The Employee Engagement Revolution

Our relationships with our employees and our employers are on the rocks. They might have become one sided, lack effective communication, or feel under appreciated.

—

An engagement is symbolic of a commitment between two parties. It means both parties are interested in the development of one another and are committed to nurturing the relationship. Healthy relationships are dependent upon the contributions of both parties. When one party stops giving, the relationship starts to die.

As America’s employment outlook brightens, a dark cloud continues to loom. I am not speaking of the number of Americans who have dropped out of the labor market, the number of under employed Americans, or the number of unemployed veterans. Each of those are very important in their own right. Today. I am speaking about the appalling number of dysfunctional relationships many businesses experience with their employees.

Like the decaying flesh of a corpse, dying and dead relationships become increasingly unbearable and burdensome. More time is spent on surviving than thriving, and in certain instances, it results in deliberate sabotage. Instead of expending emotional energy to grow, we expend emotional energy on survival. In fact, until we address the issues and remove the dysfunction, dramatic growth (like the kind experienced by firms such as Apple and Facebook) will remain a fantasy.

What I have just described represents a majority of the American workforce. Over 70 percent of employees are sleepwalking, checked-out, unhappy, and even actively sabotaging (undermining) the efforts of the organization. In other words our relationships with our employees and our employers are on the rocks. They might have become one sided, lack effective communication, or feel under appreciated.

In spite of the dismal facts hope looms if someone is willing to rise up and accept the challenge. The challenge involves removing the blinders that prevent us from understanding reality. After all, how could I have been so successful if my employees were unhappy? Those willing to accept the challenge and remove their blinders should look for the following tell tale signs of trouble.

1. Low employee retention and high absenteeism. Does your organization have a high turnover rate, are employees frequently late or calling off? These could all be indication of low employee engagement. Gallup reports a 37 percent difference in absenteeism among engaged and disengaged workforces. Turnover varies as much as 65 percent between top and bottom performing organizations.

2. Poor customer satisfaction. Imagine the effects of employees literally sleep walking throughout the day. Now imagine how this would impact customer satisfaction. In a study conducted by Bates an actively disengaged workforce produced 28 percent less and employees who were just showing up going through the motions (the not engaged group) 23 percent less than employees who were fully engaged.

3. You do not recognize high performers. Recognition is a way to encourage employees to continuing taking action. According to a study by Harvard Business Review employee recognition was rated as having the greatest impaction on employee engagement.

4. Oblivious to what makes your team tick. In a study conducted by the University of Pensylvania’s Alexandra Michel work more when given autonomy of their schedules. In 2014 the U.S. Census Bureau Current Population survey estimated 47 percent of workers have an associates degree or higher. Millennials are considered the most educated generation. If you don’t understand the demographics of your team you cannot effectively engage them.

5. Individual staff goals are not linked with organization goals . Harvard Business Review reported 67 percent of respondents found this one of the most impactful drivers of employee engagement. When staff goals are aligned with organization goals employees are purpose driven, self-motivated, and passionate. Aligning staff and organizational goals creates a win-win situation.

6. No understanding of how individual jobs contribute to corporate strategy. Do your employees understand how their performance affects the big picture? Mapping individual functions with overall organizational strategy is key. In fact, it is the second most important element driving employee engagement.

7. Increase in safety incidents. Engaged employees are focused and committed to organizational safety. Their Focus helps them avoid workplace accidents. Of 23,910 companies surveyed, businesses with top engagement scores experienced 62 percent less safety incidents than companies at the bottom.

8. Poor HR functions. Human resources is absolutely vital to employee engagement. HR is often responsible for creating and maintaining polices that select management talent, safety policies, benefit policies, and employee recognition. The evidence indicates each of those areas influence employee engagement. A poorly functioning HR team will contribute to employee disengagement.

9. Poor selection of management talent. Not everyone is cutout to lead. How do you know your manager’s are able to balance the needs of the organization and caring for employees. Without a selection and vetting process how do you know? Talent management practices allow us to assess the skills and personality of management candidates. According to Robyn Reilly, in an article for Gallup Business Journal, businesses that use scientific selection processes increase the odd of engaging their workforce.

10. Lack of executive engagement. Employee engagement is a current that runs in one direction. It begins with executives, through middle manager to the front lines. Organizations with engaged executives are 39 percent more likely to have engaged managers. Without executives setting the example for the organization employee engagement will remain a mirage. The same study reports 59 percent of firms with engaged managers are more likely to have engaged employees.

Success is awesome because it makes us feel great and it validates our efforts. It can also blind us and prevent our organizations from reaching their full potential. Will you accept the challenge, remove the blinders, and transform your organization from surviving to thriving?

—

Photo: Flickr/ilovebutter