Jasmine Gartner Consulting

Employee Engagement: at the Heart of Successful Organisations 

 

In this 45-minute talk, I introduce the idea of employee engagement, and why it is such an essential strategy for both improving the lives of staff and increasing the productivity of businesses today.

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The connection between engagement and productivity shouldn’t be underestimated: under a third of UK employees are engaged and the cost of disengagement to the UK economy is estimated to be between £52 and £70 billion per year.

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People know this. They know engagement is important. However, how to engage employees is a grey area, with organisations trying a number of strategies, with various degrees of success. 

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In this talk I’ll give an introduction to a strategy that will work in every organisation – if they’re willing to commit to it.

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The talk starts with a brief overview of the history of how we have come to our current understanding of engagement. We are at an interesting crossroads – people are starting to really understand that engagement is a good idea, but it hasn’t always been this way. Business has transformed in the past few decades, thanks to cultural and social factors and technology.

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Of course, big changes bring obstacles as well as opportunities. I cover the problems caused by disengagement and the barriers to achieving it, as well as the benefits it can bring to the workplace, such as improved financial performance and innovation.

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Finally, we’ll look at future directions, before ending with your questions and thoughts.

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Diversity & Inclusion

We live in a very multicultural society, a fact that both enriches our lives as well as potentially creates misunderstandings. Legislation is in place to help businesses navigate diversity and inclusion, but we also need a greater understanding of the implications of the diverse world we live in.

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In this 45 minute talk, we’ll answer questions such as these:

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• What are the protected characteristics of diversity?

• What’s the difference between diversity and inclusion?

• What’s the difference between direct and indirect discrimination?

• Is direct discrimination ever legal?

• What does the legislation on diversity say?

 

We’ll start out by defining diversity, inclusion and discrimination. Broadly speaking, diversity can be seen as the coming together of many different cultures and / or subcultures, and while the interaction of these groups will clearly enrich our lives, it can also lead to misunderstandings. We look at the different forms that these misunderstanding can take and the repercussions.

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We’ll also look at a few examples of grey areas in case law, as well as some areas of diversity that aren’t protected characteristics and are often ignored.

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Finally, we’ll look at future directions, specifically in terms of some of the intriguing links between inclusion and engagement, before ending with your questions and thoughts.