3 Unleashing your organisation’s potential through employee engagement Master Class 3: 10th December 2013Dr Linda Holbeche

Whose responsibility is it to ensure employees are engaged and teams are running at full potential? HR? Line Managers? Employees themselves? In the third 20 Minute Master Class of the present series, Dr Linda Holbeche identified why employee engagement matters and how to put theory into practice to boost organisational productivity and performance through individual efforts.

‘Satisfaction’ is an easily-identifiable construct – a state of having what you want. But being satisfied is not always a state that encourages people to want to achieve more, do something new or try harder. ‘Engagement’ is messy: it’s a more active and animated form of trigger that includes leadership, intrinsic motivations and outcomes like improved productivity.

2× NET PROFIT

2.5× REVENUE GROWTH

+12% CUSTOMER ADVOCACY

+18% PRODUCTIVITY

-40% EMPLOYEE TURNOVER

Organisations with high levels of employee engagement outperform their peers

and engagement?

What’s the differencebetween satisfaction

If there’s such A

62%

strong businesscase for engagementwhy is so littlebeing done?

of UK employees are not fully engaged

The biggest gaps between best-in-class and average employers are in the areas of people focus, benefits, recognition, policies and practices.

After a prolonged period of economic uncertainty with green shoots just starting to emerge

it’s alarming that employee engagement

is so low

Job InsecurityA flexible labour

force, no such thing as a job for life

Loss of TrustUnsettled and one-sided employment

relationship

Hollow JobsRoles commoditised

by technology are unsatisfying

Work PressureSqueeze on rewards

and more-for-less culture

Constant ChangeCynicism about perpetual state

of flux

What characterises the workforce today?

Why don’t employee pulse surveys seem to help?

The interests of employer and employee should always be in balance

SO WHY BOTHER?

• Analysis paralysis in the wake of employee pulse surveys means nothing gets done

• Lack of sponsorship from senior executives so any action is perceived as lip service

• Misaligned or irrelevant activity because things have already moved on by this stage

• Energy spread too thin by too many projects and priorities competing for attention

• Efforts run out of steam because actions seem to go unnoticed

Check – review the results of the survey

Calibrate – to draw out the key lessons to be learned

Commit – to take positive action to improve engagement

Conclude – by demonstrating measurable improvement

Communicate – to keep people informed throughout

What should employee surveyfollow-up look like?

Check Calibrate Commit

Communicate

Conclude

FROM THIS To THIS

How should we approachemployee engagement?

OWNED BY HR

FOCUSED ON THE ENTIRE WORKFORCE

REACTIVE

GENERIC

A PERIODIC, SURVEY-LED EXERCISE

LED BY LINE MANAGERS, SUPPORTED BY HR

FOCUSED ON INDIVIDUALS

PROACTIVE

SPECIFIC

AN INTEGRAL PART OF DAILY WORK-LIFE

A new model of engagement is called forLeadership

has a clear role to play If leaders are to be

trusted they need to walk the talk on values

“

”

Voice Connection

Support Scope

Intellectual, Social &

Emotional Engagement

Trust Fairness

Intellectual, Social and Emotional EngagementPeople need to feel as though they belong in context – to a team or division if not the whole organisation. They need to care and feel cared for in turn.

Trust and FairnessTrust and fairness are the bedrock of the psychological contract – the mutual obligations of employee and employer towards one another. These interests should always be in balance. While this contract is often unspoken and informal, if either party changes the terms, the contract can be perceived to have been broken.

ConnectionEmployees need to identify with the organisation and take pride in it. They look for a common purpose and shared values. That requires a clear vision and strong strategic narrative, the ability to translate the mission into focused objectives, and practise values-based leadership.

The new model of engagement

Voice Connection

Support Scope

Intellectual, Social &

Emotional Engagement

Trust Fairness

SupportEmployees need to be treated as individuals and empowered to do their jobs. They need to feel valued and as though there is a fair exchange between themselves and their employer that prevents work from impinging on their wellbeing. Managers need to be able to demonstrate empathy and concern, manage and simplify workloads

and provide the tools and resources necessary to ensure staff can perform. Encouragement and recognition, and a respect for wellbeing and safety, are as important as formal feedback, coaching and training initiatives. Employee engagement should be as important to an organisation’s brand identity as its logo or customer sentiment.

The new model of engagement

Voice

To do their best work, employees need to be heard, kept informed and feel involved. As well as adopting a consultative and participative approach, that means organisations must communicate openly and honestly, respect diversity, be open to new ideas and foster teamwork.

Scope

Workers thrive in the context of a “grown-up” relationship with their employer. People need a balance of autonomy and empowerment to do their jobs effectively. They seek meaning in their work, and benefit from opportunities for growth to stretch themselves. HR and line managers should

support this through robust job design and enrichment, allowing their employees to achieve “flow” – the experience of complete immersion that often means losing track of time, and empowering them through lifelong learning and career development opportunities.

The new model of engagement

No job is for There are three roles responsible for employee

engagement HR, managers and the

employees themselves. #20mmc

lifE SO EMPLOYEES NEED TO KNOW THEY CAN

RELY ON WHAT THEY’RE HEARING FROM THEIR EMPLOYER

IT’S NOT ALL DOWN TO THE EMPLOYER OR POLICIES INDIVIDUALS NEED TO BE ABLE TO NEGOTIATE AND ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES

Managers need to provide a climate that

encourages engagement on a daily basis. HR should support this. #20mmc

To find out more about the solutions that can help you readily apply these approaches to your own business:

Call: +44 (0) 8450 742990

Email: cloudinfo@successfactors.com

Carry on the conversation: LinkedIn bit.ly/20mmc Twitter #20mmc

Create an engaged, aligned, high-performing workforce

To engage, retain, reward and develop your people, both HR and line managers need in-depth insight into employees and their performance. That means being able to:

• Work with a clear sense of shared purpose as employees and managers align individual and departmental goals with company business objectives

• Deliver relevant formal reviews with the kind of 360-degree assessments that expand performance insight and improve employee engagement and retention

• Calibrate performance by being able to draw structured employee comparisons that ensure objective and fact-based assessment decisions

• Support managers with the tools and techniques to provide meaningful feedback and coaching

• Identify top talent by rating employees across the same dimensions to identify high performers and potential future leaders

• Communicate continuously so you can easily track issues and initiatives, and accelerate work on top-priority projects.