Companies aim to use employee engagement to boost motivation

More UK businesses are attempting to improve staff motivation and retention by increasing levels of employee engagement.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), firms are looking to offer non-monetary incentives to staff in a bid to keep them content in their jobs, Employee Benefits magazine reports.

This can often come in the form of opportunities to gain extra qualifications through training programmes, or by issuing workers with more responsibility to signal a manager's trust in them.

A study compiled by PwC indicated that 58 per cent of company chief executives admitted that they tried to motivate staff through "non-financial rewards".

Head of HR consulting at PwC Michael Rendell believes that offering incentives that would ultimately improve a worker's skills is proving very popular among company bosses.

"Staff are not motivated by pay alone. With labour markets more buoyant, firms need to ensure employees are engaged financially and emotionally," he told the publication.

PwC this week announced that it was looking to fast-track a company policy that would see more women given the opportunity to take up managerial roles.