Open Letter to the Times – The Importance of Employee Engagement to the UK
THE IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT FOR THE UK
As sponsors of Engage for Success, the national employee engagement task force launched by the Prime Minister last year, we are publishing today, compelling evidence of the effectiveness of employee engagement in driving performance and productivity for the economy.
Employee engagement is good for individuals, good for business and good for UK growth. The evidence is compelling. Only a third of people are fully engaged at work, the remainder not reaching their full potential. Research also suggests that £26bn in added GDP could be realised from this wasted opportunity.
Today’s report, Employee Engagement – the Evidence, shows clearly that organisations with high engagement levels outperform their low engagement counterparts in both private industry and in public service. Engaged organisations also report lower staff absence, lower turnover, fewer accidents and are linked to increased employee wellbeing.
Our organisations each have different challenges, but we all believe improving employee engagement can help improve productivity and performance in the UK, and thereby stimulate economic growth.
With two thirds of the UK work force failing to reach its full potential, we invite UK plc to join this movement for better engagement at work, so we all raise our game to meet the challenges ahead.
Signed by:
| Lord Gus O’Donnell, former Head of Home Civil Service | Andy Harrison, CEO, Whitbread |
| Nigel Stein, CEO, GKN | Richard Baker, Chairman, Virgin Active, DFS and Nectar |
| Adam Balon, Co-founder, Innocent | Brendan Barber, General Secretary, TUC |
| Neil Bentley, Deputy Director General, CBI | Sir Win Bischoff, Chairman, Lloyds Banking Group |
| Marc Bolland, Marks and Spencer | Karen Boswell, Managing Director, East Coast |
| Adrian Brown, CEO, UK and Western Europe, Royal Sun Alliance | Alex Gourlay, CEO, Health and Beauty Division, Alliance Boots |
| Peter Cheese, CEO, CIPD | Sir Merrick Cockell, Chairman, Local Government Assoc |
| Eric Collins, CEO, Nampak | Rob Devey, CEO, UK and Europe, Prudential |
| Carolyn Downs, CE, Local Government Assoc | Paul Drechsler, Chairman and CE, Wates Group |
| Ronan Dunne, CEO, O2 | David Evans MBE, CEO, Grass Roots Group |
| Barbara Frost, CE, WaterAid | Sir Stephen Bubb, CE, Acevo |
| John Hannett, General Secretary, USDAW | Sir Peter Housden, Permanent Secretary, Scottish Gov |
| Stephen Howard, CE, Business in the Community | Antony Jenkins, Barclays Group Chief Executive |
| Ian King, CEO, BAE Systems | Justin King, CEO, Sainsburys |
| Ian Livingston, CEO, BT | Charlie Mayfield, Chairman, John Lewis Partnership |
| Tim Melville-Ross, Chairman, HEFCE | Steve Mogford, CEO, United Utilities |
| Sir Eric Peacock, Entrepreneur, SME Sector | Ian Powell, Chairman and Senior Partner, PwC |
| Martin Rayson, President, PPMA | Dean Royles, Director, NHS Employers |
| Peter Sands, CEO, Standard Chartered | Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP |
| Ed Sweeney, Chairman, ACAS | John Walker, Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses |
| John Neill, CE, Unipart | Christopher Hyman, CEO, Serco Group plc |
| Sir John Armitt, Chairman, Olympic Delivery Authority | Mark Elborne, CEO Northern Europe, General Electric |
