Mushrif: Developing an employee engagement programme
Background and challenge
Mushrif is one of the leading construction organisations in the Middle East with over 11,000 staff based in three countries. As it positions itself to adapt to a changing marketplace in the UAE in particular, it is vital that the company engages its staff to boost productivity and attract and keep good talent. It therefore invited Ibis Communication to conduct a survey and to use the findings to develop an employee engagement programme.
Approach
Mushrif chose Ibis because it liked the State of Engagement™ methodology. We started by running an online survey amongst office and managerial staff in both English and Arabic. Some of the questions were core questions, allowing us to compare findings with our benchmark whilst others were developed specifically. Once we’d reviewed and analysed the results, we sought to validate them by conducting interviews with a cross section of staff in which we explored further some of the key themes to emerge.
With the results presented and conclusions finalised, the next step was to develop an engagement programme to address the main issues. We based this around the typical life cycle of a Mushrif employee starting with the recruitment of the employee and going through to exit. Within each area we then identified the main priorities and agreed metrics against which we would measure progress. We then developed programmes for each of those priorities which included performance management, communication of company direction and collaboration. The programme is now well underway and we are continuing to work with the organisation to deliver it.
Results
Mushrif will repeat the survey once the priorities identified have been addressed and expect to see progress around a number of core metrics. In the short term, the engagement programme has provided the company with a framework for many of its internal activities and a focal point for the management team and a valuable communication tool with shareholders and other stakeholders.