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| » February 2006 |
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| It's nine o'clock Monday morning... |
| Do you know where your employees are? |
| By Bill Holland |
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You are a middle manager in a medium sized company, directing a team of five professionals. You settle into your office after a relaxing weekend and review your division's goals and activities for the upcoming week. It's a busy and challenging week ahead, and you're pumped. |
And so are your employees. You lean back and smile contentedly as you contemplate each of your team members. They are dedicated to their work and to the success of the organization. They are involved in improvement initiatives and understand the bigger picture beyond the cubicle. They work well with colleagues, keep their market knowledge current, and always go the extra mile. They respect you. They love their jobs. They are the ultimate engaged employees.
Or are they?
Take a look around. Take a good look around. What do you see? Likely, a couple of empty chairs. Possibly a few long faces. Maybe even some shifty eyes as you make your way through the office.
Joe is late again. Did you know that he doesn’t get along with his colleagues, and agonizes about coming to work every morning? This has likely contributed to his depression and his ulcer. Sally called in sick for the third time this month. Did you know that she is interviewing for another job? Chronic absenteeism is one clue that something may be wrong in your organization.
So called “presenteeism” may be another – this refers to employees who are physically present but mentally MIA. Bums in seats with brains elsewhere do nothing for the bottom line. Margaret, for example, is chained to her desk, apparently working hard, but quick to close the Workopolis window the moment you appear. You saw Jerry come in this morning, but every time you try to reach him, he’s away from his desk, likely socializing at the water cooler.
Barb, on the other hand, is busy doing her prescribed work, entering data into the computer system. But when she takes an urgent customer call on behalf of Jerry (who’s on another smoke break), she has no clue how to answer a simple question about the very product for which she’s filling orders. Through no fault of her own, she’s completely disconnected from the brand and the business, concentrating on her tasks but not organizational outcomes.
So how satisfied are Joe, Sally, Margaret, Jerry and Barb with their jobs? If you think you know, think again. A recent wwwork! poll indicated that 64% of employees consider their boss to be less than sufficiently aware of their level of job satisfaction. 25% reported that their boss was somewhat aware, while only 9% thought their boss was very aware of employee satisfaction levels.
Don’t fool yourself any longer, boss. You have an employee engagement problem.
But don’t take your shingle down over this one. You can take some critical steps to engage your employees and turn your team – and your organization – around.
Communication with your employees is essential on a number of levels. You can guess how Joe, Sally, Margaret, Jerry and Barb feel about their work, but according to the poll mentioned earlier, you’re likely way off. The only way to know for sure is to ask them, and hope they’ll give you honest answers. Whether through casual conversation, structured interviews or surveys, find out what your employees need to get excited about working for your company. Most people want to do a good job and be emotionally connected to their work. Find out what obstacles may be interfering with their commitment to their jobs and to the company. At the same time, you have to convey the company objectives to your employees and find ways to align employees’ objectives with the business. This connection is crucial for building employee engagement.
Connection to the brand and to customers is also key. Tony Kerekes is a partner at NVision Consulting, a Toronto based company that specializes in measuring and enhancing employee engagement. Kerekes explains that employees will be more engaged if you make them aware of the real impact they have on the brand and on customers. He gives the example of a hotel chain that offers its employees a complementary stay at one of their establishments. In addition to being a nice perk, it gives employees a service and brand experience from the customer’s perspective.
Engaged employees perform better and are also more likely to be company advocates, enthusiastically promoting your products and services. It’s up to you as the manager to create the appropriate “engagement” conditions to encourage employees to perform at their best. Link your incentive and reward system with performance metrics aligned to company objectives. Recognize employees for a job well done – personally and publicly. Keep the lines of communication open and provide regular feedback so employees know where they stand and what you expect of them. Concentrate on developing their strengths rather than focusing on weaknesses.
Healthy employee engagement can be your competitive advantage. Make no mistake – improvement and maintenance initiatives require a great deal of time and resource commitment. But your company is worth it! Joe, Sally, Margaret, Jerry, Barb – and your bottom line – will thank you. |
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