Here’s links to recent reports we’ve come across that we’ve found interesting and some of our key takeaways from them.
IC index reveals building trust in senior leaders is required
The IoIC has just released their first ever IC Index 2023 in partnership with Ipsos Karian and Box.
Takeaways:
- Whereas it's nice that 61% of respondents viewed their IC as excellent, the scoring is softer than the more established eNPS (7-10 is excellent here, rather than 9-10 in eNPS) - This still leaves (at least) 39% feeling their IC is just okay or worse, so plenty of work to do.
- Sarah Meurer, Vice President Global Communications, Elsevier is quoted as saying: "The next opportunity for internal communicators is to be relentlessly curious about the employee experience people are having from the moment they join to the moment they transition, identifying how to improve the moments that matter, continuously raising the bar for our people." - Yep, we worked with the IoIC to create the Employee Experience Opportunity back in 2019 and so hopefully this message will get more traction.
- It is a worry that 22% of respondents don't know if they have an IC team - We kept hearing that the pandemic put IC front and centre... perhaps people have short memories or are people just unaware about what IC teams do? (Does IC come from the sky? Or is more PR for IC required?)
- It's fascinating that the most popular topics people want to hear more about are pay and benefits, strategy and direction, and career and development opportunities - This could be summed up as 'What's in it for me?' and a connection to the core purpose. So, dialling up the EVP seems sensible advice.
- On the flip side, 23% say they're hearing too much about Diversity and Inclusion - this would need more digging into but perhaps a sign that some IC teams have not found the right way to communicate this topic? Perhaps top-down isn't the way and organisation's should focus more upon hearing from their employees what topics are important to them?
- 'IC teams have 15 minutes per day to communicate with workers' - This statistic relates to 'reading or viewing'. Would you really want employees to spend more time per day on this? And this doesn't include verbal communication; team briefings and the like. A major goal of any IC team should be to make the complex simple and support people to find what they want faster.
- On the surface it appears that email is still the most popular comms channel – But is this generation-specific?
- Only 54% of respondents trust the comms they received from their CEO - Oh dear. Perhaps half the IC teams are still using the 1990s style leadership propaganda approach?
- Half of UK workers don’t feel listened to by their employer - When will this ever change? Clearly 'ask but don't act' is still happening.
A thread running through the report is effective IC leads to all manner of organisational efficiencies. Communication is vital in relationships, in families, in communities, and at work - how can we live without it? So, great work IoIC and pals for highlighting some big issues.
Link to report: https://www.ioic.org.uk/resource/ic-index-report-2023.html
A poor EX leads to employees searching for the exits
Home's ‘The Work Project' 2023 global benchmark of Employee Experience highlights that culture isn’t ‘a nice to have’.
Takeaways:
- Only 30% of respondents would actively recommend where they work - WTF!
- A healthy culture nearly doubles the chance you are having more good days at work - As the report says: 'Culture isn't a nice to have'.
- A poor EX leads to 34% actively looking for a new job and 36% casually looking - Which will impact upon the bottom line, both in terms of productivity and future recruitment costs.
- Only 54% of respondents feel their values are true to life - What do Engage for Success say about the say-do gap? The evidence has been around for more than a decade.
- Less than half of the workforce believe senior leaders are transparent - Oh dear. More visibility, perhaps?
- The report is right to call out that flexible working truly isn't 'the promised land' - not having to commute every day does not make up for a friction-full EX.
As we at Brand Experiences say: It's not 'can you afford to invest in EX?', it's 'can you afford not to?'.
Link to report: https://www.thisishome.co.uk/the-work-project-2023/
Only half feel that their organisation’s HR teams contribute towards creating positive workplace environments
Cezanne HR's report into modern employer-employee relationships asks: how satisfied are employees in 2023?
Takeaways:
- Only 54% of respondents felt their organisation’s HR teams contributed to creating positive workplace environments – Is there a feeling that HR focus more on policies, less on people, perhaps? Or maybe some more internal PR on the breadth of what HR supports with?
- Only 48% of employees are satisfied in their roles - clearly, this could lead to productivity issues as well as sickness and turnover increases.
- Only 48% of employees feel valued - 'We pay them, don't we?' is unlikely to hit the mark as employees are wanting more than just a pay cheque now - an attitude of gratitude always helps.
- Only 46% agreed their employers helped energise them into doing their best at work - a case for mojo if ever there was one! And with only 56% feeling supported by their line manager... mojo can aid line managers to be more effective too.
- 43% believe that senior leaders in their business don't contribute to a positive experience for employees - senior leaders set the tone, so perhaps they need more guidance on how to lead and how to lead with integrity?
Not feeling valued, not having faith in senior leaders, and generally not being satisfied in your job are prevalent throughout many recent Employee Experience-related reports. The business case for investing in Employee Experience becomes clearer and more urgent every day.
Link to report: https://cezannehr.com/l/employee-satisfaction-2023/