EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT - WHAT IS IT,

IS IT PERVASIVE, HOW CAN IT

BE INFLUENCED 

RGL Consultants firmly believes that your employees are among your organization's greatest assets and that it is through their collective efforts that your company will be successful and prosper.  It is further believed that you can maximize your return on investment (ROI) in "human capital" by ensuring a fully engaged workforce.

An engaged workforce is, of course, a collective of engaged employees.  An engaged employee is one who is emotionally and intellectually connected to the organization, is enthusiastic about his or her work, and consistently acts in ways that further the organizations' interests. The engaged employee enjoys what he or she does; deriving satisfaction and pleasure from the utilization of his or her particular skill set and wants to use those talents and strengths at work each day.  The engaged employee knows and understands the goals and mission of the organization, performs at a consistently high level, and feels that he or she is making a meaningful contribution to the attainment of those objectives. 

An engaged employee wants and needs to be recognized and rewarded for his or her dedication, loyalty, and contributions (special note: rewards and recognition can take many forms.  Competitive compensation and benefits programs would certainly be  a tangible type of recognition.  Acknowledgement from a manager or supervisor letting an employee know that he or she is doing a great job is one of those intangible actions that can be just as powerful as increased compensation). When a leader takes a few short minutes to recognize his or her employees  for their contributions and value to the organization, the employee most often feels a heightened sense of pride, worth, and accomplishment. 

Employee engagement has the potential to significantly affect overall organization morale, employee retention, productivity, customer satisfaction, company reputation, and overall stakeholder value.  How engaged is your workforce?

A number of research studies over the past couple of years (admittedly involving large organizations) have been conducted by major firms such as The Corporate Executive Board, Mercer, Towers Perrin, the Boston Group, and the Gallop Organization, and have consistently pegged employee engagement at 33% or less (some of these studies show as few as 11% being fully engaged). Most alarming, however, 10-12% of employees can be classified as being "actively dis-engaged".

Actively dis-engaged employees are the "cancer within an organization". These employees are not just unhappy at work, but they are acting out their unhappiness. These folks sow seeds of negativity at every opportunity. The problems and tensions fostered cause great damage to the organization.  Your staff knows precisely who these people are and perhaps are puzzled as to why leadership doesn't seem to care or react to these negative behaviors.  

How do you work toward an engaged workforce?

Step 1 

• Adopt and nurture a "culture of engagement". A culture change requires buy-in and continual reinforcement from the organization's top leadership. This cannot be considered the "fad of the day"; rather, this needs to be the on-going standard operating procedure of the firm. Such a culture change is certainly more easily achievable within smaller to mid-sized organizations than it would be in a large organization.

Step 2

• Recognize, confront and aggressively address the problem of the dis-engaged employee population. Either through coaching, counseling, and performance improvement initiatives or through "assisted separation of employment", this dis-engagement issue must be neutralized very early in the culture change process.

Step 3

• The third step would be to examine, evaluate and benchmark your organization's current practices against best practice factors shown to positively influence higher engagement rates and determine the appropriateness of implementing those proven strategies in your organization.

Research shows that factors which will positively influence higher engagement rates among staff members include:

• Engagement in open and honest communication with staff on an on-going basis
• Having clear and compelling performance goals and objectives for each individual
• Empowering employees
• Maintaining focus on career growth and development of staff
• Recognizing and rewarding high performance
• Providing a competitive compensation and employee benefits program that demonstrates a strong commitment to employee well-being
• Being sensitive to the need to maintain a balance of employees' work/home issues

Our next issue, will provide a broader examination of some of these factors.  In the meantime, please call us to discuss how we might assist you in addressing workforce engagement within your organization.