Employee engagement - Will the Macleod Review make a difference?

First Dame Carol Black put employee absence onto the Government's agenda, next Sainsbury's HR director, Imelda Walsh, did the same for flexible working. Last month came the turn of the MacLeod Review, which put the business case for engagement and was compiled by engagement expert David MacLeod and Nita Clarke, director at the Involvement and Participation Association. But the jury is out on whether it can replicate the success of the Black and Walsh reviews.

Speaking at a round-table debate organised by HR magazine, Angela O'Connor, chief people officer National Policing Improvement Agency, said the review was important as engaged employees make a huge difference to organisations. But, she added: "I don't think there is any silver bullet. Promoting the importance of engagement to HR directors is like preaching to the converted."

Raj Tulsiani, CEO and co-founder of interim consultancy Green Park, felt the report made good points, but added: "It's disappointing we are still having to bang the drum for employee engagement. My clients who understand engagement are almost all succeeding. The ones that don't are almost all failing."

However, Yves Duhaldeborde, principal at Towers Perrin, said the review's value was greatest for small and medium-sized organisations. "Many of these have not heard of engagement. The report gives them the challenge of engaging and motivating staff. This really matters for business and I hope it leads to a complex debate that can lead to major repercussions - little bits of employee engagement can make a real difference in recession."

Tony Watson, professor of organisation and management at Nottingham University Business School, added that although MacLeod's message has been well understood for a long time, "managers feel uncomfortable about loosening the reins of control over work practices - something that must happen for serious employee engagement to take place."

Clare Chapman, director general for the NHS Workforce and, as recommended in the MacLeod Review, will join a sponsor group, later this year along with senior HR professionals including Cary Cooper, professor at Lancaster University Management School, Jackie Orme, chief executive of the CIPD, and Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury's, to discuss methods of boosting staff engagement. Find out her views on the Review

More analysis and opinion on the MacLeod Review