Number 22

Our theme in this issue:  Are your staff engaged ?

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There are two very interesting areas in business.  The first  ----  are your customers/clients 'engaged'?

How many of us even know whether our customers are fully engaged, and how many of them would say this about your business:

• "I am proud to be a customer."
• "I am always treated with respect."
• "They always deliver on their promises."
• "Theirs is a name I can trust."

In some ways it gets back to my passion of having businesses deliver over-the-top customer service, and benchmarking that customer/client engagement.  Benchmarking will look at the business over time in order to identify trends; compare it to other business units in the same company, and finally benchmark it in relation to competitors.

In a similar vein to customer engagement the second is understand whether your staff are 'engaged' with your business; it's direction and values, or whether they are just filling in time and drawing a paycheck. 

Surveys have shown that in many businesses more than 11% of staff are fully disengaged.  Could yours be one of them?

…. on to Leading Ways #22   ..... Are your staff 'engaged'?

High performers and those who are true believers in your vision not only exhibit a very strong commitment to your organization but are likely to help others who have a heavy workload; they will take on other assignments and are constantly looking for ways to do their job more effectively.

One of the main benefits however is that they are half as likely to leave the organization as the average employee.

It may also surprise you to know that engaged employees are not from any one particular group such as female, Gen X or Y, baby boomers etc., and there are some characteristics which traverse all employees. 

It is interesting also that those with an emotional commitment are four times more valuable to your organization than those who simply have a rational commitment.  Those with an emotional commitment consistently deliver that discretionary extra effort.

If you know and understand this then you can move to have more of your people more fully engaged.

What are the primary drivers for employee engagement?

Not surprising #1 on the list is the employees relationship with his or her manager. 

You may recall my prior discussion of employees staying with a company which has an exciting believable vision, where the company has differentiated products and services and where SOMEONE IS INTERESTED IN ME AND MY CAREER.

This is the emotional tie that binds .... and probably the most important thing I can say here is to ensure that employees are correctly aligned with their aptitudes, interests and abilities.  If you work with people outside of these parameters [square peg in a round hole] then most likely they will not be successful, or certainly not more effectively engaged. 

And remember, motivation must come from within; all you are doing is providing conditions conducive to their self motivation.

One of the ways to accelerate personal development in addition to mentoring and training is to structure job challenges which are aligned to individual career plans.  Providing "the experience," within the experience.

In their relationship with their manager employees are, in addition to receiving mentoring, looking for informed, fair and detailed feedback in order to improve their performance and career experience.

#2 on the list of employee engagement is how 'connected' employees feel between the job they are doing and the overall business strategy.

for example, If I am working in a call center do I fully understand that my job and the service I provide are critical to our telco's mission of being number one in the wireless space?

This is where great leaders are great storytellers..... they paint the picture and they link the tasks at hand to the overall vision so employees clearly understand the connection.

Emotional commitment comes next ----  #3 on the list --  Commitment to the Team.

One of the best ways to get commitment to the team is to have the team identify opportunities or problems and then involve all team members in solving the problem or explore the opportunities.  Natural leaders typically emerge according to the situation, and leadership often rotates from situation to situation. 

By taking this approach of team-centric behavior the team develops new ways of thinking, and members truly believe they are making a difference.

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Surprise, surprise -- #4 is Effective Communication.   

I won't dwell on this too much but as I've said many times "Great leaders are Great Communicators."  

So remember, it's not about how often you communicate but rather the quality of your communication.  The openness and honesty of it, and relating it to the employee's world or frame of reference.

Other elements of engagement include:

• The leader, and the organization having a reputation for honesty and integrity.
• An organization with a culture of caring for it's people.
• The organization being open to change, new ideas and innovation.
• Having realistic performance expectations for employees.

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So, when did you last benchmark the level of employee engagement in your team, or across your organization?

Did you know that less than one-third of high-performers are also high-potential employees? 

Remember, high-potential employees are those with a unique combination of high levels of ability, engagement and aspiration.  It's time to identify and nurture yours!

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Have a great week!

Denis