The engagement process

At Digital Opinion we see raising employee engagement as an ongoing business improvement process which needs to be directed by senior management but driven by line managers and team leaders working with their teams.

Our recommended approach to managing an engagement survey and post-survey actions depends on which stage of the process the client is at.

(Click on the diagram to view the Three-Year Engagement Outline)

Year one: Company-wide focus

For the first year we recommend a top level company-wide approach. Senior management and HR assume direct responsibility for promoting the survey, maximising the response, championing post-survey actions and ensuring that they are followed through. Analysis and reporting are conducted at a company wide-level and the focus is on the big engagement issues rather than departmental or team level concerns. This company-wide approach reduces concerns about confidentiality and helps to maximise the response. Positioning the senior team as the principal engagement champions helps to raise the profile of employee engagement throughout the company.

Year two: Divisional/departmental focus

For the second year we recommend a more in-depth approach. Senior management and HR continue to play a part in promoting the survey, and monitoring the roll-out of post-survey actions. However, direct responsibility for the survey and the broader engagement process is delegated to the next management tier such as divisional/departmental heads. It is now their responsibility to maximise the response, champion post-survey actions and ensure that they are followed through. Analysis and reporting are conducted at a divisional/departmental as well as at a Company wide-level, and the focus is now on the generation of divisional/departmental solutions to the key engagement issues. The tangible improvements which followed the first survey should help to ensure a high level of involvement in the survey and commitment to the engagement process.

Year three: Team focus

After two surveys and two rounds of the engagement process it is time to delegate responsibility for engagement down to line managers and team leaders. It is their task to maximise the response, champion post-survey actions and ensure that they are followed through. Analysis and reporting are now conducted at a team level as well as at a divisional/departmental and Company wide-level, and the focus is on line managers and team leaders working with their teams to the generate team solutions to the key engagement issues. It is at this level - line managers and team leaders working with the own teams - that engagement really takes root and becomes an integral part of the company's culture. And in that context it is useful to recall the point made by the CIPD: Engagement is something the employee has to offer: it cannot be "required" as part of the employment contract.

Three-year engagement process

(Click on the diagram to view the Three-Year Engagement Process)

Click here to learn more about how Digital Opinion can help you to conduct an employee engagement survey.