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“He’s Been Sleeping On The Job Longer”– Unfair Pay

5 Feb

sleeping-dog

I just had a conversation with a client who was trying to address a high level of unfavorable ratings in their annual engagement survey to employee perceptions of “fair pay”. It’s a question that frequently does poorly, but the scores were particularly low here.

There are instances when perceptions of “fair pay” relate to external equity– employees are upset that others down the street at another company are making more than they do in similar jobs. But more often I’ve seen more significant problems with internal equity– that employees see marked differences in pay amongst peers. Often the perception of internal inequity can be summed up by a comment I heard from an employee:

That guy in our department has been around forever. I’m just getting started here, but I’m working twice as hard as he is. He’s been sleeping on the job for a long time, but because he has more tenure he’s paid more. That’s just not fair.

No, it’s not fair. More importantly, that perception led this employee, and many others, to report lower levels of engagement in many other areas. Said another way, employee perceptions of unfair pay impact overall employee engagement.

Consider:

  • Are there areas where internal inequity in compensation exist in your place of work?
  • In some cases, are poor performers getting paid more just becuase they have more tenure and, if so, what can be done to address their lack of performance?

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Engaged Employees Less Worried About Personal Financial Future

3 Feb
A study out today, published by CNNMoney.Com reports that employees who are more enagaed at work have generally less anxiety about their own financial future. The authors of the report state:
This research certainly complements the studies we’ve been conducting of employee engagement in the midst of this economic crisis. Employees are very concerned, which is showing in their overall engagement.

In a survey of employee opinions, the Kenexa Research Institute (KRI) investigated the extent to which the current economic conditions cause workers to worry about their personal financial well-being as well as intentions to delay or cancel anticipated purchases. Additionally, workers in the United States were asked about their feelings toward organizational leadership and the effectiveness of business processes at work.

Results indicate employees’ feelings about their own personal financial well-being are strongly influenced by their experiences at work. Not surprisingly, an important factor influencing how employees feel about work is how effectively they feel their organizations are being led.

Workers who have unfavorable views of their leadership are much more likely to report being worried about their personal financial situation, which was found to be strongly related to stated purchasing intentions. Specifically, employees who rate their leadership unfavorably are much more likely to express concern regarding their personal financial situation compared to those who have favorable views of their leadership’s effectiveness. In addition, those who rate their leadership unfavorably are twice as likely to state that they are delaying current purchases.

This certainly complements the research we’ve conducted about employee engagement in the midst of these difficult economic times. Please review our report Beating the Bear Market with Engaged Employees

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Winning Employee Wellness and Engagement, From My Hometown

2 Feb

 Here’s a report about a group called  Simply Well from Omaha, Nebraska that is doing outstanding work in helping employees take greater responsibility for their own health and, in doing so, enjoying the benefit of increased employee engagement. The article features a local company:

The case study featured was the Greater Omaha Packing Company, Inc. (GOP). GOP has annual sales of nearly $1 billion and is ranked 5th in beef processing nationally. Since implementing simplyWell in 2001, GOP has experienced significant improvement in employee engagement as well as measurable clinical improvement.

Founder and President of simplyWell, james T. canedy, MD, attributed the group’s success to giving employees the right information at the right time as it relates to their health.

“By engaging patients in their own health and providing them the appropriate tools, they can manage their health more effectively,” said Dr. canedy. “Our studies show that a higher engagement rate in one’s health drives a trend of decreasing risk and cost. That is what simplyWell focuses on”.

This results is very much in keeping with our studies of outstanding workplaces– a committment to employee well being is a significant driver of employee engagement.

Consider:

  • Are you actively working to improve your well-care efforts?
  • What benefits could you experience with a greater emphasis on “health care”, instead of simply diagnosing and treating disease?

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The Three Year Itch

1 Feb

We’ve all heard about the seven-year itch, right? I’ve noticed a trend with several employee engagement surveys I’ve recently reviewed, where the itch starts a bit earlier.

What I’ve often noticed is that employee engagement is solid for new employees and is good once employees have been with the organization for five or more years. But there is a dip in the two to four year tenure, where employees appear to be getting the “itch”, less engaged and committed to their employer.

With one company the “itch” started because many employees in that tenure group didn’t see career opportunities. In another employer the dip was related to less support received after the first year filled with lots of training and support. In another the problem was an internal posting process that made it difficult for employees to move across company “stove pipes”.

Consider:

  • Do our 2-4 year tenure employees shows signs of the “itch”?
  • If so, what we can do to re-engage them?
  • Are there internal obstacles we must address that will help us maintain high levels of engagement with this group?

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The Economy and Employee Engagement

31 Jan

This image is such a sad but accurate view of how many of our employees feel right now.

Let’s imagine for a moment that we’ve had a layoff. Jobs eliminated. Severance checks issued. Outplacement services offered. Unemployment insurance forms completed.

The next day, some of our associates will return to work– is this the image they will see? Not literally, of course, but do they see weeds and cracks and tattered signs? Our research indicates that is just how many employees feel, and those feelings are leading to significant drops in employee engagement.

Although these feelings are perfectly natural, we nonetheless need to find ways to address them. The research that Leigh Branham and I have done, in partnership with Quantum Workplace, offers five key ways you can do that right now. Check out my page “Beating The Bear Market”… for an article and link to a free webinar.

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Action Plan or New Year’s Resolution?

31 Jan

As I was reviewing employee engagement survey results with a client recently the question came up: “How do we take this great data and turn it into action?”

There’s a tendency by some to look at all the ills revealed in the survey data and put together a comprehensive plan with subsections and footnotes and “we do this, but only on Tuesday’s– whew! These plans, which look a lot like those New Year’s Resolutions lists, rarely bring any results. Like those resolution lists they are long on intention and short on action.

I tend to recommend the organization pick one or two key goals that all managers in the company should work on, and then let each manager pick one additional goal that would be germaine to their department. This allows the senior leadership to set the overall tone for the company, while still allowing each manager some latitude to address something that is important in her/his department. By the way, goals can be set to build on strengths as well as remediate weaknesses– something perhaps to discuss in a later post.

Ready to set aside resolutions and get down to something that will produce real results? Good luck.

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“We’re One Big Family”

29 Jan

We used to live in a neighborhood that was, in a word, special. The kids in the hood grew up together, walked in and out of each home on the street like it was their own– relationships that have stood the test of time and distance. We used to throw our money together and have the biggest Fourth of July fireworks blowout in the county. We were neighbors. We were friends. We were, in a word, family.

I’m taking you down this memory lane trip because that feeling– family– is an element of highly engaged workplaces. When we study the survey comments at highly engaged companies that theme– “we’re one big family”– emerges frequently. At poorly engaged companies– “family”– and the neighborly, positive sense that goes with it, is absent. Coincidence? I think not.

Although many of us didn’t have the best “family” experience growing up, we can certainly hope for the best of what family can mean– care, trust, acceptance. This is exactly what employees at great workplaces are talking about! We didn’t tell them to say “this place feels like family”– they chose those words to describe what their work experience feels like. Importantly, it’s that feeling that fuels engagement, which we know leads to more productivity, employee retention and customer loyalty.

Consider:

  • Do our employees feel this way about our workplace?
  • If they don’t, what’s getting in the way from them doing so?
  • Given the current economic crisis, what can we do right now to start building that sense of family, knowing it can help get us through the difficult times ahead?

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Engagement and the Economic Crisis– Part 1

26 Jan

There’s a number of different directions I could take this blog over the coming weeks, but the “lead story” has to be how employee engagement is being impacted by our current economic crisis.

This crisis is everywhere, literally. I’m standing in line at a local pizza joint. Behind me are several people who appear to know each other. I make a quip about “looks like you’re having a rough day”, to which one of the group says “yea, we just laid 50 people off today. We thought it would be good to get away and figure out what we’re going to do next.” Yikes, nice job of putting your size 13 foot in your mouth– I make my apologies.

I know these decisions are facing many of you. Like the folks at the pizza place, what you do right now as leaders will impact not only your business, but the lives of the employees who work with you.

I can’t tell you that force reductions are what’s needed in your business right now. What I can tell you is that how you treat everyone– those who are let go and those who stay– will have an impact. So ask yourself these questions:

  • Is this really the right thing to do now?
  • Are there other ways we can trim expenses without a force reduction?
  • What can we do to help those who are still with us deal with this trauma?
  • If we must sever staff, what can we do to make sure our actions are done in a professional and dignified manner?

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“Nonprofits have an advantage, right?”

25 Jan

In no less than three separate occassions I’ve heard this comment when it comes to employee engagement. In each case the author was assuming that because a nonprofit had an “important mission” of service to one cause or another that employees would be more engaged because they felt so passionately about the mission. Makes sense, right?

Our research concludes otherwise. To be sure, there are some nonprofits that do an outstanding job of engaging their employees, and one asset they can tap into is the cause to which they aspire. But we see many for-profits that do an outstanding job engaging employees, and when you hear their employee comments it’s clear they too feel they are “on a mission”, often of serving customers or creating a great place to work.

I can also tell you we have studied many nonprofits who, in spite of their cause and mission, have employees who are anything but engaged. The culprit for the absense of engagement is the same as it is anywhere– poor leadership.

Lesson learned? Engagement is a function of the quality of leadership, or lack thereof, within an organization. Nonprofit or for-profit, public or private, global giant or local business– none of these monikers necessarily brings with it an engaged workforce. Today let’s commit ourselves to considering this question– what can we do to create a better place of work for ourselves our our team?

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Lose The Cookie Cutter

23 Jan

A conversation today with a client raised this question– Is employee engagement look and feel the same in every company? Another way that question could be asked is: can we take our cookie cutter and apply success across lots of employers?

We all are looking for “best practices” from other employers, particularly those that have been successful in creating a great workplace.  But I hope we can all agree that how certain engagement practices are embraced and used in one setting may be very different from another.

Just last month I had the pleasure of talking with the CEO of a company that is known for their outstanding culture and engaged employee group, which over the last ten years has accounted for, in his view, a great deal of their success. Being a technology company with a younger employee population, there are some efforts they’ve found successful that may not work well in another environment.

Let’s make sure we keep our wits about us when it comes to taking what might be a great idea in one comopan and making implementing it in our place of work.

  • Does the practice feel right for us?
  • How would the practice fit with our history,  management style and culture?
  • Are the elements of the practice that might work, while other elements should be ignored?

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