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Category: Employee Engagement

Posted on February 19, 2020October 12, 2021

5 ways to inspire employee engagement today

employee engagement tips

Employee engagement is not something you can achieve overnight. 

It takes time, dedication and leadership commitment for those HR leaders who want their workplaces to become a great place to work. Even Jim Harter, chief workplace scientist for Gallup, admits that seeing a significant change in engagement scores could take years. 

But don’t be discouraged. There are many things that can be done immediately that will start moving the needle on employee engagement. Here are five places to start.

1. Say something shocking. 

“Engagement is like a river,” said Greg Barnett, senior vice president of science for HR consultancy Predictive Index in Boston. “Sometimes you have to do something dramatic to change the way it flows.”

To do that, Barnett suggests leaders figure out what is missing from their culture, then make a grand gesture to demonstrate that things are going to be different. It could be sharing previously guarded company information, publicly celebrating employees for their hard work, or discussing the bad news that everyone has heard rumors about but no one is willing to discuss. “Shocking them with transparency is a great way to get everyone’s attention,” Barnett said.

2. Practice gratitude. 

“Showing employees that you value what they do is critical for engagement,” said Sarah Hamilton, senior director of HR for North America at Workhuman in Framingham, Massachusetts. “It shows them that what they do matters and helps them see how their work drives the company forward.”

Showing gratitude doesn’t require a sophisticated reward system or official gratitude program. It can be as simple as congratulating teams on the company’s social media platform, sending a personal note of thanks, and acknowledging their hard work in every conversation. “It feels good to be recognized but it also feels good to recognize others,” Hamilton said. “It is a powerful experience for everyone.”

3. Help them plan their careers.

Fully 94 percent of employees say they would stay at a company longer if the organization invested in their development. The ability to learn new skills makes them feel engaged and appreciated and shows them that the company is willing to invest in their future, Barnett said. “Managers can quickly make a short-term impact on engagement simply by paying attention to employees’ career development.” 

He encourages managers to build training plans around employees’ goals even if they extend beyond a career at the company. “Start by listening to what employees want for the future,” he said. Then if possible, help them find the training, mentoring and career advice to make it possible.

Some companies are tackling this goal head on. For example, Amazon’s Career Choice program covers tuition for employees who want training in any in-demand field — even if it has no relevance to the company; and McDonald’s new career exploration app, Archways to Careers, offers employees career advice to help them map out their professional career wherever it may take them. 

“Building an entire career development program requires coordinated effort,” he admitted. But taking the time to ask what employees want to do with their lives then offering to help is a great first step. 

4. Provide constant feedback.

The annual performance review is unofficially dead. If you want people to see the connection between their hard work and the company’s success, then constantly talk to them about it, Hamilton said. Workhuman uses the company’s Conversations platform to enable easy regular check-ins between managers and employees and between peers. 

She noted that teammates and colleagues often have a better sense of how work gets done and who is contributing than managers. Encouraging peer-to-peer feedback creates a culture of engagement and ensures hard work gets acknowledged. “A continuous feedback loop motivates and empowers employees, and makes everyone feel appreciated,” Hamilton said. 

5. Don’t stop.

All of these strategies can have a short-term impact on employee engagement, but the change will be fleeting unless you stay committed to these actions. That means continuing to be transparent, support career development, provide feedback and practice gratitude on a daily basis. “Engagement programs often fail because after a few months everyone moves on to the next thing,” Barnett said. 

So don’t do it unless you are willing to make changes that will stick.

Posted on February 14, 2020June 29, 2023

Constant connection is key to the engagement of a global workforce

Connecting a global workforce

While managing and maintaining engagement among a global workforce may seem like a daunting challenge, it’s not impossible. 

Operating globally can present additional challenges and concerns when it comes to engaging employees. These hurdles can go well beyond time zone differences — the divide in cultures, communication styles, values and gaining a better understanding of the global marketplace are to be considered as well. 

The goal is to make sure that employees feel connected to each other, the culture and the company’s values regardless of their location. 

Connecting a global workforce
Operating globally can present additional challenges and concerns when it comes to engaging employees.

“If you are working with a team spread around the world, especially in different time zones, it is important to remember the human being in all of it.” said Joe Flanagan, fitness app developer at GetSongBPM, an open source database of beats per minute. “If your employees feel valued and connected, they will remain motivated and loyal.”

Onboarding is a great place to start. Tammy Perkins, chief people officer of PMI Worldwide, a global manufacturer of food and beverage container solutions, said that managing a global team requires understanding and adopting professional practices of other cultures. 

Standardizing the onboarding process worldwide can ensure that everyone starts out with a strong foundation, which can result in developing and retaining happier, more productive employees. 

“The onboarding process is one of the most important leadership functions. It is fundamental to success when it comes to developing strong, diverse teams,” Perkins said via email. “The additional complexity of managing remote, international teams makes it even more important that we get onboarding right.”

Michael Tindall, founder and CEO of virtual staffing company Opus Global Operations, said that transparency and feedback are also key factors for managing successful global teams. 

“Only knowing your piece of the puzzle can limit what is achievable if the team has a transparent vision of where things are going. The same thing is on the flip side, when times are rough, everyone digs and supports the organization from top to bottom,” Tindall said via email. “A major challenge for the company is everyone’s challenge. When your team feels that they are responsible for the whole picture and not just ‘their’ part, people will get creative to make things work.”

Tindall also pointed out how essential it is in becoming accustomed to the varying employment laws worldwide. “Employment laws vary widely from country to country and these create cultures within themselves in the way you have to do business,” Tindall said. “You have to learn about and be aware of these or you will be in for a shock when someone quits or you have a major issue on your hands from something that you weren’t aware of that applies to that locality.”

In addition, cultural awareness and diversity training should be regulated throughout the entire organization to educate employees about what to expect regarding cultural differences and how to work successfully with colleagues from around the world. Katy Roby, marketing manager at e-learning company Valamis, said that investing in an employee’s personal learning and development is a huge contributing factor to employee loyalty. 

Roby also pointed out that one of the biggest challenges in a global workforce is creating a truly global work culture despite multiple cultures. 

“Empathic evaluation for each individual work culture in different cultural ecosystems is very important in supporting employees and addressing challenges,” she said.

One of the most common concerns when it comes to maintaining engagement among a global workforce is communication. Annmarie Neal, chief human resources officer at HR technology company Ultimate Software, said that leaders should consider developing a team communication and operating agreement for remote and global teams. These should make clear when status reports are needed, what communication venues are preferred, what should be communicated and to whom and how information should be presented. Neal said that these plans can help instill a greater sense of accountability among team members while reinforcing deadlines. 

“Even without in-person meetings, when business leaders are able to see their remote teams connecting and collaborating on a work challenge, or simply chatting about something fun in their personal lives to close out a productive video call, it’s easier for them to recognize how virtual employees may be spread far and wide but remain engaged and able to make a real impact within the company,” Neal said. “Managers need to ensure they are creating room for that collaboration, with more group projects or virtual hangouts that mimic traditional office setups.”

Managers must also be able to recognize the signs of disengagement in order to successfully measure and address employee engagement, according to Neal. “Spotting disengaged employees isn’t always easy, especially when remote workers are in the mix. When remote workers join teams, they don’t have a physical presence, but they still send signals through the ways they make themselves ‘seen’ at work,” Neal said via email. “Whether it’s how they respond, make deadlines or join meetings, employees’ virtual body language can be just as informative as the analog version.”

Neal also recommends engagement surveys, in-person meetings, off-site meetings and informal catch-ups whenever possible to help take a “regular temperature check” across the organization and to help build rapport with virtual employees from the start.

Posted on February 13, 2020June 29, 2023

Why ethics is the crux of employee engagement

protest, employee rights

Throughout 2019, numerous factors forced companies to recognize the importance of ethical leadership. 

Barcelona, Catalonia. Thousands of people took to the streets as part of the worldwide movement. Global Climate Strike, international, protests and action against climate change.From Google’s employee protests and walkouts to the onset of GDPR and data privacy troubles of companies like Facebook, ethics has not only dominated the headlines but also become a catalyst of both employee satisfaction and business success.

In this climate, employee alignment is simultaneously more important and difficult than ever to achieve. Employers are demanding more out of their employees, but at the same time, face a range of evolving preferences and digital distractions that make it difficult to capture their attention and trust. Business and HR leaders must adopt an ethos of ethical leadership while thoughtfully implementing engagement strategies or risk losing top employees and the ability to recruit the best as the war for talent rages on.

Ethical practices or a lack thereof will give organizations a competitive advantage or become their demise. 

Set the tone at the top

While they may seem insignificant at the time, small actions and decisions by company leadership can add up to big consequences and contribute to the ethical fabric of the workplace. First and foremost, business and HR leaders must prioritize a renewed commitment to transparency — and make it known. Then, they can incorporate tools and strategies to make their values more visible across the entire company, including frontline and deskless workers (i.e., the 80 percent of the workforce that doesn’t sit at a computer).

Also read: 5 ways leaders ruin employee engagement 

An authentic presence of leaders is the most important element in building trust with employees. This not only boosts productivity and performance but also prevents behavior that creates a toxic work environment. Leaders who are genuine and open in their communications can also help thwart digital water coolers from spreading misinformation around the workplace, especially with today’s social and collaboration platforms that make it easy for anyone to spread misinformation.

When challenges do arise, it is critical to get ahead of the conversation through proactive, honest communication, sharing the “why” behind decisions so employees hear it straight from the source. Business and HR leaders should be vigilant in sharing these types of company updates to instill trust and reinforce values. 

Shockingly, only 16 percent of employees worldwide consider themselves fully engaged. And in the face of an engagement crisis, annual or quarterly surveys don’t cut it to ensure employees’ needs are met. Instead, an approach that focuses on data from employee behavior and pulse polls delivered at optimal times can give leaders a real-time temperature on their organization. These insights can quickly be turned into action to most efficiently reach and engage all employees.

The most effective way to align the workforce must take employee preferences into account. For example, some workers may find nontraditional and more interactive forms of communications to be a welcome change from email or chat, which can create an “always on” culture and lead to burnout. 

More vibrant media, such as audio and video methods, makes the quality of interactions far richer, facilitating community-building and allowing distributed workers to feel closer to the business. Whatever their preferences may be, tailoring engagement strategies through a data-based, personalized approach ensures all employees get the information they need to build trust.

Empower employees to speak up

In an era of employee activism, organizations must not only support but actively encourage employees to make themselves heard. Instead of top-down communications, establishing two-way communication channels and mechanisms for feedback gives employees the opportunity to provide perspectives and ask questions in a way that holds leaders accountable. 

With this in mind, organizations should acknowledge and ensure that all employee feedback is heard and proper action is being taken. HR managers should use the data and insights from these channels and programs to reevaluate their diversity, equal pay or other policies and make sure they are as impactful as possible. They should also use these tools and insights to implement valuable recognition programs, whether rewards, promotions, bonuses or other programs so employees feel motivated to do their best work. 

In 2020, ethical leadership will no longer be an option, but an imperative that directly impacts the bottom line, pushing companies to build ethics into policies and practices, place a renewed focus on culture and seek ways to measure the impact of their efforts. 

In a digital workplace, business leaders must adopt tools, technologies and practices to create a more connected, engaged and productive workforce or risk losing trust in an era when it’s needed most.

Posted on February 9, 2020June 29, 2023

Sail the C’s to engage a freelance workforce: Caring and communication

freelancers engagement

Employee engagement can be a big enough challenge on its own, let alone when an organization is trying to increase engagement and retention rates among workers they have never even met in person. engagement freelancers

The emergence of the freelance nation challenges organizations to refine their leadership style. Leaders in the workplace must be prepared to collaborate instead of control. 

“You don’t really need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to managing your freelance employees,” said Dania Shaheen, vice president of people at Kazoo, a human resources platform. 

According to Shaheen, the basic best practices that organizations use with their full-time, in-house employees are fundamentally the same approaches that organizations should take with their freelancers when it comes to increasing engagement. 

This includes regular check-ins, meetings and video calls whenever possible to get that important face-to-face time. This gives both the organization and the freelancer an opportunity to share expectations, questions and feedback, and helps to build a stronger relationship.

“As an organization, you have to make sure that employees are engaged and that they feel valued, whether that’s freelancers or remote employees,” Shaheen said. 

Contingent workers: Why companies must make them feel valued and engaged

Time and again, communication proves to be the biggest struggle when it comes to employee engagement among remote, global and freelance workforces. Carlos Castelán, managing director of The Navio Group, a business management consulting firm, said that one of the hardest parts of staying motivated as a freelancer is fully grasping how their contributions fit into the overall mission of the company. This obstacle, on top of minimal communication from managers, can result in feelings of isolation. 

“In many ways, poor communication signals to someone that they’re not valued enough to be included,” Castelán said in an email statement. “Poor communication can lead to role ambiguity as well as heightened stress or anxiety because of a lack of feedback, which ultimately leads to [a fear of missing out], stress, burnout, talent drain or other symptoms of low employee engagement.” 

Jamie Ceglarz, founder and managing director of recruiting firm Guild Talent, stressed the importance of starting with hiring the right people. Addressing their expectations, drive and needs through the onboarding process allows for a great foundation in building that relationship with a freelancer right from the start. Organizations need to ensure that they care about what helps their employees succeed while also being clear and transparent about the company’s expectations and goals. 

“With remote employees in particular, it’s important to set people up for success and allow them to work in an environment that best suits them in an effort to get the most out of them,” Ceglarz said in an email statement.

Because freelance workers don’t physically show up to work every day and take part in the team culture within the workplace, it can be easy for some to forget that they even exist. Liz Brown, founder of Sleeping Lucid, an online resource for sleep problem awareness, finds that treating freelancers with respect and genuinely caring about their contributions and well-being within the company is a best practice when it comes to keeping them motivated and maintaining a healthy relationship.

“Businesses should treat freelancers with kindness and not see them as disposable objects that one can simply throw away,” Brown said via email. “Complimenting their achievements and treating them with respect improves their work environment, which in turn keeps them motivated.”

The freelance workforce is not one to neglect. Joe Flanagan, fitness app developer at GetSongbpm, an open source database of beats per minute, said that freelancers provide companies with an array of benefits. Organizations should want them to feel satisfied and engaged to help motivate them to continue producing their best work. 

If they are treated as though they are full-time employees, both parties will reap the rewards. In an email statement, Flanagan said, “The benefits of being able to look for someone with the right skill set and who fits work culture on an international level are invaluable.”

Posted on February 7, 2020June 29, 2023

From boomers to Gen Z: How to engage a multigenerational workforce

Generational engagement

Five generations are now represented in today’s workforce as millennials and Generation Z continue to make their mark. 

Millennials will soon be the largest living generation in the U.S. labor force, while the number of people 65 years and older is expected to nearly double. At the same time, digital technologies are changing how these generations collaborate and work together, as well as how organizations engage, manage and retain employees. 

Because of this, employee expectations across the board have evolved and no longer does a “one-size-fits-all” approach work when it comes to employee engagement. In fact, failure to meet these expectations can result in decreased productivity and high turnover in an increasingly competitive economy.

In a world of #okboomer memes and “Me Generation” stereotypes, organizations should explore ways to better unify employees and harness the power of a diverse workplace. Here are three ways that HR and communicators can accommodate employees across generations and gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Speak Their Language

First and foremost, HR and communications leaders must identify who their audiences are and what content will resonate the most, as the context and tone of a message can impact how employees receive and choose to engage with it. Even when providing the same information to all generations, communicators should explore ways to share that message to younger versus older employees.

Generational engagementFor example, a more detailed email about new company policy might translate better with baby boomers, while it could be ignored by millennials and Gen Z who tend to prefer more informal, casual language. In contrast, a conversational tone may not translate for older demographics who might see it as blurring professional and personal boundaries.

In a multigenerational workplace, HR and communicators should find ways to personalize and distribute content based on employee types and preferences quickly and easily. This plays a major role in making workers feel more valued, drives feelings of inclusion and has a direct impact on productivity and satisfaction. 

Once the content is in place, it’s important to consider the distribution strategy and the cadence or frequency in which content is shared. In the past decade alone, the workforce has become infinitely more connected with digital reminders, near-instantaneous updates, collaborative calendars and more. From intranet platforms to multidevice and direct messaging applications, each generation will find different methods better suited for them and employers need to adapt to this digital shift.

As digital natives, millennials and Gen Z are likely more comfortable and familiar with mobile and chat platforms, and may prefer receiving information and updates via mobile app. Conversely, Gen Xers and baby boomers may want to receive information via email or hard copy and hear feedback face-to-face. 

Finding a balanced cadence of communications that appeases all employees can be tricky, but is foundational to building and maintaining a unified company culture. In this sense, it’s important to remember that every employee interacts with technology differently. When thinking about how best to disseminate the “nice-to-know” versus the “need-to-know,” evaluate consumption preferences and habits across all employees and tailor communication methods based on this assessment.

Keep Employees Motivated 

A third factor to keep in mind when engaging a diverse workforce is that employees want different things from their employers and from their career paths, regardless of demographic. Internal communications directly impact employee motivations and their level of productivity, and leaders will need to invest in ways to empower everyone in their organization.

Research has shown that millennials and Gen Z value work-life balance more so than their older colleagues, and may not want to receive communications from work outside office hours. Gen Xers and boomers also don’t require constant feedback, while younger demographics are motivated by words of encouragement from superiors on a regular basis. Some employees might appreciate reminders to complete surveys or program registrations, while others might find anything more than a weekly reminder overwhelming. 

And, while many see technology as a key divider among generations, that’s far from the case. Employee engagement tools and technologies can help managers, supervisors and the C-suite share their mission and messages with all employees in a personalized way. Providing channels to ask questions, share advice or collaborate on work can also energize employees and foster relationships between generations. With the right tools in place, HR and communications teams can measure and analyze the impact of their engagement strategies to adjust over time. 

Employees of all ages seek workplace satisfaction and it’s up to HR and business leaders to provide the tools, resources and strategies that empower them to define their own experience. As workforce demographics evolve, organizations must create a space for a variety of work styles to flourish and ultimately position their employees – and the business – for success.

Posted on January 29, 2020June 29, 2023

Cultures of cohesion connect employees with engagement

employee engagement

It’s time employers stop focusing on employee engagement and start focusing on cohesion, according to Troy Hall, chief strategy officer for South Carolina Federal Credit Union.

“More often than not, leaders fail to embrace the type of culture that places an emphasis on the employee,” said Hall. “When organizations claim employees are their greatest assets, one would expect to experience the type of thinking and see actions that correlate to that end.employee engagement

“Far too often that is not the case because leadership has been taught for the past two decades to put profit before people.”

A “cohesion culture” is a work environment where employees have a sense of belonging, understand their value and commit to both self and desired organizational outcomes, he said.

Hall has spent 14 years working with the South Carolina Federal Credit Union’s leadership team to create a cohesion culture. He does it through an approach he calls the talent retention model, which he describes in his book “Cohesion Culture: Proven Principles to Retain Your Top Talent.”

“Cohesion is a causal phenomenon, engagement is not,” said Hall. “When cohesion is present, it has a positive impact on performance. Cohesive team members produce better results. Cohesion can be measured, engagement cannot.”

Engagement is an arrangement to do something with a specified period of time, he added.

“We think of engagement as leading to commitment, loyalty and going the extra mile. In fact, the type of engagement that leaders seek is fueled through cohesion.”

Today’s workforce requires transformative leaders who value people beyond the courting process, said Hall.

“Employees want to work in an environment that makes them feel like they belong, have value and can commit to both personal and corporate desired outcomes,” he added.

Hall’s strategies have worked, leading the credit union to be named one of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work in 2019 and 2020. In 2017, it earned a No. 2 ranking on a national list of best credit unions to work from Credit Union Journal and Best Companies Group, which identified companies that have excelled in creating quality workplaces for employees.

Employees offered praise for the financial institution, citing its “fantastic” 401(k), time-off policies, an option that offers free health care, management’s ability to “keep things fun and keep motivation high” and how “they make you feel special, appreciated and give lots of opportunities to grow.”

Hall shares his organization’s success stories and methodologies with others’ top management and HR directors worldwide to help transform their cultures and retain top talent.

The war for talent must transcend merely attracting talent to focusing on retention strategies, said Hall.

“With 63 percent of the current workforce seeking opportunities for advancement or new roles, employers will need to focus on retaining that talent or it will become a revolving door between acquisition and retention,” said Hall.

It costs 25 percent of the employee’s salary to replace the organizational intelligence that walks out the door, Hall said.

Hall’s doctoral dissertation at Regent University in global leadership and entrepreneurship focused on group dynamics and cohesion.

“My assertion to focus on retention is based upon what we are seeing as trends in the marketplace and understanding how to create a culture that is self-fulfilling and sustainable,” he said.

It is critical for CEOs to lead the charge for talent retention, said Hall. His boss, Credit Union CEO Scott Woods is a prime example.

“CEOs who are self-aware inspire a cohesive spirit within their company and align individual wants, desires and goals to those of the organization,” Hall said.

The smallest of actions can have a ripple effect, said Hall.

“A misplaced comment or the unexplained absence of the CEO from a major organizational endeavor sends confusing signals,” he said. “It is up the CEO to ensure the leadership team is on board with the culture and that they work in tandem to represent one voice.”

Aligning employee goals to organizational goals maximizes the bottom line, said Hall.

Within the cohesion process, the element of commitment is more aptly fulfilled with leaders who support employee development first, then move toward organizational goals, said Hall.

Posted on January 29, 2020June 29, 2023

Engaging a remote workforce requires some down-home hospitality

employee communication, hearing, talk, schedules

Out of sight and out of mind is far from the truth when it comes to maintaining engagement among a remote workforce.

Today’s business culture is much more open to hiring remote workers as it expands the playing field for hiring new top talent, allows for more flexibility in schedules and in turn creates a better work-life balance for employees. Working remotely has increased by 103 percent since 2005.

Currently, 3.7 million employees work remotely (2.5 percent of the workforce) at least half the time. However, this can make maintaining high employee engagement and retention rates a bit tricky due to the common feeling of isolation among remote workers.

Jason Patel, founder of Transizion, a college and career prep company, said that starting with the onboarding process is key and that it is best to treat onboarding as if they were in-office employees.

“It’s important to set the tone from the start, that remote employees are just as appreciated as office employees. If that tone is set in the culture, it will percolate,” Patel said in an email statement.

Maintaining a productive and successful remote team culture requires a strong communication line. Communication tools such as Slack, Workplace or Zoom make it easier for remote teams to communicate and feel as though they aren’t missing out on important information, meetings or celebrations. They should feel like they are in the office alongside everyone else, voicing their opinions, sharing their ideas and actively contributing to the conversations.

Making sure to include remote employees in meetings and scheduling regular check-ins is also vital for creating an inclusive environment and tracking progress, according to Carlos Castelán, managing director of business management consulting firm The Navio Group. If remote employees aren’t provided with clear expectations and direction, it can be easy to feel like they are stranded on an island. Those who work remotely need to feel a sense of purpose in order to stay motivated and passionate about the company’s goals. “One of the hardest parts of staying motivated as a remote worker is fully grasping how your contributions fit into the overall picture and mission,” Castelán said.

Although emails, phone calls, video calls and text messages are convenient, Deb Boelkes, founder of leadership development firm Business World Rising, suggests taking it a step further and planning in-person meetups as a best practice if the budget permits. Whether in the form of large company events or small team-bonding outings, it is essential to build a sense of camaraderie as this can be an obstacle for those who don’t see their co-workers five days a week.

Boelkes also recommends scheduling weekly team calls to update everyone on individual and team progress, asking and offering help, brainstorming approaches and recognizing major accomplishments and successes. “Really knowing each other and meeting face-to-face helps build trust. Try to meet in person at least occasionally,” Boelkes said in an email statement. “Otherwise use video conferencing technology whenever possible. Team members need to know the other members on the team, what they are doing, and how they can help each other.”

Gamification has also become more popular in today’s business culture as it creates a sense of collaboration, cooperation and a competitive edge to everyday work responsibilities. Gamification applies game-playing elements to nongame environments, which can be used as a tactic to encourage engagement in a fun way.

This can be implemented into the recruitment or onboarding and training processes as well to increase retention rates. According to a 2019 TalentLMS study, 61 percent of the 900 employees surveyed said they receive training with gamification. Some 83 percent of those who received gamified training claimed to feel more motivated, and 61 percent of those who did not receive gamified training said they felt bored and unproductive.

“Whatever you do with office employees is what you should be doing for remote employees. If anything, you should be more disciplined and clear when working with remote employees,” Patel said. “There are far too few touch points between you and the remote employee, which means there are plenty of intersections for miscommunication. That’s why agendas, metrics, and goal and mission articulation are so important. Make it seem as if they are in the office with you.”

Posted on January 28, 2020June 29, 2023

Creating a healthy workplace culture can increase employee engagement

healthy workplaces employee engagement

Michael O’Malley, co-author of “Organizations for People,” spoke with Workforce to discuss the best (and worst) practices when it comes to structuring a healthy workplace culture to maintain high employee engagement.

Workforce: What inspired “Organizations for People”?

Michael O’Malley: It came about because I had heard so many ugly stories about workplace issues. I wanted to write an anecdote to that, that there were companies out there that were quite different, and people should know about them. I wanted to provide some social science to provide some context. I also wanted to put principles behind what these companies do so people aren’t just trying to mimic the practices, but what they really should be thinking about is what these practices afford these companies to do.

Workforce: What are some best practices when it comes to creating a healthy workplace culture and maintaining high employee engagement?

O’Malley: It starts with the premise that there are institutional rules, like the foundation of the workplace is mutual respect and that that’s enforced so that there are certain ways of behaving that are acceptable and ways that are unacceptable, and that those are widely known. It’s not only a general attitude that you have toward one another, but it carries over to incidences of respect. So, you show up for meetings on time, you respond to people’s questions and you’re helpful — all of those kinds of interpersonal rules that enhance the pleasure of the workplace. It starts with basic rules of respect and values.

The companies that I visited tend to put the employees at the center of their organization and that means that there’s a lot of employee involvement. I can’t say there’s complete transparency, but there is significant transparency on how the company is doing and there’s general openness about news, events and finances and so forth about what’s going on in the company. When decisions are made, employees are fundamentally a part of that decision process.

There are lots of principles, but one other one that I thought was important was they foster this sort of sense of abundance that the employer has their backs and that the processes are fair. If one opportunity, for instance a career advancement, passes them by, they know that there will be other opportunities that will come along because their employer is working with them to find what they’re passionate about, what they want to do and is willing to readily move people across the organization into other roles and will put money into training them. A lot of these companies actually allow people to do internships in other departments or shadow people in other departments. So, rather than have this aggressive competitiveness for things that are in short supply, there is this feeling that through training, growth and ample career opportunity, you can actually take pleasure in other people’s successes because you know that the company is working if you work. I think that this notion of abundance is very important in these companies.

Workforce: Why is this a challenge for many organizations?

O’Malley: I think it’s because a lot of what these companies do seems unbusinesslike and risky from an organizational point of view. I think they are slightly afraid of trying out things that are a little bit different and may seem odd in business settings that people have grown accustomed to. So, these places are oddities, they do things that other places don’t do and I think the challenge is for people to break away from this strict notion of “this is the way it’s done” and to try something that’s a little bit different.

Maybe it’s a fear of looking a little bit foolish by trying something that may not work. I have to say that not everything that these companies do does work, but there is a very high tolerance internally for trying things and if it doesn’t work, then learning from those experiences and modifying their approach. Over time people become acclimated to these different ways and are very patient with one another in trying out things that are new. I think the fear really has to do with outmoded conceptions about what the workplace should look like.

Workforce: What organizations have you come across that you think are doing it right?

O’Malley: A lot of the companies in my sample are private companies, so they’re not really beholden to shareholders. But, Instructure, a technology company in Salt Lake City, was different because they’re a public company that creates learning platforms for higher educational and corporate institutions. They have a nice combination of being a very kind and caring organization, but at the same time they seem to have a very aggressive culture, in a good way — they want to win in the marketplace. They have managed this fine line of maintaining a culture that is genuine and pleasurable and at the same time going about their work without denying themselves the usual life satisfactions with friends and family. I think Instructure does it very well. Finding that balance between market aggressiveness and getting results, but at the same time innovation, is difficult to do but I’ve seen them do it.

Another company that has done it well that comes to mind is Pure Insurance, a premium property casualty insurer outside of New York. They, too, have instilled this sentiment that they want to be the best, they want to do things their way, differently, but at the same time have maintained this sense of belonging and all the things that people want like — belonging, autonomy, growth and self-confidence in their abilities.

EngagementSo, those are two companies that I think people should visit and see how they manage these two worlds. There is this conception that kindness means soft and that isn’t it. Kindness means that you want people to fulfill their potential. So, one of the principles behind all of these companies, but certainly in Pure Insurance and Instructure, is that we want you to live a satisfying life, we want you to do what you want to do and we want you to be as good as you can be. A part of that caring is helping people to improve and become better people.

Workforce: What is the difference in approaches between private and publicly traded companies when it comes to maintaining a healthy workplace culture?

O’Malley: What happens is that, with a public company, people get overwhelmed by the financials — that most of what is communicated is financially-oriented — so a lot of times the rewards really are for revenue growth, profits and so forth.

I think that privately held companies often have the founder-owners who have started the company — not only with a market idea but with an idea about values in what a company should be — and those values carry through on the organization. All the companies that I visited in the book started with founders who had very definite ideas about what companies should do and what they should afford people who work within their companies, so they are very value-rich places to work. I can tell you that the profit isn’t the purpose of these organizations. I think they all have very caring and charismatic leaders who actually wanted the company to be formed with certain principles and values in mind. Sometimes with public companies, the longer they’ve been around, the bigger they get, the further they get from those principles that they had at their inception.

Workforce: How does this differ with a remote workforce? 

O’Malley: TCG, which is an information technology consultancy in Washington, D.C., and Intuitive, which is an engineering consultancy in Huntsville, Alabama, are both consultancies, so a lot of people are out of the office most of the time. First of all, they have recurring staff meetings that bring people back in the home office occasionally, or sometimes they can be online meetings. Another company is Concord Hospitality in Raleigh, North Carolina. They have properties all over the place, so they have routines that people abide by, but they do a lot of things in parallel or take time to do things collectively.

For instance, every month TCG has some kind of charity drive that a committee of employees select, and the company will make a donation to that charity, but everyone will volunteer for a day.

For Concord Hospitality they’ll have charity week at all of their properties where people are dedicating time and resources to charities in their local environment but everybody is doing it the same week, same time throughout their properties. Additionally, every month Concord prints a poster-sized agenda for all of their properties that show everything happening that month. Consistency, routines and doing things in parallel are things that help remote workforces.

Workforce: Do you think organizations should come up with an alternative name for their staff, rather than use the term employee?

O’Malley: Yes. I don’t think any of the places I visited refer to employees as “employees.” They actually view that as a subservient relationship and they want a culture that’s more even, where there’s open, two-way communication. They want people to act independently and “employees” sort of has this dependency that they want to discourage.

The Motley Fool, an investment advisory house, they call each other “fools.” People at Patagonia are “patagoniacs.” I think this does two things; it fosters a bond that I think “employee” doesn’t have, but it also denotes a relationship with each other and the company that is more egalitarian, which is what these companies want.

Workforce: What are some goals that organizations should keep in mind while structuring or restructuring a healthy workplace culture? What would you advise them to do?

O’Malley: When you want to change a culture, you have to look at the people who behave consistently with that culture or who, through feedback, are able to change the way that they approach their behaviors in the workplace. Sometimes I think companies are slow to purge the negative out of the workplace, but I do think you have to have people who are in tune with the culture, and sometimes there are cohorts within organizations that just aren’t. Then, I would probably reestablish things with a new set of values and then actually change the way you hire and socialize, so you change the way you introduce people to the company. I would do that in either case. In either case, the thing you want to communicate from the start is that you have certain performance expectations of people, but you also have certain expectations about how they conduct themselves when they’re in the office. That starts with how you select people. You want not only people who are technically proficient but people who share the values of the organization.

Workforce: What are some common business fables that you have come across that you think are important for organizations to know as untrue?

O’Malley: There’s a fable that being compassionate or empathetic will interfere with people’s business judgment and that somehow they will be led astray by their emotions. To me, that’s a fable because you make wiser and better judgments when you have a sounder perspective of the situation, and that really involves understanding the emotional tenor of the situation. This concept of business objectivity is a falsehood. We would have better, wiser managers if they allowed themselves to entertain a broader range of information, including emotional information.

Posted on January 23, 2020June 29, 2023

5 ways leaders ruin employee engagement

employee engagement

Employee engagement levels are woefully low. The latest Gallup data shows only 34 percent of employees are actively engaged in their work.

That means more than half of all employees are not engaged in their work, and 13 percent are actively disengaged, according to the survey.employee engagement

These are troubling numbers given the proven benefits that employee engagement brings to a business, which include higher share prices, greater customer loyalty, lower turnover, easier recruiting and a host of other desirable business outcomes.

The good news in this story is that HR is not to blame. While HR leaders may be responsible for overseeing benefits programs, gathering employee engagement survey results, and rolling out employee programs and campaigns, they are not the ones who actually move the needle on engagement.

Studies consistently find that employee engagement hinges entirely on the way leaders lead and the kind of culture they create, said Patrick Kulesa, global head of employee research for Willis Towers Watson in New York. “The numbers show that how leaders inspire people with their strategy and mission determines whether employees will be engaged,” Kulesa said.

The problem is that leaders rarely take responsibility for employee engagement. They see it as a people issue, so they assume HR will fix whatever is broken. This is one of many mistakes leaders make when it comes to engagement.

Here are some of the other mistakes leaders make that damage employee engagement and how they can do better.

  1. Leaders assume company perks will make a difference. Offering free coffee, half-day summer Fridays and other creature comforts may deliver short-term positive vibes from overworked employees. But if you aren’t also addressing the core problems in your culture — like a lack of acknowledgement for work well done, managers who can’t be trusted or limited opportunities for development — no amount of free snacks will solve your employee engagement problems, Kulesa said.
  2. Leaders talk, but they don’t listen. “Employees don’t need to be told what to do. They need to be encouraged to trust their instincts,” said Kevin Hancock, CEO of Hancock Lumber in Casco, Maine and and author of The Seventh Power. Hancock learned this lesson after acquiring a rare voice disorder in 2010 that made it difficult for him to speak. To protect his voice, whenever anyone asked him a question, he responded with, “What do you think is the right answer?” He wasn’t trying to improve engagement, but that’s what happened. Over the course of a year, engagement levels rose as employees gained confidence in their ideas and became more innovative and invested in their work. It made him realize the power of distributed leadership, and giving everyone a voice.
  3. Leaders think employees should serve the business, not the other way around. When business leaders make financial performance the most important factor in every decision, employees become slaves to business outcomes. “But what if you rethink the purpose of work?” Hancock said. When leaders prioritize improving the lives of employees, improved employee engagement is the natural result. That leads to better performance, higher revenues and other business benefits that every leader wants, he said. “When the company exists to serve the employees, it creates a stronger company and a better future for everyone.”
  4. Leaders focus on numbers, not outcomes. When leaders only care about achieving the right employee engagement score, they lose focus on the ultimate goal, said Jim MacLennan, founder of Maker Turtle, a digital transformation consulting firm, and author of “Don’t Think So Much.” “Once they reach the target metric they move on to something else.” That makes employees cynical about their motives and can cause any short-term improvements to quickly sag. Instead, he suggested using employee engagement surveys to identify the biggest problem in your culture, then to spend the year solving it. “Keep it simple and define what ‘better’ looks like so it doesn’t get diluted,” MacLennan said. Once you see improvements, move on to the next thing. When leaders focus on outcomes rather than metrics, continuous improvement becomes part of the way things are done.
  5. They mistake surveys for conversations. If you want engagement to improve, leaders have to actually talk to employees, listen to their needs and build a corporate culture that inspires trust and respect. “You can’t do that with a survey,” MacLennan said. “Once you wade in and start having conversations, you’ll be amazed at what you learn.”

 

Posted on January 15, 2020June 29, 2023

How to Build an Employee Engagement Road Map

employee engagement

Road maps are a form of content that will help you navigate key areas of people management. Road maps focus on the changing terrain of employee engagement. This guide offers a step-by-step process for creating a measurable engagement strategy that will deliver results.

Most of your employees are probably not engaged and it’s hurting your bottom line.

But don’t feel bad. Almost every company is in the same boat.employee engagement

Despite years of talking about the importance of employee engagement to hiring, retention and productivity, only 34 percent of employees are engaged, according to data from Gallup. Worse, 13 percent of employees are actively disengaged. “The numbers have improved over the last decade, but not as much as we want,” said Jim Harter, chief workplace scientist for Gallup.

The good news is that employee engagement can be improved if companies focus on the right things. Harter has seen dozens of organizations across industries increase engagement levels when they implement targeted strategies and stick with them over time. “Change happens incrementally but it does happen,” he said.

When it does, the payoff is clear. Gallup research shows organizations with high levels of employee engagement achieve better earnings-per-share, and see substantially better customer engagement, higher productivity, better retention, fewer accidents and higher profitability.

The trick is understanding who has the power to influence employee engagement, and what they can do to generate change, said Jill Christensen, employee engagement consultant and author of “If Not You, Who? Cracking the Code of Employee Disengagement.”

“Poor engagement is not HR’s fault,” she said. Employee engagement is regularly blamed on HR because it is a “people problem,” but in fact, it is entirely shaped by the actions of senior leaders. They define the culture, the mission and the attitude in any organization, and their actions determine how employees respond. “Senior leaders need to drive the employee engagement journey from the start,” she said. “If they don’t it will fail.”

HR should be involved. HR still needs to plan, implement and measure employee engagement strategies — but senior leaders need to be the voices of the program to make it work. It’s a collaboration, and this road map provides a framework for how senior leaders and HR can work together to make engagement happen.

PART 1: MAKE A PLAN

Get leaders on board. Leaders will never independently take ownership of engagement, so HR has to pull them in. Harter suggests sharing data linking employee engagement to business performance to pique their interest, then showing them how their words and actions impact outcomes.

Ask employees what they think. If you want to identify your engagement issues, you have to listen to what employees are saying, said Amanda Popiela, researcher with The Conference Board. “Continuous listening strategies are key to understanding engagement.” Along with reviewing annual survey results, she suggests conducting periodic pulse surveys, hosting employee focus groups, monitoring social media posts, and talking to employee teams about what they love about working for your organization, and what needs to change.

Please Watch: Voting on the Clock Works as an Employee Engagement Tool

Identify skill gaps. Most leaders and managers are never taught good coaching skills, like how to give feedback, build trust or manage conflict, all of which is key to driving employee engagement. So management training has to be part of the plan. Look for content that is quick and easy to access and let managers know they will be expected to use it.

Set realistic goals and expectations. If you want to foster change you have to hold managers accountable, Christensen said. She suggested setting a goal to increase engagement levels by a specific amount in one year then tying those results to performance reviews. “That’s how you make culture change happen.”

PART 2: START ENGAGING

Make employee engagement part of every conversation. Define specific communication steps for managers and leaders to integrate engagement into their talking points. These might include discussing engagement issues in every team meeting, sharing engagement strategies in town hall events, and having weekly one-on-ones with team members to identify their specific concerns or needs. “You need to tell them exactly what to do or they won’t do it,” Christensen warned.

employee engagement roadmap Keep employees up to date. Employees want to feel like they have a voice and that their opinions matter, so keep them in the loop. Report employee engagement survey results, share your action plans to address specific problems, and keep them up to date on progress. “Exceptional communication is an important part of employee engagement,” Harter said.

Teach managers to coach. Managers are busy and will often skip training to focus on the next deadline. So you have to make it easy to access, immediately relevant and a clear priority, Popiela said. One way to do that is to get senior leadership involved. Popiela recently worked with a financial services company whose CEO posts a monthly webcast discussing one tip for managers on how to improve engagement. “Managers know what they should be doing, but they don’t always do it,” she said. These short, thought-provoking webcasts make them stop and think about what they could do better.

Deal with the disengaged. When teams have toxic, negative or disruptive members, no amount of coaching will make a difference. “These employees can be toxic,” Christensen said. And it’s up to managers to deal with them. They need to be ready to have these difficult conversations, set clear performance goals, and fire people who refuse to change. A lot of managers ignore toxic employees because they don’t have the skills to deal with them, but the consequences of this approach can be severe, she said. “When leaders don’t take action with these employees, it will breed disengagement in everyone around them.”

PART 3: MEASURE RESULTS

Conduct annual survey results. The annual employee survey is the best baseline measure of engagement and proof that your efforts are working. Remember, even small shifts are a good sign. “Change takes time,” Harter said. But companies that stick with it can achieve dramatic and sustainable change over a few years.

Please read: How Dog-Friendly Policies Can Improve Company Culture and Employee Engagement

Conduct pulse surveys. Short pulse surveys that sample a percentage of the employee population, or ask everyone a few questions, can give you a sense of progress and help you see what’s working (or not). But don’t overdo it, and don’t use surveys to replace real conversations.

Check your eNPS. Employers can now use NPS to measure employee engagement. The one-question survey tells you how likely your staff members are to recommend your company as a place to work on a scale from 0 to 10. “It’s a simple way to gauge engagement,” Christensen said. And it can be a quick easy way to demonstrate results.

Share the data. Any time you survey employees you have to share the results, otherwise it could actually make things worse. Report engagement levels to the entire company, celebrate big successes and share what you plan to do next, Popiela said. Then discuss the data with executives, drawing connections where possible between engagement and productivity, retention, and business performance. “It’s important to show them the ‘so what’ of improved engagement,” she said. “Especially when it effects the bottom line.”

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