Tuned Out And Turned Off: Two Thirds Of Employees In Britain's Biggest Organisations Lack Both Strong Commitment And Understanding

A benchmark survey by the Marketing & Communication Agency and MORI confirms why employers need to win hearts and minds.

The majority of employees in Britain's biggest organisations feel undervalued, uninvolved, and lack confidence in their organisation's leaders and vision, according to new research published by the Marketing & Communication Agency (MCA) who commissioned the research conducted by MORI.

The survey, the first of its kind of assess the effectiveness of both commitment and understanding as business drivers, examined employees' intellectual and emotional responses to a series of statements about their roles and their organisation. Those who strongly agreed with statements were assessed throughout as those with the most conviction or strength of feeling, necessary to deliver top business performance.

Key findings

• Only 9% strongly agreed that their views and participation are valued by their organisation
• Just 15% strongly agree that they have confidence in their organisation's leaders
• Only one in six (16%) believe strongly in their organisation's vision for the future
• Just over a quarter (27%) are strongly committed to help their organisation succeed
• Only 37% say their levels of both understanding and commitment to organisational goals are high

The survey also found that staff with high levels of commitment and understanding are more than twice as likely to say it greatly improves their performance. They are also a third more likely to recommend their organisation to others. The study concludes that increased buy-in yields top-performing employees who are strong advocates for their organisation.

It also shows that low levels of commitment and understanding are endemic across all levels of staff: managers are only slightly more committed than non-managers to organisational goals, and show no more understanding of overall goals than their staff. Both sets are somewhat more committed to customers but have not seen this as linking to their organisation's success. However the question remains, if mangers lack understanding and commitment how can their organisation expect them to manage and motivate others?

"This is a critical message for British industry," says Kevin Thomson, Chairman of MCA. "The study's findings illustrate that UK organisations are not nourishing their intellectual and emotional capital by cultivating commitment and understanding in their employees. This is a dangerous scenario on the eve of a global recession. The message to business is clear: work hard to win hearts and minds and you'll win business improvements too."

Susan Walker, Managing Director of MORI's Human Resources Research says: "This research provides new insights into key people issues and shows the value of workforce commitment and motivation in driving the business forward.

Communication is vital

Effective communication is inextricably linked with buy-in and commitment, the study finds. Respondents give communication effectiveness a mean score of 6 out of 10. The survey shows that increasing the score from 6 to an 8 out of 10 can potentially double levels of buy-in.

Unfortunately, the mean score for communication has hardly progressed in the past 27 years, according to MORI. Says Kevin Thomson: "This is a classic situation in MCA's experience. With the traditional one-way process of communication failing in many UK companies, it is hardly surprising that our respondents feel out of the loop and unvalued. Involvement and participation, and more effective approaches to communication, thus become a top priority for organisations wanting to strengthen their people."

In the coming months, MCA, in co-operation with other industry experts and professional bodies, will continue to explore the critical link between buy-in and performance, and will track some of the trends from the study over time.

The full report, 'The Buy-in Benchmark: a survey of staff understanding and commitment and the impact on business performance', is available, priced 16395 from: Leigh Rolls, MCA, Court Garden House, Marlow, Bucks, SL7 2AE

Technical details

MORI conducted fac-to-face interviews with a nationally representative quota sample of 350 managers and staff from British organisations employing over 1,000 people or more within a cross-section of industry sectors. Two thirds of respondents were from organisations with 5,000 or more employees and the non-manager to manage split was 60:40. Research was conducted between 14-17 August 1998. Data has been weighted to reflect the national population profile.