What we think...
Engagement
Businesses may be feeling optimistic about the impending economic recovery, but need to ask themselves just what effect the recession has had on their employees. Another black cloud looms.
Barnardo’s have always created great adverts. Adverts which communicate the lives of those they strive to help. And their recent TV spot titled ‘Turn Around’ is nothing less than brilliant.
I’ve just received a really nice set of postcards from Two Sides Paper featuring six illustrations by Holly Sims.
Illustration has always been close to my heart, having been an avid Beano and Dandy collector as a small boy. Its ability to share and communicate stories is, I suppose, what draws me in (if you can excuse the pun).
I was amused to read an article in The Times today relating to a slating Facebook posting by the daughter of ousted General Motors Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, giving the company’s management a piece of her mind about the enforced exit of her father from the organisation.
I’ve been getting hot around the collar about the issue of board alignment this week, sparked in part by a masterclass with Intuitive Brands where the subject came up in the discussion.
Some very clear themes and topics of concern emerged from this year’s Employee Engagement and Employer Brand conference organised by Osney Media. It was particularly interesting to hear David Macleod and Nita Clarke, authors of the government-commissioned Macleod Report, speak on their key findings regarding employee engagement from the extensive research conducted across numerous organisations.
Good Lord, is this really true? Has employee engagement come to this? It’s enough to make anyone choke on their cornflakes as they open up their long-awaited copy of this month’s HR Magazine. There’s one thing to have a ‘dress down’ Friday, but this really takes the biscuit…
The government-commissioned MacLeod Review of Employee Engagement provides interesting reading and pulls together a myriad of statistics and case studies which all point to the consensus that engaged employees are more productive, efficient and are a major contributor to high performing businesses.
Never knock a consultancy that has turned the economic downturn into a business opportunity. I have just read the findings of Stromberg Consultants’ ‘Workplace Fear Index’ Assessment (yes, an actual survey which you can undertake to measure the fear that exists in the workplace), which finds that one in three USA and UK employees are not only afraid to take risks, but a quarter of US employees are delaying decision-making through fear of losing their job. Worrying.
We are often asked how to tackle the cynics of an organisation when they are presented with a new strategy, or an important change message which impacts on the whole organisation. Storytelling can play a valuable role in changing attitudes – and ultimately behaviours – and we’ve seen it work time and time again.
Dave Ulrich told last week’s HR Leadership Alliance of Warren Buffet’s latest investment in GE and Goldman Sachs. Why? Not simply because of their performance, but because they are known to have excellent leaders.
As The Times publishes its Times Top 100 companies to work for, it comes as little surprise that the focus of this article by Sue Leonard is on the costs that can be saved by keeping your staff happy. And keeping your staff happy has as much to do with employee engagement and maintaining personal and career growth opportunities as it does paying them a good salary.
Nice article in Personnel Today about Storytelling as a tool to create emotional buy-in for training and development departments. Well, we’re not exactly a ‘training company’, but they’re right in explaining why this approach is so powerful. This topic is becoming ever-more prevalent in business circles, and for good reason…
Communications consultancy CHA has recently published a report which highlights some fairly worrying news about the disengagement of employees and why they don’t seem to find their work worthwhile or meaningful.
My attention was recently drawn to a particular blog from the MD of Waitrose. Apart from being most entertaining, it was a great example of leadership role-modelling, not to mention an excellent tool to bring the MD closer to his employees and customers as well as providing a great platform for health and nutrition for both customers and employees alike.
Great article from People Management this month on how Storytelling can be used to engage employees…
While we talk about the importance of connectivity and alignment, let’s not lose sight of the use and power of stories in our work. Our proposition is to create the energy and commitment required to execute strategic change, by connecting people to the strategic journey, and storytelling is an important part of our solution.
I enjoyed Melcrum’s Strategic Communications Summit last week. Great to see some old friends, new faces and hear some excellent speakers.
One of the key themes that kept cropping up was the ongoing issue of how to get middle / front-line managers to get on board with a company’s strategy. They are the ones who hold the trust of their teams, not the senior leadership team, so engaging them successfully – to the point that they will make it their business to engage their own teams – is absolutely crucial.
I read with interest a recent blog by one of our Canadian partners, Nicky Fried (Strategic Connections), on the loyalty and respect given by immigrant workers. It reminded me of a client’s comment last week on their own issues regarding immigrant workers, and how often their lack of brand awareness can pose a concern of its own.
I have always disliked the term ‘human resources’. It implies that people are resources just like anything else at the company’s disposal. Yet people are the company. And whatever plans, strategies and missions may exist, it’s the people – the company – that will succeed or fail in those quests.
There are so many definitions of this phrase Employee Engagement. It’s become a mini industry in itself, with a range of companies operating in this field. Web and intranet designers, event producers, pensions and benefits companies, survey companies, healthcare companies – you name it, a vast number of them view themelves as agents of employee engagement.
And by the way, those words aren’t mine, guv. But I am compelled to celebrate some new research that dubs PowerPoint presentations a disaster, doing more to switch off the brain and bore people rigid than to inform, inspire and motivate them.
There’s no doubt that PowerPoint is an incredibly useful tool, used in the right proportions and in the right way. But as a spokesperson from Microsoft says, ‘there is no substitute for being a good communicator’. Indeed, successful employee engagement depends on it.
OK. We all know it. Creating true employee engagement in large organisations is no mean feat. True engagement (which doesn’t just come from a nice looking newsletter as we all know) depends on the combination and balance of many factors – leadership skills, communication, reward, development, culture and environment, line of sight, sustainability and so on….the list is a long one. Yet if an organisation gets it right – or as near to right as it can, profitability increases. I’ll say that slightly louder. PROFITABILITY INCREASES. By up to 20 per cent according to the Corporate Leadership Council. Which, unless we’re just here for the ride, is the whole point of an organisation’s existence (at least, in the private sector).
When it comes to successful cascading of information, all paths lead to leaders – how they role-model the actions and behaviours they expect from their teams, how they communicate down the line and how much interest they take in what’s going on at the coal-face. And that old chestnut ‘how to improve middle management communications’ keeps coming back time and time again.
It won’t come as a surprise to learn that people trust their line managers more than anyone else in the organisation – so, as we have said many times before, that layer of management is very powerful. But like dialogue, trust works both ways. Managers need to trust their teams too.
Think about it like a parent/child. If a parent constantly tells the child what to do, keeps the constraints tight and doesn’t allow the child to show he/she can be trusted to do the right thing, to explore the options and prove him/herself, the resulting attitude or behaviour will range from mere compliance to resentment and even rebellion.
In organisations, middle management behaviours so often reflect this ‘telling’ ethos – ‘this is what we need to do, now go away and do it’. Of course, training can be excellent for learning and development, but in some cases can itself also veer towards ‘telling’. Successful development and coaching of middle managers however is all about encouraging them to invite their teams to participate, explore, collaborate with ideas for better ways of working, share responsibility. It’s about involving them in the strategic planning (within a framework), inviting them to take the initiative, listening to their opinions, asking them for their input. This requires a different type of conversation – and it’s not a ‘telling’ kind of conversation, it’s an ‘inviting’ or ‘asking’ kind. Indeed, coaching and development needs to focus on showing managers HOW to go about having this kind of conversation. The ensuing sense of ownership and pride will be palpable, especially if it can be shared across the organisation. This approach will make a big difference to engagement.
…and to follow on from my last blog, here’s something that reinforces the issue!
Many organisations we work with see Trust as a critical factor in gaining competitive advantage. But to create a trusted organisation – if that is how you want to be perceived by your customers and external stakeholders – you have to begin with your employees.
Get the organisation talking and you’ll find innovation. Innovation is what drives organisations forward. And an organisation of engaged employees is far more likely to be one that achieves innovation. What is an engaged employee? Read this…
We all inwardly groan when the PowerPoint turns out to be slide after slide of bullets. We all have experienced the workshops which end up with a stack of crumpled flip-chart paper filled with lists – which some poor soul has to type up and email to everyone, who don’t bother to read them.
If you’re entertaining guests by letting them help with dinner preparations, make sure they know what you’re serving and where to find the pots, pans and utensils. Same thing applies to new employee induction. Give them an orientation that helps them be productive from Day One.