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UK - Employees Need More Than a Job to Feel Engaged in Their Role
UK Research Shows That Employers Need to Ensure Employee Engagement Isn’t Forgotten in the Rush to Beat the RecessionLONDON - 30 April 2009 – Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO), the leading provider of on-demand talent management solutions, today announced new research from the UK that shows employees still need to be engaged with their company, even in a recession. Conducted by an independent research house on behalf of Taleo Research, the study, called ‘Engaging Times,’ found that of 1,020 employees surveyed, half feel that their career appraisals aren’t constructive and only 45% have visibility of job opportunities within their company. Such findings indicate that employee engagement strategies are not being implemented by many organisations and that visibility of personal career opportunities is needed to engage staff.
The report considers the engagement levels of UK employees and some of the factors that can influence employee engagement. Employees who have a restricted view of personal development, career progression and alternative job openings can struggle to see a future with their employer. As such, one in five employees said that despite the economic downturn, they are still interested in looking for a new job.
Key findings:
o Over three quarters (77%) of respondents understand how their current role contributes to the business and helps it succeed. But for many, future prospects are cloudy, as just 42% of respondents can see what their next step up the career ladder will be.
o Only 57% have clear communications with their employer about their career.
o Just 40% of respondents have access to online talent management tools that support career management, goal management, succession planning and ongoing performance improvement to help them plan their careers.
However, respondents who do have access to talent management tools show a link between this access and support when it comes to managing their careers. For example:
o 60% of employees who have online visibility of internal job openings also have constructive performance appraisals compared with just 36% of employees who lack this visibility.
o An employee’s understanding of their role within the company rises to 82% when talent management tools are used.
“The continued reports of job losses naturally lead to a feeling of uncertainty amongst employees, many of whom will now be looking for career security,” said Alice Snell, vice president, Taleo Research. “In Taleo’s 2008 research report, ‘Unified Talent Management: Critical to UK Business,’ 74% of HR executives saw an increased need to retain top performers by driving the focus on performance management and career planning. A year on, the results from ‘Engaging Times’ show that this planned focus hasn’t materialised and that retention of key talent still remains an issue.”
Snell continued, “HR directors need to ensure a higher level of employee engagement in these challenging times. Otherwise they risk losing talented employees. In 2008, the average staff turnover rate in the UK was still 17.3% . If employees aren’t engaged, they will look for opportunities, especially among competitors that provide better assurances of a structured career path and job security.”
These themes are echoed by findings from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD). In recent advice on managing talent in a recession, CIPD chief executive, Jackie Orme, highlighted the contribution engaged employees can make to companies focused on cutting costs and increasing productivity.
Sector specific findings:
o Public Sector – Employees in the public sector have the best visibility of internal job openings (73%).
o Retail – The retail sector shows the lowest access to employee career support across all organisations. Just 41% of retail employees have visibility into in-house career opportunities. Less than one in three employees have access to career planning tools (27%) or feedback on performance (32%). The sector has the highest percentage of employees planning to leave their job in the next three months (30%), 10% higher than the average.
o Financial Services – 52% of employees in the financial services sector have access to software tools for career planning, the highest across the sectors.
o IT and Technology – Employers in the IT and technology sector are the best at providing feedback on performance to employees. 67% of employees in the sector receive feedback on their performance compared with the cross-sector average of 40%.
Snell concludes, “In the current climate, competition between companies to survive, succeed and grow will only become more intense. To improve employee engagement and productivity, organisations need to take action. Steps include ensuring employees can manage their career goals, have a clear career path, receive constructive appraisals and have good visibility into other job roles and promotion opportunities in the company. On top of these employee engagement benefits, this will also provide the employer with a strong and well structured employee base to grow from once an upturn starts.”
A full version of the research report ‘Engaging Times’ is available to download at http://www.taleo.com/research/research.php
Methodology
The research was undertaken during February 2009 in an online survey with 1,020 demographically representative employees in the UK. The research was conducted by Loudhouse Research, an independent research agency, on behalf of Taleo.
About Taleo
Taleo (NASDAQ: TLEO) is the leader in on-demand unified talent management solutions that empower organisations of all sizes to assess, acquire, develop and align their workforces for improved business performance. More than 3,900 organisations use Taleo for talent acquisition and performance management, including 48 of the Fortune 100 and over 3,300 small and medium sized businesses across 200 countries and territories. Known for its strong configurability and usability, Taleo runs on a world-class infrastructure and offers 99.9% availability. Taleo's Talent Grid harnesses the resources of the Taleo community of customers, candidates, and partners to power the talent needs of companies around the world.
About Taleo Research
Taleo Research analyses the best practices and economics of talent management for organisations of all sizes, worldwide. The specialty research practice focuses on business analytics that tie talent management technology and process improvements to financial results.
Forward-looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the demand for and results from use of Taleo's solutions and general business conditions. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon Taleo's historical performance and its current plans, estimates and expectations and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent Taleo's expectations as of the date of this press announcement. Subsequent events may cause these expectations to change, and Taleo disclaims any obligation to update the forward-looking statements in the future. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. Further information on potential factors that could affect actual results is included in Part II, Item 1A of Taleo's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed with the SEC on August 11, 2008, and in other reports filed by Taleo with the SEC.
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