They Feel Entitled. How about Engaged Too?

April 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Dollar–Sign–Floating

They're either disengaged or under engaged in their work but they very much intend to stay with their current employer for a long time. This is what a new study by Modern Survey revealed. For government workers, 80% were less than engaged but 60% plan to stay. Not like the private sector, you say? Well, how about 66% not engaged and 56% hanging around? Furthermore, the percentage of employees, public and private, who felt their total compensation package is competitive is in the mid fifties. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Engagement Tagged With: , ,

Employee Engagement – You’re Only Part Way There

March 4, 2013 By Leave a Comment
front-align-150x150

Research by TowersWatson has revealed that to generate a climate where your employees contribute a consistently high percentage of their capacity you need more that just "engagement." You must add into the mix enablement (a better term for what used to be called empowerment), and employee well-being. Here, very briefly, is what constitutes each element of what they call the "3 E's": Engagement – employee commitment, both rational and emotional, to contributing discretionary (i.e. more … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Engagement Tagged With: , ,

Give Me Something (or Someone) to Connect to

May 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Hands_cradling_globe

There is enough research on Employee Engagement to show that engaged employees give more "discretionary effort" (going above and beyond job expectations…without being told/asked) to their employer. Yet levels of engagement have not changed over the last ten years or so, through a period first of  boom, then of bust. Consider this data from the Gallup organization. They surveyed around percent of employees who are (1) engaged, (2) not engaged, and (3) actively disengaged. Check the trend … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Engagement Tagged With: , ,

Every Job Matters (to Someone)

May 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
woman_at_desk

Recently I heard a presentation by Jim Gibbons, President & CEO of Goodwill Industries. In it he said that "every job matters." Every job has someone relying on the incumbent of the position to do their job well so that the other person can either: benefit or do their own job well. Your client/customer is either internal or external.You serve (or produce for) the external client or someone who delivers to the external client. This is true whether you operate in the private, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Engagement, Employee Motivation, Talent Management Tagged With: , , ,

Talent Magnets

January 3, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Character w:Magnet (iS)

In my leadership workshops and keynote speeches I sometimes ask the group/audience to think of the best boss and worse boss they've ever had, what each did, and what effect it had on you. People come up with all kinds of descriptors and behaviors of both bosses. But one thing emerges about the best boss ever (BBE). He or she is someone you want to work for…and keep working for. Furthermore, a BBE is almost always someone that others in the organization would like to work for too. When an … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Engagement, Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

One Employee at a Time

October 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Bank-Teller-Line

Back in the 90's the Royal Bank of Canada had a series of TV commercials touting the theme, "Building a Better Bank, One Customer at a Time." The message, as I recall, was that RBC treats each customer as a unique individual and strives to win them over, one-at-a-time. I frequently refer to this ad campaign in my management development workshops. The parallels are natural… RBC has customers, current and new. Managers have employees, current and newly hired. RBC seeks to understand … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Motivation, Talent Management Tagged With: , , ,

(Re)Frame their Job as Something that Matters

June 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Great Reset

Richard Florida is a provocative thinker around social and economic issues. He first became noticed from his book, The Rise of the Creative Class. In his latest book, The Great Reset, he shares data that the future growth of jobs will be in two areas: (1) knowledge, professional and creative jobs and (2) lower paying, more routine work in the service sector. Citing progressive companies like Wegman's, Whole Foods, REI, Zappos, Nordstrom, and The Container Store, his thesis is that work in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Engagement, Employee Motivation Tagged With: , , ,

Look Beyond the Money for their True Motivators

May 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
stockxpertcom_id883021_size1-218x300

In PwC Saratoga's latest Global CEO Survey, 65% of CEO's report that they intend to use more non-financial rewards to motivate their staff. This is an admission that the a motivation strategy full of mostly financial reward "carrots" is not enough, especially for their highly skilled and high potential employees. We so easily forget the fact that people are looking for at least some measure of fulfillment from the time they spend on the job. "Fulfillment," of course, can take many forms: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Motivation, Talent Management Tagged With: , ,

Employee Engagement in Action–an Example

May 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Campbell's Soup

I actually came across this article from Forbes.com in 2009 but never got around to sharing it. The piece tells about Douglas Conant, the new CEO of Campbell Soup Company, who came on board in 2001 and over the next eight years grew EPS by 5-10% every year. His strategies included invigorating their work force by concentrating on employee engagement. In 2002 62% of employees reported being not actively engaged and 12% were actively disengaged. By 2009, 68% were actively engaged and only 3% … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Engagement Tagged With: , ,

Stressing Metrics Has a Downside

May 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
stockxpertcom_id68106_size1-300x225

A client organization of mine has a culture that values measuring everything. This makes good business sense. It enables you to monitor, recalibrate and optimize your processes and results. The downside is that too great an emphasis on numbers at every level breeds compliance,especially at the front line. People complete the required audits and checklists to get management off their back. They push, without enthusiasm, to achieve the prescribed metrics around quality, production, safety, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Employee Engagement, Employee Motivation, Performance Coaching Tagged With: , ,