Employee Engagement results in high performance which equals profits!
If you think the Human Resources department is about pay role. Rules and regulations your living in the past! Viva the Revolution it is about a whole lot more. High on our radar is employee engagement.
Today’s business leaders. Directors and Human Resources people. Need to make staff engagement a number one priority to achieve a better bottom line.
Managers must ensure everyone is embracing the company mission or purpose. That they also share and embrace the company values. They feel they are a valued contributor to the whole team and business success.
Part of engagement is feeling that what we do is worthwhile. Being safe and cared about, appreciated and recognised.
Gallop Inc wrote an excellent article. On employee engagement. And its effects on business performance
The Gallup Inc article explains the measure-ability. And quantifiable evidence to support the significance of employee engagement. The statistical analysis. And number of companies. Industries. And individuals that went into this white paper speak volumes to back up this point of view.
The Gallup group have the credentials and history to be a group worth listening to.
Their paper demonstrates a very thorough, detailed. And historical analysis of many companies and individuals. Although in places, the analysis is very detailed, it’s well worth the read. If you have any doubts. About the relationship between staff engagement. And business Here is a link to the article. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENGAGEMENT AT WORK AND ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES 2012 Q12® META-ANALYSIS
On Page 4 there is this very neat equation:
Per-person productivity = Talent x (Relationship + Right Expectation + Recognition/Reward)
The how of employee engagement
If employee engagement is the key, then how do you achieve it? There is no one thing there are multiple factors involved.
The company culture and employee engagement comprises:
- values
- purpose
- attitude
- environmental conditions
- mate-ship
- leadership
- safety
- quality
- communication
- reward and recognition
- genuine care for its people
The items listed above are measurable. And quantifiable as Gallup demonstrates in their article. There are specific steps an organisation/business can take. To ensure they engage their employees. Businesses/Organisations must ask their employees. To what degree they believe each of these items is present
It’s in a business’ best interests to improve employee engagement
To increase a company’s results, that is profitability. And performance, review the culture and staff engagement levels. There is a significant and measurable correlation between results and engagement. For example: if you have an engaged sales person paid $50,000 you can expect at least 2.5 x the salary in results. Likewise, if you have a disengaged sales person you can have half those results.
Here is what Google does to incorporate ideas and engage their team:
Google provides 20 % time for their employees. To be creative, explore ideas. And come up with solutions. That is one of the reasons they are so innovative. They encourage it from all their employees.
You may have a small team, but, there is no reason you cannot listen to the team’s ideas. The ideas and solutions they come up with may surprise you. Reward the ones that come up with outstanding solutions. That provide remarkable results for the business.
Become a leader the team trust. That will increase employee engagement
Create an environment where the employees feel they can trust you as their leader. This means you need to listen to them and value their input. You need to prove you have listened by implementing some of their suggestions.
Collaborate with the team on setting goals and direction that they have input to. Setting goals and direction for the team. Without their agreement. And understanding is not likely to produce the best results.
Communicate to increase employee engagement
Share the vision, mission purpose and values with the employees. Get some feedback on the level of agreement and engagement from them. Listen and hear the feedback without judgement. Embrace any suggestions for improvement with a willingness to hear and acknowledge.
Create opportunities for input from the employees on improvements. Ask for input and listen to all ideas. Even the ones that seem impractical. Whiteboard, brainstorm and give the employees a voice. They are often the foundations of innovation if you give them half a chan
Criticism from your employees is a valuable tool to innovate and find ways to do things better. Listen to their criticism and ask them for their ideas on how to improve. Encourage conversations on improvements and ideas.
Provide feedback on performance to improve it and gain employee engagement
Reward and recognise success and a job well done. Provide opportunities for employees to share their success with the team. So, they can also learn from it. When an employee is not doing so well talk to them about it. Make it clear what the goal is. And where they fall short. As well as what they need to do to rectify it. Discuss how you will support them. Follow up on the discussion. At a prearranged, reasonable time for the improvements to take effect. Recognise them for their efforts and reward them for any improvements.
Remove road blocks to improve performance and employee engagement
If an employee tells you something is getting in their way. Remove the obstacle. Or give them the tools to get over, under or around it. Allow them to feel safe to tell you if they do not know how to do something. This will also build more trust. They may need further training and support. Some things that seem simple to you and others. Can be a huge challenge to another. Be careful of making a
Do not talk to an under performing employee. When you are feeling frustrated and emotional. If you need to. Talk to someone you can trust outside of work to let off steam.
Conclusion
These are just some, simple ways to create and encourage an engaged workforce. There are so many, more. All you need to do is be open, be patient, listen without judgement and allow the employees to have a voice.
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King HR Consultants supports small to medium businesses. With Human Resources products and services. Employee engagement plays a big part. Please get in touch if you would like to know how I can support your business.