ORC Internationals 13th Annual Employee Research Conference, London, UK, 5 June, 2008
Article Type: Resourcs From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 7, Issue 6
Over the last dozen years ORC International’s Annual Employee Research Conference has provided forum for knowledge exchange between HR and communications professionals. This year’s event was no exception and was packed out with over 60 HR professionals from both the private and public sector.
The agenda included presentations from UK organizations such as Iceland, Sky,Fujitsu, The Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Rotherham Council and Royal Liver Assurance, and had a specific focus on how to boost, promote and protect employee engagement. Following are some of the highlights from the event:
Fujitsu’s people engagement manager, Pamela Ward, presented on the company’s employee opinion survey which included 23,000 employees in 18 countries and was translated accordingly into a raft of languages. Ward shared practical tips as well as strategic learning points on the research project,which focused on people engagement for the first time in 2007.
Iceland is putting considerable effort into developing a progressive people strategy to drive the company forward. Rachel Harvey, the firm’s recruitment manager, presented details of the company’s recent developments and the impact this has had on both business performance and employee engagement.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is a unique and constantly changing organization with staff scattered across the globe. This coupled with a challenging and high profile agenda, makes engaging staff and demonstrating leadership strength incredibly important. Nicola Bowles, head of internal communications, focused on how the FCO has met the challenges of change and leadership capability in recent years with measurable improvements in staff survey results.
When businesses face challenging times, it is easy to lose the focus on employee engagement. Simon Greenwood, market information manager at Royal Liver Assurance, discussed how the organization has ensured that, despite experiencing significant change, the focus remains firmly on having a continuous measure of employee engagement.
Rotherham Council’s HR manager, Tracey Parkin, took to the stage to talk about the Council’s award winning e-induction program and how new joiner engagement is measured. Developed as a result of employee survey feedback, the program ensures that all employees understand the organization and what is required of them.
The last presentation of the day was by Elizabeth Harris, senior HR planning and projects manager at Sky. Sky is recognized as one of the UK’s most innovative companies, and this extends to its people approach, being awarded with HR Impact Award by Personnel Today in 2007. Elizabeth discussed the innovative approach Sky has taken to employee research, and the people management practices that have ensured that the organization is continually improving.
Kate PritchardHead of employee research, ORC International
