Shaping Engagement: Insights and Innovations in HR

Here is a 7-point summary of Amy’s interview:

1. Amy McNeill is the Head of People and Culture at Cavendish, an agency that has been using Q&R for a few years. Cavendish was recognised as one of the Sunday Times best places to work.

2. To boost engagement survey participation, Amy emphasises clear communication about the survey’s purpose, ease of completion, and building trust by ensuring confidentiality and unattributable responses. Using a third-party provider like Q&R increases trust and elicits more honest feedback.

3. Cavendish uses survey feedback to shape its people strategy, particularly its benefits package. Amy explains that focusing on time-centric benefits like a hybrid and flexible work model has proven highly valuable to employees.

4. To measure the success of changes implemented based on survey feedback, Cavendish uses a hybrid approach combining quantitative metrics (like productivity, performance, absenteeism, turnover rates, retention, and recruitment impact) with qualitative insights from direct feedback from employees. This ensures that changes align with both employee and organisational goals.

5. She finds her role fulfilling because it allows her to engage in meaningful work that positively impacts the lives of Cavendish employees. She prioritises aligning HR initiatives with broader organisational goals and ensuring that company culture directly contributes to achieving business outcomes.

6. Looking ahead, Amy anticipates that technology and data analytics will continue to shape HR approaches to engagement. She envisions more personalised actionable insights, real-time feedback loops, and data-driven decision-making.

7. When asked for advice for future HR professionals, Amy highlights the importance of authenticity. While data and technology are important, she stresses the need to remember that HR is ultimately about people and building authentic relationships. She advises HR professionals not to lose sight of the human element and the understanding that people want to feel cared for, fulfilled, and supported.

We asked Amy the below questions:

1. Engagement Survey Value Maximisation: “In your experience, what strategies have proven most effective in encouraging high participation rates in engagement surveys, and how do you ensure the feedback collected is both actionable and impactful?”

2. Survey Insights Application: “Can you share an example where employee feedback from an engagement survey led to significant organisational changes? How did you measure the success of those changes?”

3. Personal Motivation and HR Philosophy: “As an HR professional, what aspect of your job do you find most fulfilling, and how does it drive your approach to employee engagement and organisational culture?”

4. Future of Employee Engagement: “Looking forward, how do you see the role of technology and data analytics evolving in the way HR professionals design, interpret, and act on engagement surveys? What skills do you think will be most important for HR professionals to develop in this context?”

Bio

With over 18 years of operational, commercial and HR experience spanning financial services, broadcast media and sports technology, Amy oversees our Human Resource department, and is responsible for designing and driving the transformative people agenda across the group. Specialising in Employment Law, she provides strategy and counsel, with a particular focus on retention and reward, D&I and Corporate Social Responsibility.

​If you are a business owner or leader in an organisation and would like to be interviewed for the Q&R Listen.Better vodcast series in 2025 please do get in touch for an initial chat: tellmemore@questionandretain.co.uk