Tag Archives: Employee Engagement

“Just The Hired Help”

25 Jan

hierarchy

A friend related this story of his former place of work. Although he made good money and was asked to be involved in some cool things with the company owners, this was not a business that had a reputation as being employer-of-choice.

One night he was returning home from a nice dinner at a community event the company sponsored, and told his wife he thought this was pretty special they had been invited to the gala. His wife paused for a moment and said: “Yea, this was a nice night. But you know about this family. Don’t ever forget Rod that you’re just the hired help.”

Not long after that he found out the truth of this statement as he left the firm, frustrated that he wasn’t supported and provided opportunities to grow where it really counted– on the job. He’s now a recognized leader with a competitor, who was delighted to acquire his services.

If you’re a leader, is that what your employees might say about you? What is it about your approach to working with them that makes them feel this way? What could you do in the next week to turn that around? In this challenging times we can’t afford to have our employees feel they’re “just the hired help”.

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Strategic Thinking???

24 Jan

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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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“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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How To Destroy Someone

18 Jan

My former boss and mentor Don Clifton frequently told audiences that one way you could destroy a person was to repeatedly ask them to do something for which they have no adequate response in terms of their abilities. That sounds pretty dramatic, but by not putting people into roles that fit their strengths we often do this in the workplace. This fate has sadly befallen me twice in my career, and although I wasn’t destroyed I certainly suffered. One miscast employee laments:

My talents are a mismatch with my job but I cannot change jobs right now. I would be more positive about our company if I could do something here more in line with my abilities.

Consider:

  • How many employees do you have that are in the wrong job, a “square peg in a round hole”, so to speak?
  • More importantly, how much is the productivity of your company suffering because good people are in jobs that are a poor fit for them?

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Engagement and the Economic Crisis

17 Jan

My thanks to several news organizations, including Reuters http://blog.recruiternewsline.com/?p=118 and CNBC  http://www.cnbc.com/id/28647983 in helping present our research into employee engagement in our current economic crisis.

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When Engagement Leads To Gratitude

17 Jan

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Is employee development an essential part of your employment brand? In this current economy we still are finding employers who are making that investment, one we know will help them weather this storm. Here’s a comment from an employer known for their high levels of engagement. It’s a testament to their efforts and, more importantly, a common remark for them. You can immediately sense the gratitude this employee is expressing:

 

(The company) is not afraid of taking chances on individuals, and that personally has allowed me to be promoted and move into my current job. When employees may not always have the usually expected experience for a position, the firm provides the means necessary to get that knowledge and experience.

 

Consider:

  • Is this how you feel about your job? If not, perhaps you need to seek out an employer who, in thick and thin, can make this happen.
  • If you’re a manager, is this how your employees feel?

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Engaging Employees– More Important Than Ever

17 Jan

bear-market4

I know our current economic situation is difficult. But let’s not make that an excuse to stop doing what we should as leaders—developing and mentoring! The comment below comes from an executive at a company that has been recognized for their outstanding engagement:

There is a spirit of teamwork (here) – more so than any other company I have worked at before and people are looked to for specialties so there is a way to stand out. As a executive, I know that we are constantly trying to develop and mentor anyone at more junior levels and teach them to manage as well.

May I be so bold to say that this may be the best time to focus our efforts on development, particularly with our best and brightest? I’m sure this executive is worried about the future of her business, but she still feels confident that the culture she and the rest of her executive team has created will help them get through these bumpy times. I think she’s right, don’t you?

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