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It’s all happening in London in 2012. Not only is London hosting the Olympic Games (July) and the Paralympic Games (August), but the Queen celebrates her Diamond jubilee (June) as well! And kicking it all off is Digital London, one of the year’s most significant events to be hosted at ExCel, the international exhibition and convention centre, in Docklands on March 13^th – 14th.

This 2-day conference and supporting exhibition aims to establish London as the Digital capital of Europe, putting London’s tech City ‘on the map’ as well as helping to develop the local and national economy. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has actively championed the event and he will open the conference with a keynote presentation on 13^th March.

“Digital London is a fantastic showcase for the city,” said Johnson. “London’s position as a centre for technology, innovation and creativity underpins its growing position as the digital capital of Europe.”

BroadVision is one of the 5 founding sponsors and has been working closely with their partner and Digital London event organisers, Maven Cast, to deliver a new approach to event engagement through BroadVision’s enterprise social network solution, Clearvale. Clearvale has been configured and branded as Maven Connect to connect delegates, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors associated with Digital London in a single collaborative platform. Maven Cast are the pioneers of hybrid events and Digital London is no exception; the event is designed to mix the immediacy and intimacy of a live conference and exhibition with the versatility and broad reach of digital.

The event brings together industry innovators, entrepreneurs, solution providers, business leaders, and executives to discuss digital innovations & enabling technologies, and to explore opportunities in the digital economy.  The conference has 4 key themes: digital solutions, content and services; innovation, creativity and technology; digital cities and smart infrastructure; investment, skills and resources. It has been developed with everyone from solution buyers in business, public and consumer sectors to CTOs at technology companies and service providers in mind. Sessions will showcase the latest innovations and advances, and consider how the latest digital devices, solutions and services are being harnessed to sustain and vitalise private enterprise and the public sector.

Adam Malik, founder and CEO, Maven Cast, said:  “We will be inviting visionaries, policy makers and technology leaders from around the world to share their experiences on delivering digital services for both public and private sectors and creating an environment for innovation. At Digital London, event delegates will benefit from increased value by having a single platform of engagement prior to, during, and after the event so relationships can build and continue post event.”

Maven Connect has been designed to foster engagement not only for Digital London but also for other future events. It will provide a forum for discussion and guidance to compliment event topics, and deliver a legacy after each event to unite all parties: continuing conversations, collaboration activities and helping to shape future agendas, providing added value for everybody involved in Digital London and beyond.

All the analysts seem to agree, socialising across the enterprise will deliver benefits. But how do you translate these soft benefits into real ROI?

Having spent the past few months introducing HR Directors and Internal Communication Managers to Clearvale and the topic of Social Intranets, there is a clear theme emerging: Employee Engagement. Existing intranets/portals are too static to engage an employee, content is in the hands of ‘the few’, and user generated content is frowned upon. Email is point-to-point even if you are on the cc list.

There have been many studies by academics in the HR world to illustrate that employee engagement is associated with high levels of performance and reduced intent to leave. It is therefore legitimate from a corporate perspective to focus on and to prioritise improving levels of employee engagement. A ‘people-centric’ strategy will deliver sustainable competitive advantage; so where’s the return?

We often quote the Towers Perrin (now Towers Watson) ISR Employee Engagement Report whose studies over a 12-month period showed that those companies with high employee engagement scores demonstrated a 13.7% improvement in net income growth whilst those with low engagement saw net income decline by 3.8%. These metrics are still valid. Towers Watson also points out that those companies with a highly engaged workforce improved operating income by 19.2% over a 12-month period, whilst those companies with low engagement scores saw operating income decline by 32.7% over the same period. This is a significant differential.

Gallup, that well-known survey group, cited in Melcrum’s report on Employee Engagement found that engagement levels can be predictors of sickness absence with more highly engaged employees taking an average of 2.7 days per year, compared with disengaged employees taking an average of 6.2 days per year. The UK CBI reported recently that sickness absence costs the UK economy more than £13 billion a year!

On the issue of retention, the UK Corporate Leadership Council highlighted that engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave an organisation than the disengaged. The cost of high turnover among disengaged employees is significant some estimates put the cost of replacing each employee at equal to annual salary and those with considerable length of service with retained knowledge and IP, at considerably more.

The analysts and academics agree: give employees a voice; develop a sustainable open organisation and culture of trust; develop a communications strategy leveraging Web 2.0 technologies with regular evaluation on the use and effectiveness of these technologies. Engaged employees take fewer sick days, they are less likely to leave, and engaged employees are much better advocates of their own companies. The latest blog on people management continues to promote the theme that employee engagement is good for the bottom line

“Employees are an organisation’s greatest asset”, or so we keep getting told, and you’ll probably find it written in some shape or form in the ‘Corporate Responsibility’, ‘Corporate Values’ or ‘Our Employees’ section of most organisation’s websites . . . but why is it that many organisations still fail to fully engage their employees and leverage that ‘asset’. Is it because organisations are still in a process-centric mindset and focused on their key business processes, like ‘order-to-cash’, that drive an organisation to achieve its objectives and deliver shareholder value? Employees know their role and know what is expected of them, which is all well and good, but are they truly engaged and invested in the organisation?

Achieving engagement in the workplace is challenging and there are many studies and treatise and blogs and forums on ‘employee engagement’ to guide organisations as to the most effective approach to realise it, but no-one seems to have found the panacea as there are still many studies and treatise and blogs and forums on the topic! Obviously if it was that easy we would all be doing it; perhaps it is not as straightforward as we think. The 2010 Towers Watson Global Workforce Study reports that only one-fifth of employees are truly engaged in their work, i.e. they are fully engaged and would “go the extra mile” for their employer. The rest ranged from the disengaged (38%) to the indifferent (41%). Clearly this is an issue that needs to be addressed.

According to Management consultant and author Cindy Ventrice, for an employee, engagement comes down to feeling valued in the workplace, that their thoughts and opinions matter, and that there is opportunity for learning and advancement. Clear communication, personal development, respect and recognition from managers and peers alike are all important factors.

A recent Canadian study on employee engagement endorsed this view. When asked what organisation leaders could do more of to improve engagement, the respondents identified the following:

• Listen to employees’ opinions (71%)
• Communicate clear expectations (68%)
• Give recognition and praise (58%)
• Provide learning and development opportunities (57%)
• Help find solutions to problems (39%)

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“To keep staff engaged, organizations need to give them the opportunity to use their skills, to be creative and, most of all, to be listened to.” Mark Fitzsimmons, president of Psychometrics Canada, March 2011.

This study also emphasised that it is the work environment and processes that drive engagement, and therefore employee engagement can only really be affected by the people with influence over these element: an organisation’s leaders. Good working relationship with management and an organisation’s leaders are vital to success but this may not be as effective in a process-centric organisation; what is needed to facilitate true employee engagement is a clear people-centric approach.

A people-centric approach will give employees greater control over their work and provide them with a better opportunity to share knowledge and ideas, driving innovation. ‘Management’ should be seen to be recognising their employees’ accomplishments and providing clear communication on the organisation’s strategy. Encouraging greater communication and transparency builds trust between employees and managers. In a people-centric world employees can contribute ideas without fear of being ‘wrong’ making them feel valued and part of something.

So, don’t be afraid, embrace the social nature of your business and initiate your people-centric strategy. Get your employees excited and making meaningful contributions. This will have a positive impact on your business and deliver real, measurable results . . . but that is a topic for another day.