Here’s a stat guaranteed to curdle your latte: According to Gallup Management Journal’s latest Employee Engagement Index, 29 per cent of US employees are actively motivated and engaged in their jobs, while 71 per cent are unmotivated and disengaged either through being not engaged at all (54 per cent) or actively disengaged (17 per cent). A troubling set of numbers, certainly, and as pertinent to the UK as they are Stateside - particularly at a time when maintaining productivity has arguably never been more acute.But who’s to blame for this workplace malaise? Bad managers incapable of fostering a supportive, rewarding and goal-orientated office environment or disgruntled employees doing only the bare minimum and not giving a toss? This recession is definitely testing everyone’s mettle – business owners and employees alike. You don’t need me to tell you times are tough. But even in a nil-increase wage environment (Have you received a raise this year? Probably not, methinks), maintaining value for employees is as essential as maintaining value for shareholders. After all, the former are at the front line when it comes to driving customer engagement. And god knows we need plenty of both.We’ll see the HR proof when the recessional pudding’s finished being baked, I reckon – ie. staff either staying put or leaving en masse after enduring months of management fit hitting the employee relations shan. As we prep for recovery, like The Clash once sang: Should I stay or should I go?
no comments
Hello from Spain, where Mrs Roy has graciously allowed me 10 minutes of quality BlackBerry time before confiscating the bloody thing again and hauling me off on yet another shopping expedition. I’d voted for a spot of golf but have been outvoted.There is no god.If you’re reading this, chances are you’re still at the office. My commiserations – I’ll be back at the salt mine soon enough myself. Regardless of whether or not you have sangria in hand, however, let’s all give a thought to work-life balance this silly season, shall we?Yes, the recession sucks and we’re all working harder and feeling stressed. But even a mini-break somewhere can recharge the batteries and aid productivity. Think of it as a kind of annual emo-MOT – a ‘must do’ item. I’m certainly feeling better for it (bad family outing decisions notwithstanding).Keep your work-life equation balanced, is all I’m saying. You, your associates and your significant other(s) will all thank you for it.PS. Can someone bring back Porgy & Bess? Gotta love the Gershwins. Great musical.
According to figures released recently by the Central Office of Information (COI – tres Orwellian, huh?), the Government has become the UK’s biggest advertiser, spending £540 on marcoms during 2008-09 – a rise of 43 per cent on the previous year.DM expenditure grew by one-third (accounting for £45.6 million), which Marc Michaels, Director of Direct and Relationship Marketing at the COI, attributes in part to the Government’s ongoing Change4Life and tobacco control campaigns.Being something of a digi-doubter, this is a promising sign. In fact I’m predicting that DM will make something of a comeback in the lead-up to Christmas and beyond. As badly targeted e-mail offers have spammed everyone senseless in recent months (the cheapest channel isn’t necessarily the best response driver), Neo-DM campaigns which are personalized, attractive and powered by well-segmented, suppressed and up-to-date transactional data stands to deliver excellent ROI as we try to claw our way out of this recession, I reckon.Right offer, right person, right time, right channel. As a certain rather camp meerkat would say: ‘Simples!’
With the spectre of edited Roll access still looming over the heads of UK marketers, the ‘Age of Opt-in’ has dawned across in Germany. The country’s data protection regulations have been amended with the explicit aim of curbing the trade in personal information between companies. There’s a three-year transition period involved as well as some exemptions (non-profit organisations, for example), but it’s an ominous sign when a Ministry of the Interior puts out a statement which says, in part: ‘The targeting of advertising is increasingly felt to be a burden, and to work against the desire for greater self-determination.’From Nietzche’s Übermensch to über opt-in. Dunno about Denmark, but there’s certainly something rotten lurking over in the direction of the Black Forrest.In other developments… Another day, another data breach, it seems. Brickbats to three HSBC firms (HSBC Life UK, HSBC Actuaries and Consultants, and HSBC Insurance Brokers), who last week were fined £3 million by the Financial Services Authority for losing personal information belonging to over 180,000 policyholders in - you guessed it! - the post. To all those affected, my commiserations. I can only hope that none of the ‘lost’ information, which included unencrypted name, address, date of birth and NI numbers, has fallen into the wrong hands. And to HSBC management: Kindly remind your staff about the importance of data security, will you? Having previously ‘lost’ 370,000 customer records in April 2008, is it just me or are data protection lessons not being learned in certain quarters?
1 comment(s)
Mark Roy
Blogging for:
Member since: 05 Jun 2008
Last login: 19 Nov 2009
Total Posts: 18
