Why Does Employee Engagement Matter?

Performance Improvement Network, June 7, 2012

Presenter: Doris Savron

Agenda

Review engagement data

Define engagement

Discuss two types of engagement

Discuss drivers of engagement

Share our story and ongoing work

Brainstorm and discuss engagement activities

Share resources available

Wrap-up

What the Data Says . . .

Disengaged employees may cost U.S. businesses as much as $350 billion a year.

Engagement is correlated to organizational performance, customer service, productivity, and employee retention.

Increased competition is not only putting pressure on organizations to become more efficient and better at delighting customers, it is creating more career options for employees.

Media has provided a regular stream of stories of unethical behavior and poor decision making by senior leaders. As a result employees tend to be more distrustful of leaders’ intentions.

2009 Gallup Employee Engagement Index, 2009 Towers & Perrin

Defining Engagement

Table Activity Take 5 minutes Assign a volunteer to take notes Report back your best definition

Common Definitions of Engagement

Employees work with passion

Employees feel a deep connection to the organization

Employees (at all levels) focus on innovation

Employees increase discretionary effort

Employee potential is translated into high levels of performance and increases organizational success

Two Types of Engagement Examples of Rational

Employees feel fairly compensation Employees feel there are opportunities to grow

skills Examples of Emotional

Employees believe in leaders Employees believe their work matters to the

organization Employees feel valued Employees understand how their effort

contributes to the organization’s success

“The emotional side of engagement is actually four times more powerful than rational side when it comes to driving… employees who want to stay with the company and employee productivity”

(Ketter, 2008)

“A basic factor in predicting engagement – employees’ understanding of how their roles fit with the business strategy”

(Fox, 2010)

Drivers of Engagement

Competent and engaging leaders (all levels)

Managers who are able to align goals and direction with organization vision

Collaboration at all levels

Employee development and enriching their roles

Valuing and appreciating employees

Manager vs. Employee Responsibility

Managers need to:

Be aware of engagement and integrate it into the other responsibilities of their job

Need to ask questions and connect with staff

Managers need to provide feedback and highlight successes, show appreciation

Employees need to:

Ask for help when they need it

Help each other out and recognize each other

Take engagement surveys seriously

Other thoughts?

Our Story

Senior leader site visits

Focus group feedback

Regulatory changes

Organization’s strategy

Time constraints

Engagement Philosophy (including focus on Communication, Recognition and Appreciation, Relationships, and Feedback)

Steps We Took Captured a baseline by using Baldrige Express

Survey and Feedback Report

Conducted strategy planning sessions with entire leadership team

Shared survey results and helped connect our campus strategy to the employee feedback and organization’s strategic plan

Designed committees for specific areas

Provide quarterly updates on progress

Conduct ongoing engagement activities including follow-up engagement surveys

Ongoing Engagement Activities

Organizational Engagement Survey (Quantum) Ongoing Pulse Surveys Skip level meetings Site visits One on one’s Road shows Focus groups Leadership development groups Stay interviews*

* (Ketter, 2008)

Ongoing Engagement Activities

Q&A teleconferences Morning huddles Departmental, team, and all staff meetings Video conferencing Recorded messages Kindness week Highlight successes in meetings Focused effort in catching people doing amazing

things Committees and project teams

Table Activity – Other Engagement Activities

Take 10 minutes

Select a recorder

Report back best idea

Hand in ideas to be distributed to the rest of the group after the session

Available Resources The Five Languages of Appreciation in the

Workplace (Chapman, Gary)

How America’s Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times – ReEngage (Branham & Hirschfeld)

Just Listen (Goulston, Mark)

Soup (Gordon, Jon) also http://www.jongordon.com

Start with Why (Sinek, Simon)

Touch Points: Creating Powerful Leadership Connections in the Smallest Moments (Connant & Norgaard)

Available Resources (continued)

Fox, A. (2010, May). Raising engagement. HR Magazine, 55(5), 34-40.

Ketter, P. (2008, January). The big deal about employee engagement. T + D, 62(1), 44- 49.

Engagement Surveys – Quantum Workplace (there are many others available as well)