Tag Archives: Employee Engagement

Diana: A Lesson in “Discretionary Effort”

23 Aug

The receptionist said: “You look lost.  Can I help you sir?”

I travel a lot for my work, and am often in foreign places where, in truth, I am lost. This was one of those days.

Lots of receptionists have seen the “gee-I-hope-I’m-in-the-right-place” look on the face of people they encounter. Some turn a blind eye to we directionally challenged people or, even worse, make us feel like we’re bothering them by asking for help. But on this particular occasion the receptionist, Diana, actually seemed concerned that I was lost.

“Thanks for asking. I’m supposed to be joining a meeting here, and I need to find my host”, I said.

To my surprise and delight Diana got up from behind her desk, smiled, and said: “The meeting is upstairs. Let me walk with you.”

As we were proceeding up the stairs she asked me where I was from and how long I would be in town. For an old road warrior like me such kindness is a true gift. As we neared the top of the stairs I saw my host. I thanked Diana and said goodbye, my day much the better for her efforts.

In our profession we talk a lot about “discretionary effort” as the critical outcome of a more engaged workplace. Here’s how a 2006 study conducted by The Conference Board describes employee engagement:

A heightened emotional and intellectual connection that an employee has for his/her job, organization, manager, or coworkers that in turn, influences him/her to apply additional discretionary effort to his/her work.

That term “discretionary effort” is descriptive, but feels a bit clinical to folks. Diana was showing the behaviors of an engaged employee. That’s why encounters like I had with her can serve as a reminder of what employee engagement is all about. Diana made several choices (discretionary effort) in her interaction with me—getting up from behind the desk and walking with me up the stairs with me is beyond what I had expected from our exchange.

By the way, the meeting I was attending was part of the leadership development program for an organization that had me as a guest speaker talking about —you guessed it— employee engagement. The organization is doing a lot of great things in building a more engaged workplace. I told the group of my encounter with Diana. They were pleased to know that their efforts to build on great place to work are making a difference.

Most workplaces have these moments, these glimpses, of an engaged employee making a difference for a customer or client, who show their appreciation by coming back often and telling their friends—the payoff for the efforts in engaging employees. Those whom we profile In Re-Engage are better at creating an environment where they happen far more frequently.

How are you managing to those moments?

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There’s Something Contagious About Engaged Employees

8 Jul

At the 2010 SHRM conference just held in San Diego I had the opportunity to experience a seemingly small but fundamentally profound impact of having a group of highly engaged employees– loyal customers. Here’s the story:

In the course of presenting on employee engagement at the conference I mentioned the efforts of Rackspace, a web hosting company located in San Antonio, Texas. Rackspace is one of seven companies featured in Re-Engage that have been identified as one of the great American workplaces by our research partners Quantum Workplace. In my remarks I mentioned the “fanatical support” provided by employees, who are affectionately called “rackers”. Rackers are encouraged and supported to provide service above and beyond anyone in their industry, an asset company leadership believes is the most important asset in helping them become the largest player in their field.

After the speech a woman introduced herself and shared the following:

“Mark, I enjoyed your speech, and was delighted that you shared a story about Rackspace. We have been a customer of theirs for some time now. Our IT manager loves the service they offer and tells me he would never consider moving the business to a competitor. The other important thing you need to know is the Rackspace approach to fanatical service has rubbed off on our IT staff. It’s kind of like paying it forward.”

Remarkable!

The outstanding service provided by engaged employees at Rackspace has, like a contagious virus, made its way into the workplace of this customer. In the spirit of the movie the IT manager is “paying it forward” by spreading the enthusiasm, care and support to those whom he serves.

One of the great joys in writing Re-Engage was the opportunity to study companies across the United States that have proven themselves to be great places to work. We talk about the “link” between employee and engagement and key business outcomes– such as more loyal customers– but those studies can often seem impersonal and sterile. But when you hear a first-person story like this, you know there’s an immutable truth about the impact of an engaged workforce that cannot be denied.

Want more loyal customers who sing your praises and are grateful for the service you provide? Engage, and re-engage, your employees.

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Take Care of Employees and They’ll Take Care of Business

1 Jul

I love attending the local Best Places to Work events where companies are recognized for their efforts to create engaging work environments. They are celebrations of workplaces that have created the conditions where people choose to work hard, care deeply about their associates and customers, and employees have a commitment to stay and grow with their employer.

At one such event Microsoft was recognized as a Best Place to Work. They frequently appear on these local lists, and have often been tapped in the annual list published by Fortune magazine. As part of the description of why Microsoft made this local list it was noted that they were one of the first U.S. employers to offer a benefit where employees who have children diagnosed on the autism spectrum can receive early intervention therapy services to support their development.

Let me go on record here-I have a child with autism, and am very familiar with these services. Although they are widely recognized as helpful to children who suffer from autism (including an endorsement from the Surgeon General) they are not typically paid for by private insurance. Most families, including ours, pay for these services out-of-pocket. Having an employer like Microsoft fund these therapeutic services through their health insurance program is a tremendous benefit to families who have a child with this condition. (An article in the Seattle Business Journal offers more details about the benefit.)

I tip my hat to Microsoft for the efforts to help families like mine (and I hope you consider advocating for such a benefit where you work), but the other part of the story is this: Microsoft is listening to the needs of their employees and offering benefits to address those needs. They received numerous requests from employees, who told the company their stories and made their cases for why this would be an important benefit. And to their credit, the company responded.

In our research into the elements that drive highly engaged workplaces we note that an employer’s ability to support the well being of their employees is a key driver. It’s also one that has increased in importance over the last five years. We speak at length about this in chapter nine of our new book, Re-Engage as well as an article in the May, 2010 issue of workspan. Employees who believe their companies genuinely care about them and their families are more likely to be engaged, productive employees. In this case Microsoft saw value in funding autism services. For another company it might be a wellness benefit. In yet another company the employees may find additional support for continuing education to be of value.

What’s clear is this-employees will care more about work when they believe their employers cares about them.

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Man’s Best Friend… Dog or Manager?

9 Jun

It’s been said that a dog is a man’s best friend, but this employee believes his supervisor isn’t a friend to man or beast:

“If my manager treated a dog the way he treats my teammates and me, he would get sued for cruelty.”

This employee works for a company whose overall employee engagement scores (as measured by the survey conducted by Quantum Workplace) is far from acceptable, and the company is suffering as a result. We are simply befuddled how companies continue to tolerate managers whose treatment of employees makes them feel this way. Unfortunately, many of us have had personal experience working for such managers. In fact, a recent Gallup survey reported that more than half of all U.S. workers would fire their bosses if they could.

The penalty employers pay for bad managers is poor customer care and loyalty, to which numerous studies clearly point. Among the verbatim comments in Quantum’s Best-Places-to-Work surveys we came across this nurse’s lament about how the “disease-ridden” culture at the hospital where she works is negatively affecting patient care:

“I have been a nurse for over 20 years and this is by far the worst hospital I have ever worked in.  Management does not treat employees with respect, nor do employees feel as if they are valued members of a team.  Managers are also unprofessional and condescending.  In addition, patient safety is often compromised and nothing is done to rectify the problems.”

Anyone interested in being admitted to that hospital? The same dynamic happens in every industry-disengaged employees simply don’t take care of customers the way engaged employees do, and the business suffers as a result.

Thankfully, supervisors don’t have to act in ways that create these feelings. For employees to be productive, they cannot be treated like yesterday’s garbage. If treated with respect, care, and consideration, most employees will respond in kind and offer even greater effort in their work and service to customers. Here’s a comment from another employee who works for a company recognized as a “Best Places to Work”, and talks quite differently about the relationship he has with his supervisor:

“My manager is really aware of our work load, and how difficult our work is. He is always there if we have a problem, and always willing to look at our work and help us figure out how to solve the problem. He really values our work, and makes sure that we know it.”

Wouldn’t you rather work for this manager? This kind of manager engenders loyalty and effort, which is even more important in these more challenging economic times. This is the kind of manager that employees point to and say, “There’s the one you want to work for.”

In writing Re-Engage we wanted to contrast the difference between effective and lousy managers. For those who make their employees feel like they’re being treated like rabid animals, maybe we should set up a companion organization to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in this case the “Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Humans”, where we could turn these disengaging supervisors in for citation and reassignment into a job where they can do no more harm. On a more serious note, we recommend reading Temple Grandin’s book Animals Make Us Human, in which we she reminds us that all animals, human and otherwise, have feelings that can be positively or negatively engaged, and respond very well to praise.

Photo originally uploaded on Flickr by Dan65

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Mutiny At Work

25 May

A former colleague of mine was consulting with a small business owner, Jerry, who was having problems engaging and retaining staff. Because of his missteps, the business was suffering. Although his intentions were good and his desire to become a more effective leader was sincere, Jerry had difficulty turning those intentions into results.

Our survey and interviews of the staff were quite clear-they we’re not happy with how they were being managed by Jerry and were about ready to launch into their rendition of The Caine Mutiny. As my colleague was reviewing the results with Jerry he stopped, took a deep breath, and said: “Jerry, it looks to me like your staff has fired you as their manager”.

Jerry considered the remark calmly and replied: “Chuck, I hate to say this, but I think you’re right. What should I do?”

“Jerry, you reapply!”

Jerry laughed, taking Chuck’s comment in the spirit in which it had been intended, which was giving him the medicine in a pill he could swallow.

Indeed, Jerry did reapply to be the manager of his employees, and with a new attitude and hard work he is a much better leader, which has resulted in more success with a more engaged, productive staff.

In our consulting work and research for Re-Engage, we’ve run across a gaggle of managers who, often unbeknownst to them, have been fired by their employees as their leader and desperately need to reapply for the job. They’ve turned their staff into a group:

  • who is thinking more about punching a clock than being productive,
  • who feel indifference instead of a genuine desire to offer great customer service, and
  • choose mutiny versus loyalty to the firm.

Want to hear how an employee sounds when they’ve fired their manager? Let’s listen in to one exceptionally disengaged employee, here quoted word-for-word from Best-Place-to-Work survey comments:

“I haven’t been here quite a year yet, but after a few months in my department, it became very clear to me that most people in my position or a similar position were very unhappy with how they felt they were being treated. Most employees feel unappreciated and overworked. New management has exacerbated this issue, and now people are so unhappy that they just do not care. So now no one feels the need to help anyone else with anything–go that extra mile. There’s no team, because there’s no team leadership. There have been several situations that were extremely mishandled due to bad management. Our manager has actually told people that she would rather turn a blind eye and ‘hope things get better’ on their own so that she wouldn’t ‘have to deal with it.’ Too bad, I thought that was her job. I have gone to her on a particular issue more than twice, and every time she assures me that she will take care of it and nothing is done. It’s very sad here.”

Whether she realizes it or not, her employees have given this poor manager the proverbial pink slip.  Contrast that comment with these comments from employees who feel very different about the person they call manager:

“My manager trusts me as an employee to do the right thing, which gives me more time to focus on my goals at work.   I have a very flexible schedule that helps me assist customers on a daily basis. I have control over the hours that I work to be more productive at work.”

“I feel extremely valued at my workplace; my manager goes over the profit and loss statement with us so we can all see how we can contribute to the success of the branch.  My manager answers and explains everything in detail no matter what question is being asked.  I feel my manager values each and every team member and shows everyone respect for the jobs that we do.  He always has time for us and helps out with anything no matter what it is.  He cares about the development of each crewmember and wants each of us to succeed.”

In Re-Engage we describe seven key bad practices that leaders do that disengage employees, and offer better practices that can help leaders be more effective in engaging, and re-engaging, their teams. It’s abundantly clear that not all employers we’ve studied are putting them into practice.

Has one or more of your employees fired you or someone you know as their manager? Maybe it’s time to reapply.

Image originally uploaded to Flickr by Osvaldo_Zoom

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Margaret Mead and Managing Four Generations At Work

23 Feb

(from our book web site: Re-Engage)

The cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead is responsible for coining the term “generation gap”, describing the challenges she saw in the 1970’s between two distinct generations. Those challenges may have become even more difficult, as for the first time in recorded history, we now have four unique generations at work. In conducting our research for Re-Engage we discovered a significant barrier to creating and maintaining an engaged workplace-the more diverse a workplace becomes, the more difficult it is to have a high level of employee engagement. Bringing more so-called Generation Y (aka Millennials) into the workplace to join Generation X, Baby Boomers and Traditionalists makes creating a great workplace much more challenging.

We did, however, identify one hopeful finding that can help an employer overcome this new generation gap-the challenge of a more generationally diverse workforce can be lessened by achieving higher levels of employee engagement. In other words, the more engaged workplaces have fewer spats between the generations. In fact, more engaged workplaces seem to be embracing the generational diversity and using that diversity to their advantage. Consider the following comments:

“The culture of this organization provides you with the opportunity & the atmosphere for success, as well as the tools & training to accomplish corporate & personal goals. Although the firm is privately held, ownership treats all employees as if they are stock holders & shares the fruit of success accordingly. Fortunately, we have numerous second generation employees working here, which is a testament that the first generation approves of the sense of success that future generations will achieve & have promoted the idea that their sons & daughters can achieve personal & professional success at this firm.”

“As part of the executive level management I am inspired by the new generation of leadership at the company. The second generation has taken over the management of the company and has maintained and enhanced the strong culture of the company, a culture with a focus on mutual respect and offering leadership opportunities to younger professionals.”

If we look at the other side of the coin we see employees who don’t feel their employers are doing an effective job of managing an increasingly age-diverse workplace:

“I believe the executive levels should gain a better understanding of the generational diversity within the workforce and the motivators for each group. The company has a lot of ‘unspoken rules’ that are old fashioned and based off of old ideas of what the ideal business person should work and look like.”

“Allow employees to make suggestions that will help benefit the growth of the company and make it more efficient. The mentality of doing what was done 15 years ago is scaring off the younger generation of employees.”

The differences are clear-some companies will succumb to the ghost of Margaret Mead and be crushed by the weight of a more generationally diverse workforce, while others will thrive and prosper in this diversity. Mead offers advice we should apply in helping all generations work and thrive together: “If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.”

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Employee Stress: is it coming out sideways?

10 Jan

A gentleman I know in town is a counselor who has developed a practice working with veterans suffering from Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Being a vet himself, he understands some of what these heroic soldiers are going through. Over time he helps them find a voice for their feelings, knowing that talking through these issues can support their healing. He told me once: “Mark, my job is to help them get these feelings out in the open. All that stuff is bottled up in there, and it’s going to come out. It can come out in a productive way, or it can come out sideways– either way, it’s going to come out.”

Our employees may not be in harms way like the soldiers my friend helps, but we can gain insight from his approach to helping them deal with their stress.  Like him, we can acknowledge two things– that our employees are stressed, and that one way or another it’s going to come out.

  • What can we do to help our team members express their concerns about this current economic crisis in a productive way?
  • With whom can we help them connect?
  • What do we need to do to help our supervisors be more effective at listening to the needs of their employees?

As we continue to work through these difficult economic times let’s work to help stress from “coming out sideways”.

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Wellness and Employee Engagement, Again

26 Oct

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A good post in the Montreal Gazette profiles two employers that have done an outstanding job creating a highly engaged place to work. Part of their strategy is helping employers through wellness. Here’s how one of the companies sees wellness and engagement:

Pfizer recently received the highest possible accreditation by Quebec’s Bureau de Normalization as a “healthy enterprise” for its Viva program.

Viva, says St-Pierre, is an employee wellness program based on prevention, awareness and employee support.

“It promotes healthy lifestyle habits through a three-pronged approach: physical activity, nutrition and work-life balance. Employees have access to coaching by health-care professionals, such as a kinesiologist or a dietitian and we have health fairs and workshops.”

In addition, there is an on-site gym, flexible work arrangements that feature Friday afternoons off and the Viva internal website that offers wellness information.

Congratulations to yet another employer who sees the value of wellness in helping employees achieve a healthier lifestyle and, in doing so, create a more productive, engaging place to work.

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Can Changes In Employee Engagement Fortell Movement In The Economy?

24 Aug

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My friends at Quantum Workplace think there’s substance to this question. At their The Science of Work blog earlier this month we find their most recent post on the topic:

Our June 30 blog post predicted July would be an “up” month for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. And “up” was an understatement as we saw the stock index climb 8.6% in a single month. That improves the record of our linkage analysis between our Employee Engagement Index and the Dow–successfully predicting movements in 12 of the last 15 months.

Unfortunately our Engagement Index showed a slight decline between April and March. Due to the 4-month lag in our model, we’re expecting a corresponding decline in the Dow for August.

CNBC, are you listening?

The theory behind this is interesting– if we’re more engaged as a country, for example, and four months later our “extra effort” shows up in improved company performane as measured by movement in the Dow Jones.

We know there is a relationship between employee engagment and business performance at an individual company level– could it translate on a “macro” level?

Stay tuned!

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Yet Another Study Linking Engagement & Patient Satisfaction

21 Aug

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Yet another study reported by PR Newswire of the relationship between employee engagement and patient satisfaction:

“In the health care industry, as in other service-related businesses, having engaged, empowered, loyal employees can lead to increased retention, lower costs, enhanced reputation, and a profitable business picture,” said Forum President Michelle M. Smith, CPIM, CRP, vice president, business development, O.C. Tanner Company. “And now, we are finding that having satisfied employees leads to higher quality of patient care and overall better patient experiences.”

Some key findings from the study, found at www.performanceforum.org, include:

  • Patients that have higher levels of satisfaction are most likely to recommend the hospital to others when they are treated by highly-satisfied employees. Word of mouth, more than any other source of marketing promotion, is a primary driver in patient care decisions.
  • As the popularity of electronic testing and monitoring expands, health care employees, more than ever, need to exercise “the personal touch” in caring for patients.
  • In addition to what health care workers do, emphasis needs to be placed on how employees feel about what they do. Patient experiences will not be good if employees are not happy.

It’s beyond my pay grade to sort out all the reform that we need in our health care system, but it’s above anybody’s pay grade to see the evidence that more engaged employees is one key factor to the success of our health care delivery model– more engaged employees leads to more satisfied, healthy patients.

Case closed.

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