What would you do with 5 to 10 extra hours in your work week, every week? Could you use it to finally finish off those projects that never seem to get done? Or, would you become the proactive leader that drives bottom line results and begins to implement your vision for what your work world could be…and finally stop the reactive circus that consumes your regular day.
The average manager spends about 18% of their day managing employees. That’s everything from hiring, firing, managing the petty conflicts but also the good stuff that comes with being a manager. But would your performance skyrocket by cutting that 18% in half? What if your turnover dropped by nearly 50%? What if your absenteeism ratcheted down by 37%? What if the time you spent investigating and solving safety incidents declined because incidents declined by 49%? I bet you’d have a whole lot more time in your day. All of these positive outcomes can occur with the results that come from a focus on creating a highly engaged workforce!*
Employee engagement is very different from employee satisfaction. Satisfaction is a left brain rational thought process that focuses on issues like pay equity, workplace conditions, fairness of the boss and the performance review methods. It is very much a “head” thing. Employee engagement is when you have your employee’s heart…you have made an emotional connection with the employee, their values are aligned with the company’s and they see their success being inextricably intertwined with the success of the employer. The outcomes from engaged employees are vastly different from satisfied employees. The examples in the second paragraph are just a beginning…the engaged employee’s contributions are beyond production, they volunteer for countless projects and squelch the negativity of the naysayers.
The path to creating engaged employees is long, but amazingly inexpensive. It’s not about wooden clocks, gold watches or expensive retreats. It’s about understanding the “drivers of engagement” and how to bring them alive at your company. It’s about doing a real employee engagement survey (not a satisfaction survey) and holding yourself and managers accountable for following through on the opportunities for improvement. It’s about consistency because going from good to great takes time. It’s about understanding the tactics that demonstrate your commitment to employee well-being.
The role of leadership is crucial to creating a highly engaged workforce. Personal buy-in AND involvement is non-negotiable; creating the vision of what the engaged workplace looks like and the employees’ role in getting there must be articulated frequently and completely. Every manager, supervisor and leader must be on the same page and speak to engagement with one voice.
Wouldn’t you love to come to work because you love where you work? How about the rest of your folks?
Over the next 15 years, 80 million baby boomers may retire, changing the demographics of your workforce forever. With nearly 35% of the workforce potentially retiring, the war for talent will become absolutely fierce. Employee engagement represents that game – changing opportunity to get out front of the competition and transform your work world.
*Research from Gallup Consulting and 12 The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd Wagner and Dr. James Harter.