Executives need to engage with workers to avoid becoming ‘invisible’

Board members are being urged to connect and engage with their employees as studies reveal around 40% of British workers can’t name a single executive member.

The research, commissioned by eShare, showed that nearly one in five believe their board is barely visible, with 17% saying their board is totally invisible to them. Around 70% said board members need to do more to be visible to employees in order to make the company more accessible and transparent. Many showed concerns that their business’ vision and values weren’t made clear and around half admitted they were completely in the dark over a firm’s executive decisions and motivations.

One move many supported was to increase worker representation in the boardroom to keep employees in touch with the c-suite. A common fear among respondents was underrepresentation and a lack of diversity, with many concerned that a lack of gender, ethnicity and age diversity could be damaging the company. 58% claimed that their board consisted entirely of over 40s, and over half thought the executives were out of touch with the day-to-day operations of the company, something which eShare believes is unsurprising.

“The addition of an employee to the board would certainly add a different perspective and is on the face of it a positive move,” said Alister Esam CEO of eShare. “However, it is actually fraught with issues, from the possibility of immediate disclosure of company plans to employees, to the selection process of the employee representative, and there are more effective ways of improving senior level diversity.”

For many, transparency is the key to feeling represented and involved. As a two-way street, understanding the board’s decisions and feeling like they’re part of the executive process can also help employers discover the right choices for their staff. Currently, the most visible UK executive position is the CEO, with 36% able to identify their chief executive. Least visible was the chairperson, with 92% of employees not being able to recognise the role within their company. Reassessing behaviour and exhibiting a company’s choices to its staff is a major step in the right direction, according to eShare.

“Most businesses are better governed than they ever have been, but need to demonstrate this more effectively,” continued Esam. “Good governance in 2017 means knowing what you are and why you exist, being well-run from top to bottom and having internal values and behaviours that are perpetuated externally across the world.”