EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT CRUCIAL FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS
- Published on 19 Mar 2015
- HR Pulse staff writer
Employee engagement has emerged as a critical driver of business success in today’s competitive marketplace, with various studies showing the positive impact of employee engagement on company performance. Research by Gallup, the American research-based, global performance-management consulting company, describes engaged employees as being psychologically committed to a job, and likely to be making positive contributions to an organisation.
This is further supported by Lebo Tseladimitlwa, Vice President of Human Resources at DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa, who says that effective employee engagement policies and management can drive innovation, productivity and bottom-line performance, and should be utilised to counter adverse market conditions.
DHL was recently awarded the Overseas Project of the Year award at the UK Employee Engagement awards which recognises businesses outside of the UK that strive to do things differently and put their workforce at the heart of its operation. Tseladimitlwa explains that having motivated employees as a key focus pillar of the DHL Express global strategy has contributed to the recognition.
Tseladimitlwa says: “Understanding the need to drive a common culture across 220 countries, we launched a Certified International Specialists learning and development program for all 3,500 staff in Africa. Everyone from the Global CEO to a Courier in any country has gone through this training program, reinforcing our core competencies as an organisation. We also run a number of internal initiatives such as Employee Appreciation Weeks, Employee of the Quarter and Employee of the Year awards as well a yearly Employee Opinion Survey which is managed by a third party in the spirit of anonymity, and employees are asked to give feedback on all areas which impact their satisfaction and engagement levels. We have a task team who analyse the feedback and take the relevant corrective action to ensure that we make significant progress each year. In 2009, our employee engagement score was 57% and for 2014, we achieved 80%. It’s true that what gets measured gets done.
“We also have an internal development program called Made In Africa, that produces a sustainable and dynamic list of future leaders that can succeed Africa Management Board positions, Country Management positions and senior functional roles. The program reduces the historical dependency on expatriate imports, and improves skills of the talent pool.”
DHL was also recently named Top Employer 2015 in Africa by the Top Employers Institute, recognising the importance the company places on employee engagement and development. This is in addition to six African countries - South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and Ghana that were also certified Top Employers in their local markets.
Hennie Heymans, Managing Director for DHL Express South Africa points to the Public Displays Technology’s (PDT) 2014 Employee Engagement Survey, which revealed that 85% of South African employees want more direct, open and frequent engagement from their companies. “Employee satisfaction and creating a positive work environment remain a priority for DHL Express South Africa in order to maintain development and growth. Shipping and transportation plays a key role in the country’s economic development and global competitiveness, and for this reason it is crucial to grow and retain skilled staff members within the industry,” says Heymans.
“Our employees are at the heart of everything we do – we rely on them to provide great service quality to our customers, which results in loyal, happy customers, which ultimately ensures that we have a profitable network. We definitely see the value in having emotionally engaged and motivated employees and believe that this will continue to be a key differentiator for us in the future,” concludes Heymans.
