Does your business pay attention to ways to improve your employee engagement activities? Like making employees feel they are making a significant contribution? We have written on ways to improve employee engagement. Today we will discuss mistakes that will destroy employee engagement activities. Keep in mind, one mistake can affect many of your improvement efforts.
More than 100 studies have now found that the most engaged employees — those who report they’re fully invested in their jobs and committed to their employers — are significantly more productive, drive higher customer satisfaction and outperform those who are less engaged.
Great stories of engaged employees succeed because they are able to capture the imagination of large or important audiences. A great story is true. Not necessarily because it’s factual, but because it’s consistent and authentic.
Consumers are too good at sniffing out inconsistencies for a marketer to get away with a story that’s just slapped on. Great stories are trusted. Trust is the scarcest resource we’ve got left. No one trusts anyone.
Before we continue, let me ask you a question.
What works best for customer engagement design in your business? We would love to hear what it was. Would you do us a favor and post it in the comments section below? Be the one who starts a conversation.
A Towers Watson global workforce study found that only 20% of employees are truly engaged in their work — heart, and soul. As a manager for over 40 years, I’m depressed by the fact that so many people find work that depressing.
Wow, that really is a number that will impact a business in lots of ways, yes?
Engaged employees who are satisfied with their jobs and feel that they’re making a contribution to their organizations and helping customers are more likely to work hard for their company’s success.
It is therefore imperative for organizations to make sure that they achieve and retain high levels of employee engagement.
It’s a disconnect that serves no one well. So what’s the solution? Where is the win-win for employers and employees?
The answer is that great employers must shift the focus from trying to get more out of people, to investing more in them by addressing their needs, and to bring the best of themselves to work every day.
We have all heard the importance of developing engaged employees at our workplace, but too often the articles are full of theoretical discussion instead of practical steps to make it happen.
Here are some deadly mistakes to avoid to pay attention to when starting your own engagement program:
Not listening to employees
Establish a benchmark by conducting an employee survey that measures what matters to your employees. When conducting an employee engagement survey, commit to act on the results or don’t bother spending the time and money conducting the survey.
Survey as part of the planning and 6 months after launching the program to gauge the success of your initial planning and execution. External vendors can be used to ensure an objective survey is developed that won’t have unintended skewed results.
Not understanding the costs of poor engagement
Build a business case to show the financial benefits. Studies show that companies with strong employee engagement programs had improved financial performance, reduced attrition, and higher employee satisfaction.
Each organization has different engagement drivers and every organization needs to build its own business case.
Not supporting employees with productivity tools
Hiring similarly motivated teammates is extremely important.
Nothing is more demoralizing than being surrounded by mediocre people. It tells a worker that their employer doesn’t really understand or value the work they’re doing.
Offering the best tools is crucial as well. “If you’re forced to work with pickaxes and shovels (Java, .NET), you quickly become disillusioned when the other team is operating jackhammers and trucks (Ruby, Python).”
Employee engagement activities.
Not making it personal
Ask people how they perform when they are not engaged versus when they are engaged and consider the implications for the organization.
Then dig deeper to determine what contributes to that engagement.
Not sharing the business vision
Create a mutual vision of what an engaged culture can look like. Ultimately, you want the attitudes of your employees to generate behaviors that contribute to desired business results.
It is key to acknowledge that each department or function may have different engagement drivers, so build in flexibility.
No strategic framework
Building from your vision, create a document that is easy to understand and that aligns the organization’s vision, values, and aligns desired behaviors with results.
We advise managers on the only plan for a few weeks in advance. Trying to design a big system upfront is a fool’s game that requires employees to be fortune-tellers… and forcing them to be is going to make them discontent.
Don’t micro-manage or check in too frequently.
An example
Hilton Garden Inn operates on the premise that happy employees lead to happy guests. The company has invested heavily in training to give employees a sense of engagement with the brand.
Alan Roberts, vice president for brand performance, notes that this is especially important since the vast majority of people working at the 544 Hilton Garden Inns around the world are employees of the various franchises.
“We need to push engagement through different initiatives to make them feel part of the organization, even though they don’t receive their paycheck from us,” Roberts says. role-play across the different properties. “We want to keep employees happy and on the same track,” Roberts says.
Destroy employee engagement … no team environment
Create a strong team environment. Strong employee engagement is dependent on how well employees get along, interact with each other and participate in a team environment.
Not defining desired behaviors
Build your recognition programs around desired results — both behaviors and business results. Focus on letting employees devote themselves to their strengths.
A second example
Hampton Hotels is a firm believer in the philosophy of ensuring that the 50,000-odd team members who work at Hampton Hotels properties use their strengths.
“When people are passionate, they are able to deliver a memorable experience to guests,” says Gina Valenti, vice president of owner services at Hilton Worldwide.
In a bid to help its people do their job better and create connections, Hampton Hotels developed a Website to share content like videos and best practices and also allow individuals to seek support from their peers or share success stories.
Employee engagement activities …too little communication
A lack of sound communication cannot be overemphasized. Employees hate not being in the know with the business and particularly how the performance is going. Make sure that communication is consistent and ongoing. Rarely do you over-communicate?
Not including employees
Employees need to feel like they are part of the process, that their thoughts and ideas matter and that they have a voice in how their work is performed.
Not paying attention to engagement results
Metrics are essential for understanding adoption. Engagement metrics must first be aligned with the organizational goals and then embedded into senior leader performance plans.
Build a balanced scorecard that measures business results AND desired behaviors. Incorporate the results into your business planning process and performance plans.
No management buy-in
If the managers do not buy-in, the program is doomed to failure. Spend extra time ensuring they understand and endorse the program.
Leaders need to see that engaged employees can directly tie to their business results and make a difference for them: attrition, productivity, customer satisfaction, etc. Build engagement with their performance reviews.
The bottom line
Once business leaders recognize that employee engagement is directly related to optimal customer experience and will have an impact on their bottom line, they are more willing to invest in it.
But they should be careful not to spend all their allocated dollars on one-time initiatives but focus more on their individual employees, making each feel valued.
At the end of the day, how you treat people is what they’ll remember. Employee’ engagement is built each day, one task at a time.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of employee engagement. And put it to good use in adapting to changes in your business environment.
It’s up to you to keep improving your ability to mentor and coach. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, history may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on customer engagement from our library:
