• 2.1: Talent Management
• 2.2: Learning & Development
• 2.3: Interim Services
• 2.4: Business Consultancy

I hear my staff muttering about coming to work. Does it have to be such a chore? How can I engage my staff better?

Answer: make people feel valued!

Increasingly, there are more examples of good people management in the housing world, as leaders no longer just pay lip service to the oft-repeated mantra: ‘Our employees are our most valuable asset.’

One of the keys to employee motivation, high performance and retention is simply creating an environment in which your staff can feel a real passion for their work. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s most recent UK-wide employee survey found that only 35 per cent of employees were engaged with their work.

Two of the main drivers of employee engagement were found to be:

• Having opportunities to feed views upwards; and
• Feeling well-informed about what is happening in the organisation.

The survey highlighted the correlation between those with positive views of their managers and higher levels of engagement, regular meaningful feedback on performance and a greater likelihood of staff retention.

When citing the pretty dismal statistics on the level of feedback given to staff and how valued they felt at a recent National Housing Federation conference, there were more than a few guilty faces in the audience. Staff at the sharp end were more likely to see things going wrong and, more importantly, know how to fix them, but they need to feel valued and that their opinion counts.

What is not listening to staff costing your organisation?

You can engage your staff by developing the skills to involve and listen to them. It’s a great opportunity to get to know and to tap into this often neglected and diverse resource, which, as we all know, is our most valuable asset.

Greg Brown is a Senior HR & Executive Coaching Associate with over 30 years successful experience in local authorities, the NHS and Social Housing and at senior levels, operating as Director, Chief Executive and Board member.