Workshop turns spotlight on impact of poor employee engagement

With statistics showing critically low levels of employee engagement in the UK, Wiltshire business owners and HR managers will be given the chance to discover how engaged their teams are thanks to a free workshop being staged at two different venues in March.

Andrea Riding, Managing Director of AARC Opportunity, is a licensed Engage & Grow coach specialising in helping businesses enthuse their workforce so they love their jobs.

She is delivering the workshop in Chippenham on March 3 and Swindon on March 5, where attendees will go through an exercise to find out exactly how engaged their own employees are and the impact it is having on their organisations.

A Gallup survey showed just 11 per cent of UK employees are fully engaged in their roles, with serious consequences for businesses including lower productivity, falling sales, poor customer ratings and increased absenteeism. While a majority of employees – 66 per cent – are not engaged a further 20 per cent are actively disengaged, and can represent a disruptive influence in the workplace.

The award-winning Engage & Grow Group Activation System aims to help companies turn this around by reengaging their employees through tailored programmes. Results show an average increase in employee engagement of 257 per cent for SME businesses which have taken part.

“The low levels of engagement have a serious impact on the performance of a business. It is costing businesses around 34 per cent of their wages bill, and results in low productivity, increased absenteeism and higher staff turnover,” said Andrea. “This workshop will enable them to calculate how engaged their own workforce are using a tried and tested Engage & Grow formula benchmarked against the worldwide Gallup research, to determine a value on what this is costing them.

“We will be giving them some advice on how to reengage their workforce and, armed with this information, they may then consider commissioning an Engage & Grow bespoke programme to find a solution. Engage & Grow uses neuroscience as the basis of its coaching programme to help employers and employees think differently.”

Andrea added that employers and HR managers could take some simple first steps to help their employees feel more engaged. For example, building trust and cohesion, and setting shared goals, will help bring teams and management together.

“Employees want to feel appreciated, they need variety and an opportunity for growth. They need certainty, they need to have significance within the organisation – particularly important for Millennials - and they want to make a contribution,” said Andrea. “Importantly, employees really need to have fun at work. It is so important for learning.

“Businesses with highly engaged employees are 17% more productive and 21% more profitable than those with the least engagement. The figures speak for themselves and the impact of being able to double or even triple employee engagement would be incredibly rewarding to any type of organisation.”

Both workshops run from 8.30-10.30am. The Chippenham workshop is being held on Tuesday March 3 at The Meeting Place (access from the Borough Parade Car Park, SN15 3ER). To book, visit http://bit.ly/2NSe7aq.

The Swindon workshop is being held on Thursday March 5 at The VAS (Voluntary Action Swindon) Centre, John Street, SN1 1RT. To book, visit http://bit.ly/38zt35k.

There is no cost to attend but reservations must be made in advance. For more information https://aarcopportunity.com/ or email Andrea on [email protected].