INVOLVEMENT
Creating fully engaged employees, who have passion
for driving excellence, also includes involvement. Most employees want to be
involved in the planning of work that affects them. When employees are not
involved it often contributes to misalignment, negativity, and low morale.
Involving employees doesn't mean getting their say
on confidential business issues, but it does include soliciting their feedback
on workplace issues, processes or procedural changes that will impact their
work -- before they are implemented. When employees understand the
"why" and are involved to some extent in the improvement process and
implementation, you have a greater chance at creating sustainable change, a
high level of trust, buy-in, and support.
THE RIGHT RESOURCES & RIGHT SUPPORT
When employees are provided with the proper tools
and resources to do a quality job, it creates a great environment for holding
everyone accountable for driving excellence. It also demonstrates that the
organization is serious about creating a work environment where employees can
thrive, be successful, and contribute to improving operational and financial
results.
Basic resources should include
appropriate supplies and equipment, along with learning and development
opportunities to enhance and grow employee competence, confidence, skill, and
ability.
When was the last time you assessed where you stand
(as a leader) in providing the basic tools and resources to ensure a job well
done from your staff? If funding and budget cuts are barriers, use the wisdom
of your team to surface resourceful ways to ensure they have what they need, while
not causing a financial burden to the organization.
RECOGNITION
Even in organizations who profess that they do a
good job in rewarding and recognizing staff members, there are still many
employees starving for it. That's often because the level of recognition
initiated often varies based on the departmental leader. I believe that there
should be multiple channels of reward and recognition flowing throughout an
organization; not only top-down recognition - which is manager-to-employees,
but also lateral recognition - which is peer-to-peer.
When employees feel they are adequately recognized
for a job well done, they become self-motivated to do more with less. And for
the most part, a sincere "thank you" with a pat on the back from a
manager or senior leader to a line employee can go a long way in creating and
sustaining a culture of excellence.
What ever the workforce composition, employee
engagement is strongly driven by the immediate manager and his or her ability
to meet employees' emotional requirements. In this context, it is suggested
that people are motivated more by intrinsic factors, such as personal
recognition, rather than simply focusing on extrinsic factors, such as
compensation. The following ideas can be executed with very little cost for
everyone and anyone….
¨ Invite successful
teams to present their project achievements to top management.
¨ Start a staff
appreciation program. Award points for positive traits. Points may be redeemed
for small prizes or special privileges.
¨ Plan a surprise
achievement celebration for a staff member or team.
¨ Pass on the praise.
If you hear a positive remark about a person, repeat it to that person as soon
as possible--perhaps via email. . Publish a "kudos" column in your
newsletter. Ask staff to submit kudos for their peers.
¨ Call an employee to
your office to thank them.
¨ Express interest in
your staff members' professional development or personal accomplishments like
Mohan participated in the Mumbai Marathon.
¨ Establish
relationships between staff and upper management. One idea: send new employees
out to lunch with the company president.
¨ Mail thank you notes
to employees who work long hours for a special project/crisis and
start a program to curtail needless late working as well
¨ Allow employees to
select their next assignments. If you can allow employees to choose their work,
they will be more engaged and dedicated.
¨ Designate successful
teams and employees as office consultants.
¨ Give employees an
extra long lunch break on occasion or convert this into a surprise party or
celebration of a company’s achievement
¨ establish
a real generous Award to recognize employees who consistently do
their job well…. This should make the others jealous atleast !!!
TRUST
Trust isn’t something you can buy. Trust is
something you earn. It’s based on a set of behaviors that can be learned,
practiced, and mastered. It’s a commitment that fundamentally informs how
people think about and interact with customers, suppliers, and coworkers. In
time, it becomes an organization’s way of being. An interesting trend
observed in most companies is that the employee perceptions drop after spending
6 months in the organization. It highlights the challenge in managing new hire
expectations and the possible gap in employer brand promise and the actual
experience. The change is largely related to credibility of the
commitments made by management, openness in communication with seniors and
recognition of work.
When leaders work diligently to keep the lines of
communication open, involve employees in the planning of work that impacts
them, provide employees with proper tools and resources, and consistently
recognize exemplary job performance - all of these elements contribute to
creating a high level of trust on both sides of the fence. In a good
company , trust should manifests itself in every relationship.
Managers believe that employees want to be productive, encouraging them to
participate in the business. Employees act like owners. They’re enthusiastic
and passionate about their work and the company’s mission. In a high-trust
environment, people cooperate and collaborate, leading to positive workplace
interactions, higher profits, and greater productivity.
CONCLUDING -
EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION A MOVING
TARGET
Few employees feel that they get enough
communication or information on company updates from their boss. Open
communication is key to creating and sustaining a culture of excellence, as
well as, increasing employee engagement and trust, customer loyalty, and
ultimately improving bottom-line results.
Open communication can be in the form of:
one-on-one updates with staff members; daily briefings with the entire team;
company newsletters and intranet updates; or through regularly scheduled team
or departmental meetings. Open communication does not mean sharing confidential
company information, but it should include keeping your staff abreast of
inter-company changes, financial results, customer feedback (good or bad), and
aware of new products and services that will soon be launched.
with best compliments
Dr Wilfred Monteiro
www.synergymanager.net
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