Ali Bebo

Chief People Officer, Pearson


Engagement levels at Pearson have soared after tackling issues that left many employees asking, ‘Why bother?’...

Ali Bebo

Chief People Officer, Pearson


Engagement levels at Pearson have soared after tackling issues that left many employees asking, ‘Why bother?’...

Improving employee engagement at scale is the Kryptonite of many an HR team – but Pearson’s CPO Ali Bebo has done exactly that, by redefining what ‘good’ people management looks like.

Thanks to research by Gallup, we know that the vast majority of an employee’s engagement at work hinges on the relationship they have with their manager. However, in many businesses – just as with Pearson at the beginning of its journey to tackle disengagement – this issue goes unaddressed. Managers are unsupported. Careers go unfulfilled. Employees give up, rage apply, and quit quietly.

Speaking to HR Grapevine, Bebo reveals how the education and publishing behemoth moved from an approach to people management that left many employees apathetic, to meaningful conversations, better recognition, and soaring engagement levels.

What wasn't working about Pearson's past approach to employee engagement?

Like many organizations, we struggled with low participation in our employee engagement surveys, with only about 33% to 35% of employees responding. This made it difficult to gather useful insights and make informed decisions.

While leadership understood that high engagement drives productivity and success, we hadn't effectively communicated its value to employees. Many felt their feedback didn’t lead to visible change, leaving them asking, ‘Why bother?’

We realized we needed a new approach—one that showed employees their input matters and leads to real, tangible improvements.

How did you identify issues with management performance, and how did you decide what good looks like?

Our leaders set the tone and managers play a key role in connecting employees’ work to company strategy, driving energy and excitement. Using tools like the Gallup Q12 survey, we gained insights into how managers impact engagement, revealing both strengths and growth areas.

Recognizing that traditional career paths can be limiting, we focus on performance, lifelong learning, and building transferable skills like leadership and communication. This opens up flexible career opportunities and helps employees stay adaptable.

Defining good management means setting clear expectations and guiding employees toward self-reflection and growth.

What transformation did you put in place to improve the performance of managers?

We know managers are key to driving engagement. When they’re energized, their teams follow suit. However, managers often lack the support to fully understand their teams. That’s why we’ve made it a priority to help them interpret employee engagement survey data and take action.

By empowering managers to turn insights into action plans, they become more effective leaders, and their teams contribute more to the business. We also launched an 'employee engagement champion network' to ensure these improvements are applied company-wide, aligning employee wellbeing with business success.

With tools like these and our champion network, we’re boosting manager and team performance across Pearson.

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