Engagement 'central to workplace'

Date: 15/01/2010

A regular lack of individual engagement "consistently scores highly" in all published research on workplace stress, with the importance of communication being emphasised again by an expert.

Jeremy Thorn said that incentives and recognition boil down to people 'abhorring a vacuum', meaning that if a business is presented with an "information void", others will fill in the gaps, likely without truth in many parts, thus compounding the situation.

Clear, objective performance standards must also be kept in place, while setting clear targets for the team and rewarding them - even if only by public acknowledgment - then workers will appreciate giving more in terms of their job.

Finally, bosses should be "especially visible" to workers during the recession, with so-called "management by walking about" being "especially important in hard times", Mr Thorn added.

All firms ought to proactively manage communication by anticipating their employee NEWS: needs, expectations, wants and suggestions, according to Gene Ference for HospitalityNet.

Posted by Michael Ewing

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