Each year I’m lucky enough to have a family holiday in a seaside cottage next to a sandy beach in North Pembrokeshire. Early one morning I came across a team of beach cleaners who had just done an early morning sweep across the sand. As I walked alongside them I remarked to one that it was a beautiful beach. He nodded and we turned and looked together across the bay. The expression on his face was poetic. He sighed deeply and replied with evident pride in that yes it did look lovely.

I would guess that this man was on the minimum wage, he was certainly dirty and sunburnt from his work and up at 6.30 am picking up the rubbish that other people had thoughtlessly left on the beach. However he was fully engaged in his work.

In September 2008, Will Huttonannounced a major review of Employee Engagement in the UK to be spearheaded by government advisor, Towers Perrin Senior Consultant and former ICI CEO, David McLeod. The review aimed to define effective employee engagement, examine how it can be achieved and produce useful advice for UK business.

I can imagine that across the land business owners threw up their hands in despair. Working hard in the to ensure that people are getting paid, have safe, legal and comfortable working conditions in the worst recession in living memory and now some here’s some expensive waste of tax-payers money on some possibly irrelevant nonsense about keeping people happy in their work.

However before we dismiss this it may be worth looking at some of the figures. Research indicates that income of companies with engaged staff is 20% higher. Engaged employees are said to be 47% more productive and over 40% more likely to make a good impression on customers. The CiPD calculates that 85% of disengaged staff are planning to leave their employer.  Only 12% of UK employees are said to be fully engage with their employer. Just consider the wasted talent – it’s a tragedy!

It’s more than keeping our workers happy. In his earlier book “The Extra Mile” McLeod explains -

“It’s not about employee happiness; it is about untapped potential. In the end organisations are not factories and buildings, they are the sum total of the efforts that their employees put in.”

So what’s the way forward? I’ve written an earlier blog post about this, but let’s return to our beach cleaning friend and take a look if we can learn from his experience.

In his case there’s a clear and straight line between effort and effect - he picks up the litter and the beach looks great. This may be trickier in your business, however how often do we explain to our employees the benefits of their efforts on the final product, the customer, the reputation of the company and ultimately its success and profitability? In terms of knowing that your work is benefiting others, many companies now use their Corporate Social Responsibility approach to bring extra meaning to the daily grind.

He was obviously enjoying being out and about with his work mates and we could guess that team working was big for our friend too. Combine that the customer contact he had with people like me, made for a satisfying day. Not all of us get to spend all our working hours in the middle of a national park and but I’m sure a pleasant working environment helped.

I also like to think that my comments helped contribute to the culture of appreciation which (I hope) our friend worked in.

So knowing how you contribute, helping others, team working, customer contact, a good working environment and being appreciated – where do I sign?

: – )

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