Human Capital Development, Employee Engagement

Taking actively disengaged employees to zero

Reported result Actively disengaged 7% to 0%
Sector
Recruitment and staffing
Duration
19 months, ~400 consulting hours
Verified by
Hender Tho

A hiring freeze across its client base had left this recruitment firm's people anxious, under-appreciated and leaving. The company could see the symptoms. It could not measure them.

The situation

Three problems were named at the outset, in the company's own words. A communication gap between levels. Disengaged employees, described as "a general theme of feeling unappreciated" producing "low morale and motivation". And manpower retention, where turnover was "extremely costly" in a business whose product is people.

For a recruitment company, staff turnover is not an HR metric. It is the product failing in public.

What we did

A four-phase Human Capital Development project focused on employee engagement, over roughly 400 consulting hours.

Measure first. A baseline engagement assessment plus DISC profiling across the workforce, so that what followed could be evaluated rather than asserted.

Co-create, don't prescribe. Interviews and focus groups built the interventions with the people who would live with them.

Then implement. An alignment workshop, executive coaching, executive group coaching, and organisational policies with a communication guide, so that the improvement in communication had a mechanism rather than an intention.

Then measure again. A second engagement survey, run against the same baseline.

What was achieved

"Improvement from 7% Actively Disengaged to 0%"

"Conducted 2 employee engagement surveys to capture baseline data and post project outcomes."

The company's values were also made operational through agreed behaviours, and DISC profiling was extended to all employees so that the shared language survived the project.

Why this worked

Actively disengaged is the number that matters. Most engagement reporting chases the average, which moves slowly and tells you little. The actively disengaged group is different: these are people whose dissatisfaction spreads. Taking that population to zero changes the working climate for everyone around them, which is why it was the target.

Two surveys, not one. A single post-project survey proves nothing, because there is nothing to compare it against. The baseline was run before any intervention specifically so the result could be evidenced.

The communication guide outlasts the coaching. Coaching changes individuals. A documented communication protocol changes what happens after the individuals move on.