of the workforce i.e. remote workers.

Data analysis - Continue to generate the engagement scorean organisational target of a 3% increase has been set to 69.9%
in 2016. Also review data and opportunities for improved
analysis.

Who

When

HROD, SICM
& Group
Employee
Forums

For June/ July

2016 staff
survey

8.2

Pulse surveys

Introduce pulse surveys to ascertain progress against actions or

views on topical issues. This will also enable us to target hotspots
and measure engagement on a more regular basis.

HROD & SICM

Starting in
June 2015

8.3

Action planning

Continue to operate corporate and local level action planning,

building on what works well at the moment. This local focus will
support the opportunity for employees to have a voice through
employee forums and to be central to the solution.

All managers

Ongoing

8.4

Introduce engagement as
service measure on scorecard

To explore having an agreed engagement target score for each

Business Unit that they are measured against. The measure
will be provided through HR&OD & SICM using the Staff Survey
and pulse survey engagement scores so that they have this
information on an annual basis.

HROD & SICM

From October
2015

* Data taken from Workforce Report 2014-15

An appropriate measure is needed for productivity as it is a

priority area of focus.
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Initiative
8.5

8.6

Actions

Employee voice

Communications strategy

Utilise existing groups and forums such as the Group employee forums, staff networks (e.g. LGBT, Disability) and CEDG - Corporate Equality &
Diversity Group to act as sounding boards, sense checks, critical friends, champions and to recommend solutions to improve performance at a local
level.

Work with the Group Employee Forums, providing them with tools to help drive response rates and engagement at a local level and to support line
managers.

Review the opportunities for corporate listening/focus groups to provide a different perspective.

Promote the Staff Feedback and Suggestion Scheme to give staff the opportunity to submit comments and suggestions at any time, not just
through theregular staff survey.

Develop a robust communications strategy based on the You Said, We Did approach to ensure employees know that action will be taken as a result
of the surveys.

Communicate what staff value about working for WCC and ensure that good practices are maintained.

Who

When

HROD, Group
Employee
Forums &
Internal Comms

Ongoing

Internal Comms

April 2015
onwards

8.7

Identifying good practice

Identify and share best practice of areas of the organisation that are doing well in terms of engagement e.g. through case studies.

HROD & Internal

Comms

Jan 2016
onwards

8.8

Engage for Success Workshops

Explore workshops to support our managers to improve the engagement of their teams.

OD team

Jan 2016
onwards

8.9

Developing employees strengths

Use R2 Strengths Profiler approach within the organisation to focus on strengths, for example as part of talent management, as research has

HR&OD

Ongoing

As part of the Corporate Health, Safety and Wellbeing Strategy, there is a commitment from WCC to have a Workplace Health & Wellbeing Action Plan so
as to integrate and encourage synergies between health and safety with occupational health and wellbeing. There are a number of activities in place to
support the wellbeing of WCC employees and to assist the Leadership Team in achieving their statutory and strategic obligations.

HS&W

Ongoing

Internal Comms

Ongoing

established a compelling connection between strengths and employee engagement in the workplace, whereby focusing on both can accelerate
organisational performance.

8.10

Wellbeing

These include:

Development and implementation of relevant occupational health and wellbeing related policies/arrangements (such as stress),
Holding a H,S & Wellbeing Forum
Reviewing Occupational Health/sickness/accident trends/ statistics
Delivering relevant OH and wellbeing communications to inform managers about their roles
Provision of a wellbeing event
Revamped learning and development activities.
8.11

Recognition, affirmation and

celebration of success Employee Awards

Warwickshire STARs (Staff Thanks And Recognition) were launched in April 2015. Following consultation with staff panels and managers,
we have refreshed the criteria and made this a more open process so that it is inclusive and staff are encouraged to nominate others. There are
team and individual awards which allow us to highlight those who make extra effort and exemplify the behaviours we need to deliver good
services.

WOW Awards - We will continue to participate in The WOW! Awards, a UKwide staffrecognition scheme,celebrating outstanding customer
service.
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9. Engagement programme focused on 2014 Key Driver Analysis in response to the staff survey
In 2014, we used the Key Driver Analysis tool to identify what drivers in WCC will have the biggest impact on engagement. This is being used to
provide a focused action plan for driving improvements in engagement, in addition to the localised action planning.
Four main areas form the focus for corporate activity 2014-16:

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9.1 The opportunity to
contribute my views to
changes affecting my job
We are strengthening our
approach to supporting managers
to manage change. A review
identified that managers need
more opportunity to network
and learn together from
others. HR Business Partners
and the OD team have piloted
a semi structured process of
management huddles to enable
this. Feedback has been positive,
so we will extend our support of
this way of working and learning
- encouraging dialogue between
managers and staff during times
of change.

2
9.2 Effective leadership by senior
management
The role of the line manager is key in enabling
and building engagement. Activities to
provide support include:
The Personal Leadership Programme
promotes a culture of open leadership,
developing engaged and engaging
managers who treat their people as
individuals, coaching everyone to take
responsibility for their own actions and
stretching their potential.

Further work will be undertaken to
propose a development strategy for
Corporate Board and Leadership Team.

9.3 Work morale is good

9.4 Satisfaction with opportunities at WCC

There are a plethora of factors which

contribute to good morale including
the importance of employee voice
throughout the organisation,
reinforcing and challenging views
and being solution focussed. To
support this, we are undertaking the
pulse surveys and focus groups with
employee forums to understand what
are the most important motivators
and contributors to morale and
use this intelligence to shape our
responses.

We will continue to promote the variety of development opportunities

available including through WILMa, linked to identified needs through the
appraisal scheme and competency framework.
The work to embed the Working for Warwickshire Competency Framework
launched in April 2014, brings focus in appraisal discussions to an
individuals development priorities and therefore options. These messages
also highlight the development opportunities in WCC including:
Secondments/Shadowing
Coaching and mentoring
Continuous Professional Development opportunities
Career pathways for Social Workers.
Elearning
Face-to-face learning


The West Midlands Coaching Pool and a
newly developed internal coaching pool,
provide leaders with the opportunity
to access coaching to support their
development. There are also activities
on the corporate menu to develop the
coaching skills of managers.

Additionally, we are investigating how we can be more effective in

matching the skills of those staff at risk of potential redundancy with
internal recruitment opportunities.
Following the results of the 2015 Pulse Survey and the 2016 Staff Survey,
we will review the Key Driver Analysis again to measure any improvements
in results and to identify priorities to drive engagement for 2016-18.
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Further Information

10. Monitoring and Review

Workforce Strategy 2014-8

The Employee Engagement Strategy will be monitored by:

One Organisational Plan

Corporate Board
Engagement Working Group

For queries or feedback please contact:

Group Employee Forums

Amy Fiddy
Organisational Development Consultant
HR&OD
Resources
01926 47 6604
[email protected]

The indicators of success will be: Results of Pulse Surveys

Sept 2015

Staff Survey Response rate

June 2016

Employee Engagement Score 2016

June 2016

Impact on business outcomes

2016 & 2018

Information in other formats

If this information is difficult to understand, we can
provide it in another format, for example, large print,
audio tape, easy read, or in another language.
Please contact the Interpreting and Translation Unit
on 01926 359177.
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