Employee Engagement | Mark Hirschfeld

Tag Archives: Employee Engagement

Defining Employee Engagement Continued

In an earlier post I offered my defintion of employee engagement. Researchers at Hewitt have arrived at a similar conclusion. Findings reported in Business Standard indicate they see three behaviors:

Engaged employees stay — they have an intense desire to be a member of the organisation; say — they are passionate advocates for their workplace and speak positively about the organisation to co-workers, potential employees and customers; and strive — they go beyond what is minimally required to produce extraordinary service and results for customers and colleagues.

Look at this example of how P&G employees act like an owner of the company, treating the company’s assets as their own. During a period of heavy rain which had caused severe flooding, the government declared a holiday for all its offices, but a lot of P&G material was awaiting clearance at the customs office. The plant engineer had valid reasons to wait for a day, but he took the initiative: He braved the rains to pick up a customs official from his house and took him to his office to authorise its clearance. He then made sure that all the raw materials were delivered to the plant on the same day. As a result, the production lines didn’t have to stop.

Would your employees go to such lengths to help your business achieve its goals? If the answer is yes, you have done your job as an employer. If not, take the Kelly survey seriously before it’s too late.

I think we’re getting some consensus around this idea of employee engagement– that’s good. More importantly, we’re hearing examples, such the one cited above, of specific behavior we can clearly observe that shows us when employees are engaged. Would love to hear your stories of engagement and disengagement.

Graphic courtesy www.lumaxart.com

Tags: Employee Engagement, Employee Satisfaction, Employee Survey, Hewitt

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Categories Employee Engagement, Employee Engagement Research

Recession Opportunity– Underutilized Talent

4 Mar

A report published in Business Week shows an opportunity waiting for business to seize right now– underutilized talent:

According to a winter 2008 Accenture (ACN) survey, which BusinessWeek has an exclusive first look at, 46% of women and 49% of men worldwide believe they are insufficiently challenged in their jobs.

“What this means for companies is that they have a huge opportunity with the talent they own to get more return [out of these] same people, if they just know how to ask them and how to engage them,” says Armelle Carminati, Managing Director of Human Capital and Diversity at Accenture. “Your employees are eager to do more. They are capable of doing more. They want to do more. This is a great competitive advantage for you as a company because you don’t have to hire new talent in a challenging environment—you have the talent in place.”

Consider:

How could you more effectively engage the talent of associates where you work?
By not doing so, do you risk losing them to a competitor who will?

Tags: Business Week, Economic Crisis, Economy, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Recession

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Categories Employee Engagement, Leading In Difficult Times

What Is Employee Engagement ANYWAY?

2 Mar

I was just looking at a question on LinkedIn, which asked respondents to offer their definition of employee engagement. It occurred to me that I’ve been writing this blog for the last several weeks and have never offered up what I think… my bad. There are a number of terrific “academic” defintions out there, but here’s more of the “friendly, Midwestern” version. I see four identifiable, measurable, factors:

A person gets up every morning, fights bad drivers and cold coffee, to get to work where they say “I just love what I do” (Satisfaction);
They go out of their way to get the job done right, particularly when a customer is involved, even when noone is looking (Discretionary Effort);
At the weekend cookout they can’t stop talking up what they do and where they work to neighbors and friends (Advocacy); and
They tell the headhunter to take a hike when they call about a new, higher paying job (Intent-To-Stay).

Do you see these things in yourself? In others on your work team? If so, you’re probably in that category of “engaged”. If not, it’s probably time to do some serious thinking.

Tags: Employee Engagement

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Categories Employee Engagement

Employee Engagement And Well Being– Two Sides Of The Same Coin

26 Feb

Consultant News has published a research study by Hewitt that shows yet additional evidence that well being and employee engagment may be two sides of the same coin– very much linked together:

“Research carried out in conjunction with the 2009 Best Employers in Canada study has established that highly engaged employees experience better health and overall well-being. This finding reinforces the benefits for both employers and employees of increasing employee engagement, according to Hewitt Associates, the global human resources consulting and outsourcing company that conducts the annual study.

“The 115,000 employees surveyed as part of the 2009 study clearly revealed that high engagement goes hand-in-hand with better health and well-being,” said Neil Crawford, leader of Hewitt’s Best Employers in Canada study. “Employees at organizations with high engagement reported better physical health, lower job stress and work overload, and greater financial security. In addition, they also believe that their employer’s benefits plan contributes to their overall well-being, although there is room for improvement with respect to retirement savings programs.”

I read of the governmental plans to “reform” our health care, which is all fine and well. But perhaps the most important reform we can make would be to create better workplaces which, amongst other things, cares about the health and well being of employees. According to this study this may be, as they say, exactly what the doctor ordered.

Tags: Best Places to Work, Corporate Wellness, Employee Engagement, Employee Satisfaction, Employee Survey, Great Workplaces, Health Benefits, Wellness, Wellness & Productivity, Wellness Program ROI

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Categories Employee Engagement Research, Employee Well Being

Southwest Airlines– Let’s Listen And Learn

25 Feb

This video is twenty-five minutes long, but worth your time. Southwest’s long-time president “schoolin us”…

Tags: Best Places to Work, Employee Engagement, Employee Satisfaction, Southwest Airlines

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Categories Employee Engagement

To RIF Or Not To RIF– Is That The Question?

20 Feb

There’s a fine article in the Omaha World-Herald about the ongoing debate of whether to sever employees or institute salary freezes/ cutting back hours as options to reduce costs given the tough economic climate. A number viewpoints are offered about both approaches. The article also raises an important issue about management and how any effort should be approached– here’s David Sokol, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway-owned MidAmerican Holdings Company:

In such cases, though, businesses sometimes become shortsighted, Sokol said. They don’t realize that if they’re not careful, they could lose an awful lot of their best talent.

“Step number one is to make sure that you’re communicating openly and honestly about what’s going on, so that they’re not just hearing rumors. Because, frankly, your employees tend to be lot smarter (than that) . . . they normally know well ahead of your telling them.

As I’ve started in previous posts, it’s probably beyond my pay grade to advise a company whether they should conduct a RIF or salary cutbacks. I do think it my charge to continue pointing out that the success of either tactic will depend heavily on how management goes about it, including communicating in the way Mr. Sokol advises.

Tags: Economic Crisis, Economy, Employee Engagement, Employee Retention, Layoff, Recession, Reduction in Force, RIF, RIF Communication, Salary Freeze, Wage Freeze

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Categories Employee Communication, Leading In Difficult Times

“Will Corporate Giving Suffer In The Crunch?”

19 Feb

The Times Online asks this important question, one which I hope all employers are carefully considering. I may be more sensistive to this as a former nonprofit executive, who knows how important corporate giving is to providing needed services in a community. Cadbury is featured in the article as one company that is holding firm:

These are uncertain times for charities dependent on corporate giving but Cadbury – associated with philanthropy since its Quaker founders created the Bourn-ville workers’ village in 1895 – insists that it, for one, will continue to give in the recession.

“It’s part of our heritage,” said Cheryl Phillips at Cadbury. “It brings a sense of cohesion to the company, increases employee engagement and develops our people.” my emphasis)

The article also points out another factor that should be considered– employee engagement– which is the theme of this blog. I know of many employers who have seen these same benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR)– connections in the community, growth in skills, helping the brand image, a sense of satisfaction for employees involved in charitable work– these can bring a nice ROI to a company that is genuinely committed to giving back.

I certainly understand that times are tough and cutbacks may be necessary, but I encourage all employers to add employee views into the mix before making any significant changes to corporate giving.

Tags: Cadbury, Corporate Social Responsbility, CSR, Economic Crisis, Economy, Employee Engagement, Employee Satisfaction, Recession, Times Online

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Categories Employee Engagement, Employee Well Being

A Writer Goes Retail– A Lesson In Liking Your Job

17 Feb

I encourage you to read the column written in the New York Times by Caitlin Kelly. The author is a freelance writer, who recently took a part-time job at a department store. In the course of her time she learns about her profession of journalism, about the store that apparently does a good job of creating a friendly, productive environment and, most importantly, something about herself. She concludes her column:

My retail co-workers have chosen this job for many reasons. Some are college students, some already work at two other jobs, and for top managers, it’s a well-paid full-time career. It offers flexible scheduling, can be a lot of fun and — in an economy forcing millions to redefine themselves professionally — its expectations are manageable and clear.

With so many media companies struggling, hundreds of my peers are losing their handsome titles and well-paid jobs. Some of them, too, may have to redefine themselves, temporarily and part time, or permanently. Right now, at our store and for this company, I play on a winning team. It feels good.

“Are you still there?” my friends ask me, month after month. Luckily, I am.

Many of us will need to rethink careers in the midst of this crisis. One thing we should keep in mind is that liking what you do and who you work is important. Ms. Kelly’s journey can be a good guide for the rest of us.

Tags: Caitlin Kelly, Employee Engagement, Employee Satisfaction, Employment, Job Satisfaction, New York Times

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Categories Engaging Yourself, Job Satisfaction

Onboarding– Even More Important Than Ever

15 Feb

According to a study published at CNN/Money.Com, getting employees off to a great start is even more important than ever:

Engaging employees early in their career with a new company is essential to employee satisfaction, retention, and performance, says data from the latest Human Capital Management benchmark report from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS). Effective onboarding of new employees is so crucial that 50% of more than 600 human resources, talent management, and line of business executives surveyed and interviewed by Aberdeen in December 2008 and January 2009 for this study indicate that the current state of the economy will increase the importance their organization places on onboarding in 2009.

Aberdeen’s research found that the percentage of organizations with a formal onboarding process has grown from 62% to 68% over the past year. In addition, two-thirds of Best-in-Class organizations are now beginning the onboarding process before the new employee’s start date, nearly one-half of which are starting the process as soon as the employment offer is extended. “Best-in-Class organizations are utilizing a formal onboarding process to drive positive impact in the pre-hire and through the new employee’s first year with the company,” said Kevin Martin, vice president and principal analyst, Human Capital Management at Aberdeen. “In fact, at the majority of Best-in-Class organizations, onboarding is seamlessly integrated with both recruitment and performance management.”

I continue to be amazed at how many employers, who desparately want an engaged workforce, do such a rotten job of assimilating new employees. Let’s committ to starting the engagement process the day a person applies for a job at our company, and continue that effort relentlessly– our survival may depend on it.

(Image courtesy http://www.lumaxart.com/)

Tags: Economic Crisis, Economy, Employee Engagement, Employee Orientation, Employee Retention, New Employee, Onboarding, Recession