People are human beings so treat them that way
In a speech at HR Magazine’s employee engagement breakfast earlier today, David MacLeod warned that HR has not won the employee engagement argument as yet. (see article at http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/news/bulletin/weeklyupdatebulletin/article/1049738/?DCMP=EMC-DailyNewsAlert
Whilst those of us working in the HR arena have a strong belief that the evidence linking levels of engagement to performance is clear, many managers and directors of businesses have still not successfully made the connection in a way that actually engages them (ironic really). HR professionals must take some responsibility for that fact.
The evidence is all around. Last week I had cause to help a friend who was having quite a bit of trouble with her energy supplier. I have experience in the sector so offered to help. After several conversations with different employees from the supplier involved, we were getting nowhere. Each time, the employees failed to listen to what I was trying to explain. Each time, they jumped in with what they thought was an obvious solution; even trying to make me feel as though I clearly did not really understand the situation. In the end I had to be quite aggressive with them to simply get sufficient attention for them to finally grasp the real issue. They seemed intent on a quick fix that stayed within the narrow parameters of their system. They were clearly uncomfortable moving very far from the routine process.
As the customer, I felt processed and was left thinking that the supplier simply did not care. I’m sure they were trying to be efficient, but failed to be effective.
Unfortunately, far too many employees are left with similar feelings at the end of their working day. They are under pressure to expedite and process rather than resolve the problem. This approach is then replicated in poor service, ultimately having a negative impact on the business.
Perhaps it is seen as too simplistic a view, but treat your employees as people and they will treat your customers as people. It shouldn’t take an army of analysts to reach that conclusion.
Authentic employee engagement
I was quite surprised to find an article in the CIPD journal this month entitled ‘How to Build Authenticity’. It included seven steps to help you build your authenticity as follows:
- Reality check
- Be a good role model
- Communicate effectively
- Think positively
- Embrace change
- Do the right thing
- One for all and all for one
Source: People management – 14.10.10
Now these are all good steps, and yet I found myself feeling quite uncomfortable when reading the article. Here’s my problem. When you look up ‘authenticity’ in the dictionary it says ‘known to be real’ and ‘genuine’. Having to follow a series of steps, however well intentioned, suggests that authenticity is a process and can therefore be run like software.
One of the aspects of the Antiques Road show I enjoy is the expert trying to spot a fake. To their expert eye it is often quite easy to do. The forger has analysed the elements and qualities of the genuine article and has effectively developed a process that he believes will fool many people into believing they own the real thing. Quite often the forger succeeds and therefore the process works for them. However once the expert has revealed the reality of the piece people are quite rightly upset and sometimes quite angry. They feel cheated and their trust has been abused.
If managers believe that they can process authenticity in this way, is it any surprise that UK Employee Engagement has reached an all time low? Some will of course be fooled, but many of our employees are experts and as such will quickly spot the fake. At best, following a processed approach to authenticity will be like a smile that does not reach the eyes. We can practice smiling, we can force our facial muscles to generate a smile on demand (ask Gordon Brown), but the eye movement is involuntary; if the smile is not genuine it will not reach the eyes.
So authenticity must be real, it must be genuine. Don’t try to be authentic; be authentic. Believe in the value and talent of your employees and be yourself. That is how to authentically engage employees.
Employee Engagement in just six words
The employee engagement network has just released an ebook entitled Employee Engagement in Six Words. See my contribution on page 12 at
http://www.davidzinger.com/wp-content/uploads/Employee-Engagement-Six-Word-ebook.pdf
Employee engagement requires trust
Building strong relationships that are built on trust is a vital part of developing an engaged workforce. As economies around the globe begin to strengthen and rebuild it makes a great deal of commercial sense for businesses to be ensuring they have strategies in place to develop their people and be well positioned to utilise their talent when the upturn gathers momentum.
Many businesses have been supported through difficult times by their employees accepting pay cuts and freezes or reduced hours working. In fact a feature of this recession has been the more creative approach taken by many businesses to keep talent in house and work together to build for the future.
It was therefore very disappointing to read over the weekend about businesses that have resorted to very short term, and arguably unethical, practices. A number of businesses have basically sourced workers who are prepared to work for lower cost, typically from other countries. That in itself may well make great commercial sense, however, in these instances existing employees were asked to train these new ‘colleagues’ in practices and procedures before discovering that they were actually training those who would be replacing them. This approach begs many questions:
How quickly will remaining staff limit the training and support they are prepared to give to new starters?
How many of the remaining workforce are rapidly updating their CV’s and will move on at the first available opportunity?
Once new employees discover what happened how confident will they be in their new employer?
What will customers of the business think?
Businesses who build strong relationships based on trust will be those who reap the rewards now and in the future.
How engaged are your people?
What does it take to be an engaging manager?
Here is our A to Z:
AGREED – Consult, seek opinions before deciding the best course of action.
Focus on BENEFITS and outcomes rather than process.
Ensure CLARITY of communication in all directions. Poor communication is the most often cited reason for poor relationships with managers.
DEVELOP OTHERS. You are only as good as your team and colleagues. The better equipped they are, the stronger performance you will deliver.
Manage EXPECTATION – ensure everyone is clear on what you expect from them and you are clear on what they expect from you.
Continually give and seek high quality performance FEEDBACK
GOALS – be clear on what it is you are going to achieve and have milestones along the way to assess progress
HELP remove obstacles that stop others succeeding – it is a key part of a managers role
INNOVATE – challenge thinking regularly, seek a broad range of possible solutions to problems and constantly ask what if?
JOY – Enjoy what you do and that spreads. Far too many people believe they are stuck in jobs that they don’t like.
KISS – Keep it simple stupid, avoid over complicating things, get to the root of issues and act.
LEARN – regularly review what is working well and what could be done differently.
Know how you will MEASURE progress against goals and performance. Ensure your focus of measurement is where you think it is and balance measuring effort and result effectively.
Deal with NON-PERFORMERS quickly and professionally. The aim is always to help them become performers. Avoid putting this off.
Give as much OWNERSHIP as possible to the team. Managers have a tendency to keep ownership in an effort to control.
Establish clear PRIORITIES to achieve your goals and stick to them as much as possible.
Ask QUESTIONS rather than make lots of statements. Stephen Covey got it right when he said “seek first to understand”
Build strong RELATIONSHIPS. People work for and with other people.
SERVICE ORIENTED. Know who the customers of your service are. These may be end user customers, but how often do you think of your staff as customers of your service as their manager?
Build TEAMS. Organisations are mostly lean and mean these days. If your goals could be achieved by one person there would be only you.
USE THE STRENGTHS OF OTHERS – avoid putting square pegs in round holes, play to peoples strengths
Know your VALUE ADD. Your job is to make a difference and improve performance.
Seek WIN/WIN solutions. That does not mean 50/50, it means all parties get some benefit.
Set and EXAMPLE (ok X is a tough one) role model the behaviours you expect.
Be YOURSELF – be authentic in how you deal with people, they really appreciate it.
ZEST – be enthusiastic and passionate about what you do. It is infectious.
What is your A to Z? Let us know.
UK Employee Engagement reaches all time low
Have you noticed how much difference it makes having the right tools for the job? I have recently bought proper running trainers for the gym. Previously I just purchased cheap trainers that I could use in a wide variety of other situations. I felt that gave me good value, but after family pressure I finally succumbed; and the performance difference has been a real eye opener.
In my experience many managers find themselves stuck using the same old strategies that appear to deliver a consistent result, and all too often the prime focus is on tasks and processes rather than people.
A recent CIPD study has shown that UK employee engagement has reached an all time low, despite the fact that there are some signs that economic growth may be returning. It suggests that only 16% of public sector staff, and 39% of private sector staff, trust their senior leaders. I find this quite a disturbing statistic; and if ever there has been a time to check out what management tools we are using, and considering what new ones to add to the tool box, it is now.
Employee engagement has been described as ‘a set of positive attitudes and behaviours enabling high job performance of a kind which are in tune with the organisation’s mission’ – Professor John Storey.
In essence, employee engagement comes down to a mix of attitudes, behaviours and outcomes and the benefits of getting that mix right are many:
- Reduced sickness absence
- Lower staff turnover
- Higher productivity
- Greater innovation
- Improved customer satisfaction
What are the key drivers of engagement?
Leadership which ensures a strong, transparent and explicit organisational culture which gives employees a line of sight between their job and the vision and aims of the organisation.
Engaging managers who offer clarity, appreciation of employees’ effort and contribution, who treat their people as individuals and who ensure that work is organised efficiently and effectively so that employees feel they are valued, and equipped and supported to do their job.
www.causerelatedlearning.co.uk
