MAXIMISE PERFORMANCE BY ENGAGING YOUR PEOPLE
There is an extremely high correlation between employee engagement and customer satisfaction and loyalty; this is supported by many external studies of companies, public sector bodies and the charitable sector. For example:
– Gallup say that a 1% increase in engagement yields a 9% increase in operating profits
– Aon Hewitt states that a 1% increase in engagement results in a 0.6% increase in sales
– A Towers Perrin ISR study stated that Over a 12 month period, those companies with high engagement scores demonstrated a 13.7 per cent improvement in net income growth whilst those with low engagement saw net income decline by 3.8 per cent.
– A Watson Wyatt study of 115 companies suggested that a company with highly engaged employees achieves a financial performance four times greater than companies with poor engagement.
The diagram below shows the chain of events resulting from people engagement.
This all sounds pretty compelling stuff so where does one start? We believe there are five continuous actions supported by one overriding principle which is as follows. Employees are generally cynical of management initiatives and they have tons of evidence to support their views; e.g. a constant flow of fads, flavour of the month, etc. In essence a new initiative starts before the last one has got embedded let alone produce results. Employee engagement is NOT an initiative or a project, it is forever, it is the way we do things around here. The actions are:
Leadership
Leadership is about setting out the vision for the company in clear jargon free language. It must be communicated consistently and frequently through all levels of management. There must be no local interpretation and no spin.
Line Management
Line Managers must walk the talk; there must be no saying/doing gap. Their role is to create the environment where their people feel part of the company rather than just working in it. This needs a set of skills different to the command and control system most managers employ. It entails supporting, motivating and empowering.
Listening and acting
The Brian Clough school of management states “we will discuss this for ten minutes and then do it my way”. The engagement approach is listening and acting. That is doing it the best way, after all the people who do the work are best placed to know which is the best way to do things, and they should be empowered to do it the best way.
Trust
Is by far and away the biggest motivator and motivation is the fastest way to engagement. Trust your people, support and help them and they will do the right thing. After all management is all about getting the right things done, through and with people.
Measure and act
Is engagement working? It needs to be measured and shared with your people regularly in two simple ways:
1) Do your people feel part of the company: do they feel valued and trusted: are they advocates?
2) Are your customers more satisfied: are they more loyal: is business improving?
If the answers are not all YES there is a saying doing gap – generally the problem is not with your people, rather it is created by first line and middle management.