EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT -
THE MASTER KEY TO MAKING
PEOPLE
MANAGMENT MORE SUCCESSFUL
What
is the ultimate metric to measure the SUCCESS of the HR system???
The need to engage employees to achieve the employee interaction and
commitment required to drive your business success and compete in
today's marketplace. That, in turn can go a long way toward building
customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and company profits. The desire
for employee engagement-essentially emotional connections
between employees and their companies may not have been so
important years ago but things have changed.
Every
company has several groups that they need to keep happy. This includes
shareholders, employees, management, customers, suppliers, etc Employee
engagement has important implications for all of these groups as well as the
brand of the company. To ensure that you meet the commitments and expectations
of all groups you have to have employees who are engaged and enthusiastic about
their work, have the right training, the right tools and information and the
authority to take action.
Lets
begin with a practical understanding of
Employee Engagement
·
It's
an employee who interacts with the company, who brings new ideas about how to
do the work, who's willing to train or mentor and be an advocate for the
company and the people he or she works with without necessarily being asked
·
Every
company looks for that 'something extra' that will motivate employees to invest
themselves in what the organization pursues. This 'engagement' of
employees is a combination of functional and emotional commitment - the
functional commitment to get things done and the emotional commitment to invest
'something extra' in the success of the efforts. The ultimate result of
engagement is a workplace committed to achieving real results that can be
measured in metrics of financial return, employee turnover and productivity.
·
Engaged
employees are more productive and maintain better customer
relationships. It's critical therefore, for organizations to nurture and
engaged workforce. Selection and training of managers is a key component
to this, so organizations focused on engagement need to include manager
training on engagement in their talent-development
strategies."
Engagement
now means much more than simple or traditional reward and recognition programs.
Now these activities have to be integrated with leadership practices,
communication initiatives, training, customizations of needs and desires, etc,
etc in order to be effective. It is more of a holistic approach and
strategizing on where engagement is heading in your organization, what it
means and how you are going to get there. It is also critical that management
is fully committed and supports the programs so that everyone is on the
same page. Where reward and recognition programs play a role is
to support the culture of engagement. It is important to have a
system in place that reinforces and encourages the desired behaviors,
attitudes and performance throughout the organization.
Otherwise things
just get out of control, and it is very difficult to pin down what the company
culture is.
While
there are many approaches that can be used, here are some essentials to
improving organizational culture that are guaranteed to achieve sustainable
results.
#1
- Articulate what the vision, mission, and goals of your organizations are. This should clarify what the
organization is about; the legacy it wants to leave; and how you plan to
achieve service, performance, and operational excellence. Keep them short and
simple so that every employee, top-down, can understand it. Also, don't be
afraid to refine the organization's vision, mission, and values every few years
so it stays fresh, and always relevant to your current work environment.
#2
- Educate your employees on the vision, mission, and goals of the organization. Help them see how they fit into the
big picture, what you expect from them, and how their individual and team
contributions will lead to organizational success. This can be accomplished
during the New Employee On-Boarding process, at departmental meetings, at
all-employee general sessions, or one-on-one. Don't miss any opportunity to
align employees, so that you feel confident in holding them accountable for
contributing to improving the culture.
#3
- Hold leadership accountable for driving a culture of excellence. Demonstration and execution of the
organization's vision, mission, and goals should be linked to their job
performance, incentive program, and future career advancement. Look at it this
way... if a leader is incapable of consistently driving excellence, to some
extent they are negligent in their job, and may be impeding the organization's
ability to improve the culture. Leaders are crucial in improving organizational
culture.
#4
- Reward and recognize employees who consistently exemplify the qualities that
will lead to organizational success.
Once you have clarified what is needed to improve and drive a culture of
excellence, educate employees on what is expected of them and how to deliver on
the expectations; then its time to reward those who are uncompromising in their
commitment to excellence.
#5
- Coach, counsel, and develop employees who are deficient in driving
organizational culture.
You do this by first finding out "why" they are unable to meet
organizational expectations. Is it a commitment issue? Or is it a competence
issue? If it is competence, they need further training and development to help
them connect the dots. If it is a commitment issue, they need further
one-on-one coaching to increase their motivation and buy-in; they need to know "what's
in it for me?
#6
- Refine your new employee selection process. Going forward, make a commitment to only select and hire
potential job candidates who can help the organization positively advance, and
enhance the culture you are trying to create or improve. Integrate questions
into the interview process that will help you identify job candidates who will
naturally fit in with the culture you are trying to create, and definitely
avoid those who may erode or destroy it. Undeniably, this will require waiting
for the right hire, and not just filling a job opening with a warm body.
with best compliments
Dr Wilfred Monteiro
www.synergymanager.net
