How can employee engagement be improved at the RRG Group? Part 2

Abstract

PurposeThis is the second section of a two‐part study of employee engagement. The first part, in the previous issue (Vol. 42, No. 5, 2010), explored the literature that places this study in context. The key aim of the study is to assess the main factors encouraging or preventing employee engagement, focusing specifically on staff employed within nine Toyota branches of the RRG Group.Design/methodology/approachThe main methods used to investigate employee engagement were: assessing the qualitative data through attitudinal surveys, analyzing complete customer satisfaction (CCS) scores and telephone interviews with previous employees who had voluntarily resigned between January and June 2009.FindingsThe business has been called the RRG Group Limited which operates within the UK Motor Retail Industry and was acquired by the Top Fortune 500 Japanese Corporation Marubeni in 2000. The Group employs approximately 650 and consists of 19 dealerships that are located in the North West of England, comprising Lexus, Peugeot, Mazda and Toyota franchises, in addition to two Accident Repair Centres. The Group is now one of the largest Toyota retail groups within Europe. The main conclusions are that engagement levels across the nine RRG Toyota franchises appear fairly high within the majority of the branches. However, there are key factors which appear to be preventing engagement at particular branches which need to be addressed in order to improve engagement such as communication, remuneration, the branch induction process and work/life balance.Practical implicationsThe primary recommendations include leadership development for management in certain skills, a focus on fostering a two‐way conversation with employees and finally to continuously monitor and evaluate practices through annual attitudinal surveys and setting realistic action plans in order to make improvements.Originality/valueThe nature of the challenge for management in securing engagement and improving work performance is explored.