The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) defines engagement as a “combination of commitment to the organisation and its values, plus a willingness to help out colleagues (organisational citizenship). It goes beyond job satisfaction and is not simply one’s motivation. Engagement is something the employee has to offer: it cannot be ‘required’ as part of the employment contract”.

Research has repeatedly demonstrated that there is a strong link between the way people are managed, their attitudes and their company’s performance. Engaged employees can enhance key performance factors such as productivity, attendance, customer focus, employee satisfaction and employee retention. So, it’s no surprise that organisations are increasing the monitoring and reporting they do around employee engagement, cementing it into organisational culture.

So, if engagement equals higher business performance and lower attrition, coupled with the benefits of getting people ready to lead the organisation out of the downturn, improving engagement seems an obvious strategy to implement and implement effectively.