Sometimes I wonder if I’m more intelligent than most. In the last 48 hours, I’ve actually felt more switched on than the majority of people I’ve spoken to which is quite pleasing. I’m not bragging, I rarely do, I’ve simply realised that when it comes to how businesses are run, particularly in 2010 when we’re vainly attempting to find ways to crawl out of and recover from a global recession, surely we should have grasped the notion that if our employees are highly engaged then companies can a) make more profit and b) key workers are going to be far less likely to jump ship saving organisations millions in recruitment, training and communication costs?

 

So why does it feel like we’re only just talking about employee engagement, employee lifecycles and investing more in employee communications? Consultants, communicators and companies should have these issues locked down and set in stone but instead it appears they’ve been ignored until (name any failed bank), in some cases, it’s too late.

 

Melcrum has been training communicators and providing research and guidance for 14 years, but in the last few months I’ve noticed a sudden rise in the number of events, briefings and so-called engagement experts offering their wares. One CEO of a large PR company told an audience the other day that every chief executive he has spoken to recently is in a quandary over issues surrounding transformation and at a loss to decipher just why their businesses are haemorrhaging staff. So what action has he taken? Naturally being a PR, he’s identified the idiocy and set up a brand and talent practice to advise disorganised businesses on what steps to take to prevent people leaving, attract the best candidates and take advantage of employee engagement and present it as a wonderful new ‘solution’ to all the corporate world’s problems. British business, read these next few words carefully: It is not new, but sadly, many companies have only just begun to realise that the rapid transformation of the corporate landscape in the last decade has resulted in increasingly complex organisational structures and that senior leaders and managers have lost touch with their employees needs, feelings and how connected they are to the overall company objectives.

 

If we’re not careful this kind of knowledge and awareness gap will only increase, especially this year, with a rise in mergers and acquisitions and industrial action becoming the norm within unionised organisations. British Airways, the Royal Mail, Network Rail, and London Underground to name a few all face some huge engagement projects in the next 12 months and onwards. But do they and other potentially low (engagement) scoring firms believe engagement to be as important and as connected to company profit? I guarantee you the majority don’t but I also guarantee you that their internal communication teams have been struggling with this dilemma ever since they emerged from the HR department as a recognised function.

 

Business, particularly leaders, must realise two things: that employee engagement isn’t a new concept and that the entire business must – in a joined up manner and not in the ghastly silos we are all so used to – treat it and hold it in as a high a regard as any other core element of the company.

 

As Best Companies, the team behind the Sunday Times Best Companies list told Melcrum while reviewing its structure this month, the best performing businesses with the highest engagement scores on its list have, compared to the FTSE 100, doubled their turnover and tripled their profit. If that doesn’t wake up failing companies then I don’t know what will.