1. Employee Engagement
What managers need to know?
Brenda Wilson
Business Leader
Human Capital
Hong Kong

2. Overview
Section I: What is ‘Employee Engagement’?
–
Employee Engagement Defined
–
What Managers Can Do to Improve Engagement
Section II: How to improve employee engagement in your department?
–
Key Drivers of Engagement
Section III: A case study in the public sector
–
Experience Sharing with our Project with Singapore Government
Section IV: Key Takeaways
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3. Section I
Employee Engagement
What is it?

4. Let’s vote: what’s your view?
Q: What is the definition of employee
engagement?
Select one answer:
1.
A new management technique to get your employees to do
what you tell them … the first time.
2.
When two employees plan to get married.
3.
An internal party for employees: “Hey Joe, are you going to
that employee engagement at 2:00 p.m.?”
4.
All of the above (they all sound good)
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5. Engagement Defined
 What
is employee engagement?
–
A psychological state in which employees feel a
vested interest in the company’s success and are
both willing and motivated to perform to levels that
exceed the stated job requirements.
–
Engagement fosters and drives discretionary
behavior, eliciting employees’ highest productivity,
their best ideas and their genuine commitment to the
success of the organization.
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6. Engagement Defined
1960
1980
Satisfaction
Morale

Enjoys the job

Is not
dissatisfied
with terms and
conditions

Not
necessarily a
team player
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Motivation

Strives to
achieve
personal goals

Contributes
energetically

Commitment
TIME
Engagement

Loyal to
organization,
optimistic for the
future

Proactively seeks
opportunities to serve
the mission of the
organization

Collaborates to
achieve team
goals

Willing to go the “extra
mile”

Is willing to withhold
criticism and/or be
constructively critical
for the good of the
organization
Values
achieving
personal goals  Has a sense of
more than team/ belonging to
organizational
organization
goals
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7. Engagement Defined: How’re you doing?
Check your level of engagement
Are you…
Yes No

Getting satisfaction from the tasks required in their job?

Feeling valued by management?

Contributing energetically, not in isolation, but collaboratively?

Positive about the work experience – your employer, its leaders, the work and the
environment?

Ambitious for the organization?

Speaking positively about the organization’s goods and services?

Planning to continue to work for the organization?

Going beyond the stated requirements of the job and contribute ‘discretionary
effort’?
Are you engaged?
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8. From Satisfaction to Engagement
Mercer’s Employee Engagement Model©
Engagement Model
Advocate
They freely contribute
discretionary effort – a willingness
to go the extra distance in
executing projects and their
regular duties. They see a
mutuality of interest between his
or her values and aspirations and
those of the organization.
Motivated
In addition to sharing some of
the attributes of satisfied
employees, motivated workers
contribute energetically and
are highly focused individual
contributors to the
organization.
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Committed
Committed employees have
thoroughly internalized the
values and behaviors
represented by the earlier
stages of the engagement
model, but have also forged a
strong identification with the
organization.
Satisfied
Satisfied employees perform
their jobs and are satisfied with
the terms and conditions of
employment. However, they
tend not to go “above and
beyond” in their efforts.
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9. Let’s vote: what’s your view?
Q: What can manager’s do to improve
employee engagement?
Select one answer:
1.
Act like cupid: every one loves a good engagement.
2.
Give more work, hard work, and lots of it!
3.
Use fear to scare your employees into being very satisfied at
work.
4.
None of the above – there is nothing a manager can do.
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10. From Satisfaction to Engagement
What can managers do?
Satisfied:


Enhance the work environment

Reward (reward level and understanding of the
rationale for reward change)

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Provide work tools, resources and equipment
Recognize work efforts
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11. From Satisfaction to Engagement
What can managers do?
Motivated:


Communicate clear expectations

Regularly clarify priorities and feedback

Provide support by removing obstacles to
optimal performance

Recognize and reward performance

Delegate work to theses employees

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Establish fair performance goals
Support skill development
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12. From Satisfaction to Engagement
What can managers do?
Committed :


Ensure recognition and reward for long term
commitment

Listen to employees, share insights and
experience

Ensure fairness, consistency and transparency

Develop understanding of long-term vision and
business plans

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Help employees build meaningful long-term
careers
Promote organization values and reinforce them
through management behaviors
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13. From Satisfaction to Engagement
What can managers do?
Advocate :


Relate business results to team and individual
roles

Endorse strong customer focus

Share understanding of customer needs with
team

Challenge and grow through delegation

Establish comprehensive career development
plans

Encourage upward communication

Encourage innovation

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Communicate the organization's progress and
challenges
Recognize and reward
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14. “
staff first
We’ve always had a policy of trying to put our
.
The staff should come first, the customers (the public) second and
your shareholders (stakeholders/ tax payers) third.
If you take that approach you’ll find that everyone
Happy staff result in happy
wins.
customers, lots of happy
customers result in happy shareholders.
”
Richard Branson, CEO Virgin Group
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15. Section II
Key Drivers of Employee Engagement

16. National Differences in Engagement Drivers

Over the last several years, the Mercer’s What’s WorkingTM studies have
been tracking the drivers of engagement across countries
China
United Kingdom
Sense of personal accomplishment
Sense of personal accomplishment
Paid fairly, given performance
Confidence in senior management
Comparable benefits to industry
Opportunities for training
Confidence in senior management
What’s
Engagement
working in
Hong Kong?
Paid fairly, given performance
IT systems support business needs
Good reputation
for customer service
Opportunities for training
Regular performance feedback
Regular performance feedback
Comparable benefits to industry
Cooperation between groups
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17. Let’s Vote: What’s your view?
Q: Apart from pay, which ONE element
do you think is the most important
driver of employee engagement?
Select one answer:
1.
Sense of personal accomplishment
2.
Benefits
3.
Career opportunity
4.
Sufficient channels for communication
5.
Confidence in senior management
6.
Training and development opportunities
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18. Key Drivers of Employee Engagement

Although there are some country-specific drivers, a consistent set of
engagement drivers is emerging globally
2007

The work itself,
including opportunities
to develop

Confidence and trust in
leadership

Rewards & recognition

Employee
Engagement
Communication
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19. Key Drivers of Engagement
Drivers of engagement vary by …
Industry

High technology

Retail

Financial services

Professional services

Civil Service
Organizational Context
 Growth
 Privatisation
 Restructuring/downsizing
 Merger and integration
 Employee demographics
Country
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20. Section III
Case Study – Singapore Civil Service

21. Singapore Civil Service
Why Engagement is so Critical…
?
The economic landscape is changing…

Strong year-on-year growth in GDP in
Singapore
How do we continue to retain
employees in the Public
Sector?

The implications on the employment market…

Increased growth across sectors

Competition for talent intensifying


Compensation is critical, but it’s not
everything
Needed to understand the drivers of
employee engagement in the public
sector for talent retention
Increasingly becoming an employee’s market
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22. Approach

In 2005, Mercer established an employee engagement survey, The Singapore
Public Sector Employee Engagement Survey (PS EES) for 20+ agencies

The survey yielded 3,743 data points, sampled from 46 individual public sector
agencies

Regression analysis was conducted to identify key drivers to engagement

Overall engagement was measured by the following four questions:
–
I am proud to work for my organization
–
I would recommend my organization to others
–
Given a choice, how much longer will I be working for my organization
–
How satisfied am I with my organization at the present time
11 engagement categories
Leadership / Climate
Supervisory Practices
Career Advancement
Job Growth
Job Motivation
Learning & Development
Teamwork
Workload
Engagement
Rewards
Performance Management & Feedback
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23. Results

Compensation almost never rated in top three drivers at over 20 agencies for
senior and mid-level staff but was within the top three drivers for junior staff
2007 Key Drivers
2005 Key Drivers
Job Motivation
pr = .34
Leadership/ Climate
pr = .27
Leadership/ Climate
pr = .44
Career Advancement
pr = .38
Employee
Engagement
Career Advancement
pr = .26
Job Motivation
pr = .25
Workload
pr = .08
Rewards
pr = .06
R²=.67
pr = partial correlation, a measure of statistical relationship
R² = coefficient of determination, denotes variation of dependent variable explained by independent variables
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R²=.64
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24. Statistically significant drivers of
engagement – by category
A total of three items were uncovered as statistically significant
key drivers employee engagement at the category level
Employee
Engagement
Leadership/ Climate
Career Advancement
pr = .44
pr = .38
pr =.25
Job Motivation
• The strength of leadership
in the organization
• Opportunities for growth,
development and longterm career potential
• Being intrinsically
motivated by the work you
do
These items accounted for 67% of the variance in Employee Engagement (R²=.67)
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25. Statistically significant drivers of
engagement – by item
Item Level Drivers


A total of five items were uncovered as
statistically significant key drivers of Employee
Engagement at the overall level
The key drivers of Employee Engagement
center around:
-
-
-
-
-
The work itself giving them a feeling
of personal accomplishment
Employees’ belief that they have
opportunities for growth and
development in their organizations
Employee perceptions that senior
management proactively confronts
issues before they become major problems
Employee perceptions that the values of
their organisation are evident in people’s
actions
Employee perceptions that their
organisation has established a good
reputation for customer service
Job Motivation
pr = .36
Career Advancement
• I am proud to work for
my organization
• I would recommend my
organization to others
• Given a choice, how
much longer will I be
working for my
organization
• How satisfied am I with
my organization at the
present time
Q. Opportunity for growth
& development
pr = .33
Leadership/ Climate
Q. Snr Mgmt does a good job of
confronting issues
pr = .24
Leadership/ Climate
Q. Org values are demonstrated
by employees
pr = .18
Leadership/ Climate
Q. Org has established a good reputation
for customer service
pr =.16
pr = partial correlation, a measure of statistical relationship
R² = coefficient of determination, denotes variation of dependent variable explained by independent variables
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Employee
Engagement
Q. Feeling of personal
accomplishment
R²=.61
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26. Section IV
Closing remarks

27. Key takeaways

Compensation is important, but it isn’t everything and for the
Singapore Civil Service it didn’t factor significantly in the results for most
levels of the workforce.

In order to increase levels of engagement, managers need to
understand the drivers of engagement.
–
Are your employees satisfied, motivated, committed or an advocate for
the Hong Kong Civil Service?
–
What can you do to help improve your employee’s engagement?

Key drivers of engagement may vary from industries, organization
contexts, and from country to country: do you know what is driving or
eroding your employee engagement?

Managers can take an active role in engaging the workforce through
various non-financial means leading to better performance and happier
employees who advocate for the government and the public.
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28. Contact
Brenda Wilson
Human Capital, Hong Kong
Tel +852 2115 3312
Brenda.Wilson@mercer.com

29. Employee engagement categories

Leadership / Climate – refers to the senior management team as a whole and perceived clarity in communicating organizational
strategy, ability in confronting issues, demonstrating organizational values and concern for employees as well as management of the
organization as a whole

Supervisory Practices – refers to respondents’ immediate supervisor in terms of perceived competence, availability for consultation,
honest communication and frequency of feedback

Career Advancement - refers to perceived opportunities in career development as well as long-term career prospects in the
organization and the public sector in general

Job Growth – refers to staff perceived value of activities outside their scope of work contributing to their personal development of
organizational excellence

Job Motivation – refers to perceived levels of personal satisfaction, adequate autonomy, interesting challenges and relevant use of
their skills and abilities

Learning & Development – refers to staff perceived value of activities outside their scope of work contributing to their personal
development of organizational excellence

Teamwork – refers to respondents’ attitude towards people in the organization and perceived levels of cooperation within the work
group and across divisions/ institutions

Workload – refers to perceived reasonable levels of work, adequate manpower and ability in maintaining balance between work and
personal life

Performance Management & Feedback – refers to employee level of understanding, perceived equity and flexibility of the PM system,
ability to recognize and reward deserving staff and the level of feedback and communication

Rewards - refers to perceived fairness of compensation and other issues of external competitiveness and internal equity

Engagement – refers to staff level of satisfaction and pride for the organization as well as intent to stay and recommendation of the
organization as a good place of employment
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