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Inspiring Employee Engagement
Gift cards and glittery awards are useful for employee-reward programs, but according to a recent employee-engagement survey, there are less expensive methods of bolstering employee satisfaction. The 2008 WorkTrends Report from the Minneapolis-based Kenexa Research Institute shows that leaders who communicate corporate direction and inspire through respect and recognition help to create an engaged and committed workforce. The report surveyed more than 20,000 employees from 14 countries. Entitled Engaging the Employee, the report defines employee engagement by evaluating distinct components, such as pride, employer satisfaction, advocacy and retention. Rather than try to measure happiness, the survey considers employee responses to a variety of questions. Among the topics surveyed are confidence in the organization's future, the organization's support for work/life balance, employee recognition and respect, and corporate responsibility. "I think what HR managers and executives need to be thinking about in relation to this [report] is two or three areas of action," says Wiley. First, he says, "you can drive employee engagement within your organization higher by effectively communicating the strategy the company is taking." That may sound obvious but, Wiley says, organizations don't always maintain open pathways of communication that stretch to the front line. Such communication, he says, aligns the workforce with the right goals and spreads the message that everyone in the organization adds value to the future. Peter Goerke, head of talent management and human resources for Zurich Financial Services, agrees that communicating the company's goals to every member of the workforce is essential. Goerke says Zurich Financial's open network of communication creates greater employee engagement. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the company operates globally and has 60,000 employees, including about 30,000 in the United States, primarily through Farmers Insurance Group Cos. in Los Angeles and Zurich North America in Chicago. "It's crucial for us that our employees understand where we want to go, and how they can make a difference," says Goerke. While Zurich Financial uses communication tools such as e-mail messages from the CEO and its intranet, he says "everybody does that, and it has little impact." For greater impact, Goerke says the organization developed a series of workshops that the company rolled out in the beginning of the year. Called Strategy Navigator, the workshops are attended by small teams of 10 to 15 employees. Each session allows everyone to learn, debate, offer suggestions and ultimately understand the company's strategy and goals. In the end, everyone can communicate those goals in their own words. The program began in the boardroom, spread to the executive level and now has filtered through the various business units. "We get a good, consistent message out and have heavy debates about it," says Goerke. "And the impact is just enormous." Overall, the study found that more than half (57 percent) of those surveyed were considered engaged. Scoring highest on the index were employees in India, with 65 percent; Mexico ranked second, with 62 percent; the United States ranked third, with 61 percent. While Japan ranks lowest, with 34 percent, the survey doesn't reflect cultural and economic forces, which may influence the way employees respond, says Jack W. Wiley, founder and executive director of the Kenexa Research Institute. "In the Japanese culture -- and, in fact, in many Eastern cultures -- there's more of a tendency to use the middle portions of the scale, and not to be quite as effusive in either their praise or their dislike of a particular topic," he says. But, Wiley says, the study highlights similarities, rather than differences, and the keys to employee engagement transcend borders and cultures. Among the most striking similarities are the focus on leaders who inspire confidence in the future through respect, communication and recognition. Unlike employee rewards, Wiley says, recognition is more like respect and a personal touch from management. "When we think of recognition, we're thinking of the pat on the back, the 'atta-boy' or 'atta-girl,' the psychological appreciation for the contribution being made," says Wiley. Such recognition costs nothing, but can earn high returns in employee satisfaction. The Kenexa survey shows that only 47 percent of those responding said they were satisfied with recognition from their managers. AstraZeneca, the global pharmaceutical company headquartered in London, has a unique program that combines communicating strategy with an employee-recognition program, says Raymond Parisi, senior director of corporate communications at the company's Wilmington, Del.-based U.S. headquarters. For the past two years, Parisi says, managers among the company's nearly 12,000 U.S. employees have nominated co-workers they think exemplify the goals and values of the company. Up to 50 employees can be selected for a campaign, and their photos appear on posters throughout the company's locations in Wilmington and Newark, Del. and Westborough, Mass. "We have a campaign up right now that talks about the good things the company does," says Parisi. "I think it's the type of recognition that people feel good about." Wiley says the third most important aspect revealed by the survey is that only 57 percent of those responding felt they had adequate on-the-job training. "We have a deep, psychological need to want to be competent at this very important dimension of our lives, and that's our work lives," says Wiley. "So, part of being competent is being adequately trained, and feeling confident as we approach the assignments we're given." Employees who don't feel confident, says Wiley, can't feel engaged and, therefore, don't contribute as much as an engaged employee to a company's bottom line. "Organizations are leaving a lot of money on the table, in terms of suboptimal productivity and efficiency, when they don't adequately train their workforce," he says. October 8, 2008 Copyright 2008© LRP Publications |
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