As companies emerge from the worst recession since the Depression, they are faced with low employee engagement and poor workplace morale that can slow the recovery process.

A new survey by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Research Foundation and Buck Consultants, A Xerox Company, finds that an individual’s supervisor and the amount of employee communication in an organization are the top two influencers of employee engagement.

Factors increasing and decreasing employee engagement An immediate supervisor can influence an employee’s engagement level both positively and negatively. Forty-four percent of survey respondents said their supervisor strongly increased employee engagement, while 41 percent said supervisors strongly decreased employee engagement. Thirty-nine percent of respondents indicated the amount of employee communication is a strong contributor to employee engagement, and 47 percent said it had a moderate influence. Other factors contributing to increased engagement included change in leadership (31 percent) and rewards/recognition programs (18 percent). Factors contributing to decreased employee engagement are poor morale (49 percent), poor management/leadership (48 percent), downsizing (38 percent), and change in leadership (26 percent).

“Another trend we’re seeing is more common use of social media as part of an organization’s employee engagement strategy,” said Robin McCasland, chair, IABC Research Foundation and president, Brain Biscuits Strategic Communication. “The differences between internal and external communication are blurring, and organizations that communicate effectively through social media are finding that it enhances a positive workplace culture, supports employee engagement and reinforces a favorable external reputation.”

“One of the key findings of this year’s survey is that enhancing the organization’s culture and work environment has become the respondents’ highest ranked goal for employee engagement,” said Bob Carr, principal at Buck Consultants. “Organizations are committing themselves more deeply to effectively engaging their employees, knowing that this is the key to meeting their productivity, retention, and overarching business goals.” This is the third “Employee Engagement Survey” conducted by the IABC Research Foundation and Buck Consultants to determine how organizations are communicating with employees to keep them engaged and productive. Nearly 1,000 communication professionals participated in this year’s survey, representing a broad industry and geographic base. Other survey highlights include:

Goals for Engaging Employees Last year, companies were most concerned with increasing productivity in the workplace. This year’s survey found that creating a new culture or work environment (33 percent) was the most important goal identified by survey respondents, followed by increasing productivity (28 percent) and retaining top talent (26 percent).

Communication methods used to engage employees and foster productivity Similar to the results from the previous year’s survey, emails (81 percent) and intranet (72 percent) are the most frequently used communication methods in the workplace for employee engagement. Compared to results in 2010, there was a slight decrease in the numbers for face-to-face communication (46 percent) and a slight increase in the numbers for social media (16 percent). More than half the companies surveyed used blogs (69 percent), Twitter (58 percent), Facebook (57 percent), instant messaging (57 percent) and YouTube (53 percent) to communicate with their internal and external audiences. Tools added to the corporate intranet More than 50 percent of respondents said their organizations added content-sharing tools to their intranets within the past five years. Employee profiles/bios, news feeds, traditional blogs and various collaboration tools were popular additions.

A report from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) highlights innovative ways of using an employer brand to address one of the biggest challenges facing UK PLC – attracting staff with the skills and attitude to help drive businesses forward.  A key conclusion is that recruitment providers and other intermediaries can become genuine brand ambassadors in order to amplify the values and philosophy that businesses want to project as part of their candidate attraction strategy. One of the main drivers for looking at new models is the need to appeal to a new generation of ‘brand cynical’ job seekers. The report found that the millennial generation are much less likely to take what a company says about itself at face value in favour of what they read on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, or what they hear from friends and family..

The REC’s Employer Branding report makes a series of recommendations on how employers can develop their Employee Value Proposition (EVP) through using recruitment partners. These include developing narratives around the employer’s brand, adding incentives to help recruitment partners build a genuine talent pipeline, rather than a “cold headcount” based purely on numbers, and agreeing robust metrics to measure the employer brand performance.  The report also argues that recruitment agencies can provide powerful consultancy support to help their clients create a ‘signature’ proposition and reach candidates across multiple demographics. It also profiles a selection of blue-chip companies providing a practical insight into how closer working relationships have succeeded in attracting new talent. Some examples of approaches taken include: Operation road test.

Traditionally, many businesses would use recruiters to sift through high volumes of CVs and arrange candidate interviews, but times are changing. One new approach includes inviting recruitment partners to take part in brainstorms to help articulate the employer brand to the outside world. When writing job specs, for example, this can help both parties determine what makes that organisation attractive and unique to a workforce with continually evolving demands and expectations..

Knowledge is power Another approach includes facilitating focus groups with recruiters and job seekers across a range of different ages and levels of experience to understand current perceptions of the brand in order to develop a strategy to tackle any negativity. Recruiters are also offering advice and insight into how to create brand awareness in all the right ways. With the increased use of Web 2.0 by the millennial generation in particular, brands need to ensure their own messaging reflects reality, and recruiters and candidates are well placed to provide them with honest feedback..

One size never fits all When it comes to targeting specialist groups across a range of different ages, regions or industry sectors, an increasing number of employers are depending on their recruiters to advise on the best approach. Recruiters are on the front line of the UK labour market and daily contact with both employers and job seekers enables them to keep a fresh grip on expectations among both these groups..

Making sure no bridges are burnt Recruiters are also playing an important role in helping to effectively manage the expectations of candidates. Well-known employers are often inundated with applications for jobs, with the consequence that rejection letters are often late or never sent. This could do significant, long-term damage to their brand but is easily avoidable..

Roger Tweedy, the REC’s Director of Research, said: “The UK labour market is certainly not out of the woods yet but employers are preparing for the recovery and are already reporting shortages of suitable candidates in many sectors. The competition for high-potential staff will hot up as recruitment activity increases and more fluidity returns to the jobs market. “In advance of this, it is vital that employers consider the best ways of positioning their brand across the UK and global jobs market. It is clear from the wide range of experts that we spoke to as part of this in-depth report is that harnessing the relationship between recruiter and brand can go a long way to making this happen.”