Engaged in conversation

Despite the cutbacks companies have had to make in the current economic downturn, there is surprisingly little evidence of any appreciable decline in employee engagement. Indeed, research from the CIPD found that in some areas levels of engagement have actually risen, particularly where employees feel their employer is communicating with them openly and honestly. But to what extent are these positive findings mirrored in the north-west of England, where the long-term decline in manufacturing industry has been exacerbated by this recession?

Senior HR practitioners from some of the region’s leading organisations who took part in a round-table event last month in Manchester, hosted by the CIPD in association with the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, were largely positive about the levels of engagement in their own places of work. However, they were very realistic about the challenges still facing them, while also acknowledging that what their own organisations were doing might be the exception rather than the rule.