Tag Archives: Employee Retention

Onboarding– Even More Important Than Ever

15 Feb

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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/)

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Think You Know What Your Employees Are Thinking Right Now? Think Again.

9 Feb

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Salary.Com Inc. has conducted a survey of employee and employer perceptions about employee job satisfaction and intent-to-stay. The study, reviewed at Occupational Safety & Health Online reports:

According to the survey, employee satisfaction levels are often overestimated by employers. A set of questions new to this year’s survey found that the current economic climate was less of a deterrent to job seeking than employers anticipated, while variables such as income, job level, industry and age remained consistent factors that affect job satisfaction year-over-year.

Key data points:

• Overall, the survey showed that 65 percent of employees are at least somewhat satisfied in their jobs while employers estimated that figure to be 77 percent. 
• Approximately 65 percent of employees admitted to passively or actively looking for a new job, compared to employers’ estimate of 37 percent. 
• While employers have a good sense of overall employee satisfaction, they often overestimate the degree of extremely satisfied employees nearly 2 to 1. 
• The levels of satisfaction among employees surveyed varied by job level and salary. Not surprisingly, the results of the survey suggest there is a direct link between pay and satisfaction — the higher the salary and job level, the greater the number of extremely satisfied employees. 
• Age affects job satisfaction — millennials report the lowest job satisfaction.

Perhaps this study doesn’t shock you, but it does reveal an important insight that should call us to action–the best way to find about how employees are feeling is to ask them. We need to do a much better job of listening, really hearing, what our associates are feeling right now.

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Start ups don’t have to worry about this human capital stuff, right? Wrong.

7 Feb

light-bulb

You’re a fledgling, but promising, start-up. The patents for your sassy new widget have been approved. Your carefully crafted business plan has attracted outside investment. You’ve never had to hire and manage a staff before, but how hard can that be– the heavy lifting of getting this business off the ground and on your way to the big IPO pay day is just a matter of time, right? If that’s what you’re thinking, I encourage you to reconsider your position– the success of your new venture may depend on it.

Mark Waltzoni has several outstanding posts on this question at his site Building Sustainable Ventures. One hits this question head on:

The human capital side of the investment equation has traditionally received less emphasis during the due dilligence process, except for quantative analysis of benefit plans, pension obligations, and salary costs.

I believe that determining the full value of any investment benefits from a review of the organization’s talent pipeline, ability to access external talent, potential flight risks; and leadership team gaps that could swiftly erode an organizations’ ability execute against their strategic objectives, and current human capital performance such as turnover rates, staffing metrics, employee engagement indicators, and who and when ot offer retention, development, or separation agreements.

I spoke to the Executive Director of a large angel investing organization recently and he told me that in his experience early stage companies rarely failed due to poor technology or financing, but rather a leadership team whose talent, knowledge, and execution gaps doomed it’s ability to scale to the next milestone.

In the course of reviewing business plans over the years I’ve seen too many founders ignore this advice– always to their detriment. I should note that the research database my colleague Leigh Branham and I are studying for our book Lucky To Work Here contains over 10,000 employers, a third of which are small businesses. Our studies again confirm that engaged employees make a difference in all enterprises– big and small, public and private, profit and non-profit.

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Can’t Ya Just Feel Their Engagement?

6 Feb
Boy, here’s the look of three young people that are just thrilled to be working!
I know the photo is a bit dramatic, but it does raise an important issue, that being the level of employee engagement of the younger generation. After careful statistical analysis of over 300,000 employee engagement surveys we can report that employee engagement does vary by age. In fact, our studies clearly show that older employees are generally more engaged than younger employees. There are, of course, exceptions to this statement, but the general rule holds true.
Is this the fault of the younger generation? Are they simply not as motivated as Boomers like me? I think not. I believe the responsibility for those gaps lies, in great part, at the feet of management. Many organizations have yet to figure out how to more effectively engage younger workers. I’m convinced this  most recent generation to join the workforce is very motivated– we just need to figure out how we can motivate them when they come to work. Remember, engagement is what leaders do to create an environment that is conducive to:
  • people feeling energized for what they do,
  • makes them want to go the extra mile, and
  • keeps them from looking for other employment.

Employee engagement, then, is something we as leaders can largely control. It is our charge to create the conditions necessary to engage all employees, young and old alike– even more important now as we face this difficult economic times.

 (This is the first in a series I am calling “Funny Photos”. Our topic will remain earnest, but the photo, I hope, will bring a smile. We can and should take this work seriously, but we don’t have to always take ourselves seriously, right? Enjoy your weekend.)

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The ROI of Employee Engagement

5 Feb
Yet another study showing that more engaged employers enjoy financial rewards was reported by the web site Knowledge @ Wharton. The paper, which is available to download, reports:

In a paper titled, “Does the Stock Market Fully Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction and Equity Prices,” (Wharton finance professor Alex) Edmans examines the stock returns of companies with high employee satisfaction and compares them to various benchmarks — the broader market, peer firms in the same industry, and companies with similar characteristics. His research indicates that firms cited as good places to work earn returns that are more than double those of the overall market.

Companies on Fortune magazine’s annual list of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” between 1998 and 2005 returned 14% per year, compared to 6% a year for the overall market, according to Edmans. The results also hold up using an earlier version of the survey that dates back to 1984. “One might think this is an obvious relationship — that you don’t need to do a study showing that if workers are happy, the company performs better. But actually, it’s not that obvious,” says Edmans. “Traditional management theory treats workers like any other input — get as much out of them as possible and pay them as little as you can get away with.”

This study corroborates our own research, as well as twenty-seven other studies we’ve collected over the years for our book Lucky To Work Here. If you would like a copy of a bibliography of those studies, please email at markhirschfeld@gmail.com— I’d be happy to send it to you.

The evidence is now clear– there is a business imperative to creating a more engaged workplaces. Let’s get to work!

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An Outcome Of The Economic Crisis

5 Feb

An article in the New York Times points to one clear symptom of employee engagement in the midst of this economic crisis– an increase in contact with employee assistance programs. The article, in part, states:

A widely available but often ignored corporate perk — the employee assistance program — can help workers who are suddenly facing a layoff, as well as those who worry that the same fate will befall them.

E.A.P.’s, which generally are managed by counseling firms or divisions of health insurance providers, offer advice on family relationships, drug and alcohol problems and dollars-and-cents issues, among other matters. With so many people out of work because of the recession, and signs of economic rebound hard to glimpse, the number of calls to the programs has skyrocketed.

Aetna Behavioral Health, part of Aetna Inc., the health insurer, said it saw a 60 percent increase in program members seeking help in the third quarter of 2008, versus the same period of 2007. Financial stress was the main source of the increase, Aetna said.

“We’re hearing more and more people raising financial and economic concerns,” said Dennis Derr, who runs the firm’s E.A.P.’s. “We started noticing that trend in the middle of last year, with people saying they’re in debt or concerned about being laid off.”

In our research study, Beating the Bear Market with Engaged Employees , we identify five differentiators that can make a positive impact on employee engagement in the midst of these tough times, and taking care of employees is front and center.

Consider:

  • Do you have an EAP program?
  • If so, is the program well publicized?
  • Can you help managers to encourage the use of services such as EAP?

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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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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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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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“Suffering From Too Much Recognition?” A Tale of Two Bosses

30 Jan

A conversation I had with a former boss came to mind today. The thought of offering praise to an employee, including yours truly, was not in his “management style”.  There were certainly lots of good things to celebrate– new customers, growing revenues, a sound bottom line. He thought that people “doing their job was no reason to get all excited, plus if you start praising people it will just go to their heads”– thus the dearth of praise, even when things were going well.

Another former boss, Dr. Donald O. Clifton, used to ask audiences a question when it came to this topic of praise: “If any of you out there are suffering from too much recognition, please raise your hand?” Never was a hand shown.

In fact, if we ever error regarding recognition, it is too little and without sincerity. The chances that we would “over-praise” someone are slim to none. In my case, the first boss never got the best out of me, and I would have walked through fire to please Don Clifton if he would have asked– have you felt this difference in your life? Our studies of outstanding workplaces indicates this is a critical driver of employee engagement.

Consider:

  • What can we do to dispel the myth that we should worry about “over-praising” our associates?
  • Can we do a better job of celebrating the successes of our associates, particularly in these difficult times?
  • How we can we help all our leaders be more effective at recognizing their staff in a meaningful way?

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