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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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“Good Enough” Isn’t Good Enough Anymore

22 Jan

Five years ago I was working with a client, reviewing their employee survey results. The data indicated that many employees were unfavorable to the employee benefits offerings. In discussing what should be done the CEO said to me: “I wish our benefits could be better, but I think they’re good enough. I know it might be a thorn for some of our staff, but I don’t think people are disengaging and leaving over this.”

At that time, this CEO could have been right. Our studies then indicated that benefits were a moderate driver of engagement. Fast forwarding five years to today I can tell you employee perceptions about benefits have risen much higher as a driver. In fact, we now see it as one of the six most important drivers that an employer must address.

  • Are your benefits “just good enough”?
  • What could you do to help employees know that you genuinely care about their well being, now that we know it is a more significant driver?
  • What low cost, or no cost, actions can be taken, given our current economic challenges?

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When Perception Trumps Reality

21 Jan

In a consultation about a year ago with a company about their employee survey results, the CEO voiced to me concerns about employee perceptions of company benefits, particularly their 401(k). He complained: “We have a great plan, but many of our staff came from a company we closely partner with that has a pension. We don’t have a pension, so they think they’re losing out even though their overall net retirement benefit is much better.”

We concluded that the company needed to do a better job of helping employees get clear about the benefits of their current plan. They launched a communication iniative they called “Do you want a pension or do you want a retirement?” In this initiative they presented models that showed employees how much better their retirement would be under the 401(k) plan.

I’m pleased to report that a year later those survey results are much higher– changing perceptions helped change the reality for those employees.

  • What perceptions do you need to address regarding benefits, or anything else for that matter?
  • Would this communication be even more important right now with our current economic situation likely making our staff even more nervous about these “security” issues?

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The Defintion of Insanity…

20 Jan

In an earlier post I mentioned that my colleague Leigh Branham and I are now seeing that health and well-being is a significant driver of employee engagement, taking on far more importance now than five years ago. Why has it risen in the priority ranking in terms of differentiating between low and high levels of employee engagement?

One answer may lie in a study reported in the January, 2009 edition of HR Focus. The study indicates that although wages have increased 14.5% from 2000 to 2007, family health care coverage rose 78.3%, a average increase 5.4 times faster than the medium wage– yikes!

In a focus group interview I recently conducted on behalf of a client this concern came through loud and clear. Several employees said: “The good news is I was very productive last year and got a nice raise. The bad news is I gave it all back in increased health care premiums!”

Is this the experience at your place of work? Many employers keep the same approach to health care, and don’t get any better results… insanity, right? Over the coming weeks I’ll be discussing some ideas we’ve found that may work to stem this tide– would love to get your thoughts…

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