Keeping Employees Engaged In The Workplace

KEEPING EMPLOYEES ENGAGED IN
THE WORKPLACE
By: Urvashi Singh

Jumpstart-hr.com | twitter.com/jumpstarthr | 301-910-8660

Overview

What is Key drivers for A look at
Employee Employee Work/Life
Engagement rewards and
Employee and reasons for
Engagement feedback
recognition
balance
Engagement Strategies survey design initiatives
disengagement programs


Employee Engagement
"Employee Engagement is a Key Drivers
measurable degree of an  Trust and integrity
employee's positive or negative  Nature of the job
emotional attachment to their
job, colleagues and organization  Line of sight between employee
which profoundly influences performance and company
their willingness to learn and performance
perform at work".(Scarlett  Pride about the company
Surveys)  Career growth opportunities
 Coworkers/team members
 Employee development
 Relationship with manager


Quick Facts
 Organizations with the lowest percentage of engaged employees showed
declines of 2% in operating margins and 1.38% in profit margins (Towers
Perrin_ISR, June 2007)

 Engaged employees perform 20% better than non-engaged employees
(Gallup Management Group)

 Offices with engaged employees are 43% more productive (The Hay
Group)

 Employees with the highest percentage of engaged employees, on
average, increase operating margins 3.64% and net profit margins by
2.06% (Towers Perrin_ISR, June 2007)


Four Levels Of Engagement
 Devoted workers are the most engaged employees, those who put their
heart and soul into their work each day and strive for continuous
improvement
 “Plugged in” employees are usually, but not always, willing to go the extra
mile to do their jobs well; they tend to contribute consistently and
accomplish goals
 Those who fall into the “cruise control” category might show up for work
but put forth their full effort only occasionally
 Employees who are “checked out” do just what’s needed to get by
“Why are some employees so devoted while others seem to have checked
out?”
Source: study by Accenture Institute of Higher Performance


Core Beliefs
Employees must hold three core beliefs about their
employment for sustained engagement:

 I'm making a difference
 My company has my back
 We're in this together

Source: study by Accenture Institute of Higher Performance


Reasons For Disengagement
 There are no career enhancement prospects
 I do not get along with my co-workers
 I am on a contract that ends in 0-12 Months
 Poor corporate social responsibility
 Lack of job security
 Personal Reasons
 My manager and I have a poor relationship
 Unreasonable pressure and demands
 The job has a poor work / life balance
 The culture is not very supportive or friendly
 Lack of communication/co-operation with Management
 I can get a better pay elsewhere
 I am bored with my job
 I am not rewarded or recognized for my efforts


Strategies To Engage Employees
Communicate, communicate, communicate..

Employees appreciate being "in the know" and will contribute to
improvements and future success. Once they understand the reasoning
behind decisions, fears are alleviated and their energy is channeled into
helping the organization reach its goals


Provide Training
 Assign a peer mentor to work with new employees during their first 90 days on
the job
 Develop a comprehensive training plan for each employee that is specific to
his/her role.
 Identify a small number of educational opportunities that employees can
attend to build relationships and get acquainted with their organization’s
industry.
 Hold regular professional development seminars so employees can learn new
skills
 Use a training needs assessment to solicit employees’ feedback
 Ask for qualitative and quantitative feedback from new employees to get a
benchmark of the organization’s onboarding program


Mentor
What a Mentor Contributes:
 Technical knowledge.
 Character influence/modeling.
 Knowledge of how to get things done in and organization.
 Understanding of other people and other viewpoints.
 Insight into cultural differences.
 Development of values.
Questions for Mentors:
 What am I good at?
 What special experience have I had?
 When have people asked for my help?
 What things do I see that other people need to be aware of?
 What would I enjoy helping someone with the most?



Ask questions and listen to answers
Asking questions can help develop critical innovative thinking and a call to
action across the organization.
 What are the present strengths of the organization that need to be
preserved?
 What areas does the organization need to improve upon?
 What is one thing this organization needs to stop doing?
 What do you personally need to improve your efficiency and
effectiveness?


Engage employees in solving business issues
 What is the present state of affairs for the business issue they're trying
to resolve?
 What is the ideal state of our company?
 What processes should the organization engage in to achieve the desired
results?
 What is the estimated time frame?
 What are the costs?


Recognition and Rewards
 Appreciating people for their individual talents, skills and diversity of
thought.
 Creating an atmosphere that fosters good relationships at all levels.
 Really listening to what employees have to say.
 Recognizing accomplishments with timely recognition—even if it’s only
a “thank you.”
 Outlining clear performance expectations.
 Celebrating successes as they occur.
 Sharing ownership for goals and achievements.


Recognition and Rewards
Case studies of restructured recognition programs at Scotia
bank, Delta Airlines and MGM Grand demonstrated that
recognition programs:
 Must include multiple award forms to satisfy different
worker needs
 Need not be costly and, in fact, may have no real monetary
value
 Are effective when the recognition is of value to the
individual worker, and is awarded for behaviors linked to
specific job performance goals


Employee Opinion Survey
Things to consider for HR Personnel when designing an
employee opinion survey
 Define objective: Why are we considering this?
 Consider survey environment: What is the employee climate?
 Select the appropriate survey design
 Confirm administrative procedures: Participants, logistics, etc.
 Communication:"Be Honest“
 Ensuring employee participation


Employee Opinion Survey
Five critical elements to ensure employee participation.
 Getting support and commitment from the top
 Designing a good survey
 Motivating respondents
 Dispelling fears
 Removing barriers
Information to Include for HR Personnel:
 Introduction: Identification of yourself and/or your sponsor
 Purpose/objective: How results will be used
 Anonymity or disclosure of responses
 Potential benefit of the survey
 Potential risks, if any
 Instructions: Estimated time to complete survey


Employee Initiatives
How do I know if my organization's Employee Initiatives are
working?
Creating a positive employee engagement climate, or what author
Robert Rosen calls a "healthy company," can be measured through a
number of ways, including:
 turnover
 absenteeism
 on-the-job accidents/injuries
 grievances and discrimination cases
 productivity measurements (output, quality, work process
improvements)
 customer feedback
 employee feedback (qualitative and quantitative)


Work/Life Balance Programs
 Many organizations have programs that will provide health care
professionals on site
 Large consulting firms listened to their employees and found their travel
schedules were greatly impacting their family quality of life. A number of
the large consulting firms have mandated that their employees don't have
to leave until Monday morning, and they have to be home by Thursday
night.
 Companies looking to help their employees stay fit pay for their
membership at a health club or pay a certain amount for in home fitness
equipment
 Organizations contribute to child care programs, provide referrals, or
contract out for the service
 Many companies such as Google have concierge services, dry
cleaning, on-site banking, or discount ticketing


Quote

"The vision is really about
empowering workers, giving
them all the information about
what's going on so they can do a
lot more than they've done in the
past." --Bill Gates


Keeping Employees Engaged In The Workplace

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