RELX

Improving engagement scores with remote coaching

In its performance management cycle and accompanying reward system, multinational information and analytics company RELX (ReedElsevier) recently added a People KPI: engagement scores. RELX uses an annual employee survey to measure staff engagement. The idea was to offer first-line managers remote coaching to improve the engagement scores.

Global, scalable,

easily accessible

RELX needed a global, scalable solution to offer easily accessible remote coaching, with a clear and measurable objective, to a large group. We agreed to set up a pilot to find out whether managers coached by UNLOQ would achieve improved engagement scores.

Together with Sjoerd Cooijmans, HR Director Continental Europe and Global Research Markets, we designed a fit-for-purpose coaching programme for 50 managers worldwide. The programme started with a kick off for all participants, laying out the objective of the pilot and linking it to the strategy of RELX and the goal of improving engagement scores.

A fit-for-purpose coaching programme

with significant results

Multiple

language options

Next, participants were matched to a coach in their own language – we offered more than ten language options in this pilot – for blended coaching over 4-6 months. This applied the UNLOQ Method © for remote coaching.

At the beginning of the coaching process, the participants’ engagement scores were analysed and used as input for the development and coaching goals. In the subsequent annual employee survey measuring engagement scores, the data was analysed again, together with the HR data analytics team of RELX, to see how the participants scored in comparison with other RELX managers.

Significant

improvements

On average, 64% of the participants outperformed eSat, NPS and engagement scores compared to RELX’s overall scores. In addition, we measured an increased growth mindset (scores of 32.2-34.5 on a scale of 8-48) and an improvement in their individual coaching goal score from 5.0 > 7.8 (on a scale of 1-10) which was confirmed by peer measurements (7,4 > 8,1).

Together with RELX, we concluded that the pilot achieved its objective: significantly improving the engagement scores of first-line people managers.

Sjoerd Cooijmans

FHR Director Continental Europe and Global Research Markets, RELX

“The team has been very professional, responsive and fun to work with. It was great to see how we could “democratise” coaching and see a direct and significant impact on employee engagement where you need it most: front line managers.”