reasons to improve employee engagement

4
reasons to improve
employee engagement
by anthony raja devadoss
and Charles Bedard
Why worry about
employee engagement?
With all the numbers and statistics that pass
So, if you’d like to live in a world where more
There are four key reasons to get
across executives’ desks, it’s no wonder the
of your employees do all of these things, this
engagement right in your organisation:
employee engagement score feels like one
paper gives you the tools to make it happen.
drop in a very large ocean.
1
to raise your productivity
2
to reduce your turnover
3
to improve your customer service, and
4
to engage every employee, regardless
No matter what your legacy issues may be,
But it’s not. Employee engagement is a
or what your employee engagement results
business measure like no other.
have been in the past, it is possible to create
a highly engaged workforce quickly, easily
‘Engaged’ employees work harder, stay
and without disproportionate investment in
longer with their organisation and deliver
time, money or technology.
better customer service. The greater the
proportion of your staff that make it into
Engagement is NOT an annual survey.
the ‘engaged’ category, the higher your
Engagement is frequent, relevant and
performance is likely to be on almost
meaningful feedback and recognition. And
every count.
the right tools will deliver exactly this.
of age or experience level.
Here’s how to do it…
2
1
raise your productivity
Engaged employees are two times more productive than satisfied employees.
If we know that engaged employees are
2. Look to improve compliance: Seek
Here’s a snapshot of what the different engagement levels look like in terms of
more productive, and that one in every
engagement tools and techniques that also
employee behaviour, and what they mean for productivity.
three employees is actively disengaged, we
address compliance gaps in your current
know there’s a compelling reason to increase
HR and management practices so that
engagement across all areas of a business.
low-performing employees are appropriately
Making it work
1. Don’t ignore the lowest performers:
Take a workforce solutions approach to
engagement tools and strategies so that
the various behaviours of each group of
employees, even those that are highly
disengaged, can be improved.
and consistently managed.
3. Don’t overdo the technology: As we
Behaviours/attitudes to work
intend to implement more technology to
address engagement across the organisation,
seek a solution that is fast and easy to
implement, and which aims to support
(rather than supersede) the exiting manager–
employee relationship.
Average %
employees in
organisations
Passionate about their work/organisation; will do what ever it
takes to deliver results; feels like a true owner; delivers consistent,
high-quality results; finds innovative solutions to the toughest
problems; seen as a role model and leader
122%
10-15%
Fully
engaged
Selective about where they put their energy; spends a lot of time
doing things that are not helping customers or the organisation;
deliver when they have to, or when management is watching;
does what it takes to get by; a master at distracting others
75%
30-40%
Somewhat
engaged
Only works when they have to, they really want to be doing
something else; results are NOT meeting the standard; has a
Disengaged
we/they approach; negative about the organisation, as well as in
their interactions with co-workers and customers
50%
20-30%
all know by now, technology alone cannot
replace good management. So, if you
Output per
employee
3
2
reduce your turnover
Four out of every five employees are dissatisfied with their
performance review and feedback processes.
Most of the reasons people leave
they use. Eighty per cent of employees say
(not just the goals their manager may
organisations are solvable.
they do not get the feedback they need to
have given them) and exactly where
perform, and this is a serious impediment
things are going wrong. This will improve
to engagement. If you can improve the
objectivity and ensure high-performers
feedback mechanisms, you can improve the
really get the tools they need even when
experience of 80% of your staff immediately.
management is lacking.
It’s often said that employees don’t leave
organisations, they leave managers, and
around one-third of employees say they leave
because of poor line management.
Making it work
Turnover is often a symptom of deep
disengagement between managers and
their staff. Solving this requires more than
just great leadership training. It requires the
tools and mechanisms to facilitate a more
productive and helpful relationship between
managers and their staff.
1. Make it employee driven: Any solution to
successfully reduce turnover must be driven
by the employee. Many solutions look to add
tools to the HR toolkit, but do not necessarily
provide a solution to empower the employee
to succeed. Don’t add a new ‘process’
or technology unless it’s going to help
To reduce turnover, organisations must
employees understand exactly how they’re
seek to improve the feedback mechanisms
performing against the corporate plan/goals
Sustainable engagement segments
across the global workforce
unsupported
2. Beware the warning sign: If you’re
already having requests to speed up the onboarding and off-boarding processes in your
organisation, and this can’t all be explained
by business growth, consider how you might
address engagement at the same time. Some
35%
highly engaged
detached
22%
17%
disengaged
26%
Source: Towers Watson Global Workforce Study
tools allow you to do both: improve your
employee engagement while improving the
oversight and ease of on-boarding and offboarding at the same time.
4
3
Improve your customer service
Less than one in five managers is a coach.
Hiring the right person does not mean
Many organisations rely upon developing
2. Look for a solution that coaches in
hiring the best person. Often the difference
specialist leadership, development
real-time, rather than critiques over the
between an employee that delivers great
and training programs, which can meet
long term: Improvements in customer
customer service and one that doesn’t comes
some of this need. Yet, organisations
service require regular, real-time coaching
down to whether or not they have the right
must consider what happens after
(or as close as possible). Being told
coach. Given how few managers successfully
that training or development course is
you’ve done something incorrectly is
fulfil this coaching role, and that only around
complete. How well equipped will the
fine, but understanding how and why, as
one in every five managers inspires their staff
employee’s manager be to coach them to
well as what the result has been for the
to perform, organisations wanting to improve
continue improving their service skills?
customer, is far more effective if it takes
service capabilities face significant barriers.
Regular, routine communication between
managers and their staff is critical to ensure
staff get the feedback and coaching that they
need to deliver better service.
If your managers have not been validated
to inspire their staff, what other tools and
Making it work
1. Match benefits to psychographics:
Several high-performing companies use this
tool, including Intel. One size does not fit
all, so think about different benefit packages
and incentives for different segments of the
place while the customer experience
How engagement affects final results
Same-year operating margin:
study of 50 global companies
27.4%
14.3%
9.9%
is still fresh in the employee’s mind.
Low
traditional
engagement
companies
High
traditional
engagement
companies
High
sustainable
engagement
companies
Source: Towers Watson normative database
employee population.
programs are being used to achieve this?
5
Engage every employee,
regardless of age or experience level
4
Millennials will constitute 40-45% of the workforce by 2014.
The foundation of the Millennial employee
is not defined by rank or seniority, but by
To develop a truly engaged workforce
2. Know what they want: Understand
mindset is different from that of older
what matters to them personally.
that includes all generations,
what drives individuals first, but be aware of
organisations will need to focus on
trends that can be applied more broadly. For
measuring performance, not hours.
example, Millennials prefer ongoing rather
generations. Generation Y (and all those
coming after them) have been parented and
Given the different expectations and
educated differently, and the technology that
motivations of the four generations that are
may have influenced us all has fundamentally
now working together in many organisations,
Making it work:
shaped who they are. Broadly speaking,
a 2D staffing model is no longer good
1. Expect better: Stop believing the bad
facilitate this without unduly increasing the
Millennials tend to value and expect:
enough. If your hiring and management
press about younger generations – with
administrative burden for managers.
practices do not fit with the demographics
the right tools and approach, they can be
and psychographics of today’s workforce how
3. Don’t isolate engagement from
among the most valuable talent you have.
There’s no reason to expect poor results
other measures: Look for a system
will you compete for new talent and retain
what you’ve already got?
from an entire generation of workers, nor
• constant feedback
• connectivity
• self-expression
• opportunity and reward
should it be put down to attitude, age or
The organization is now flat and social.
experience. The right tools and approach
Networks and virtual teams mean that the
will deliver results for all generational
Millennials are unlikely to feel that long years
way we manage work and workers has
mindsets. It will be flexible but fair.
of effort at any one company in exchange
changed. Above all, management needs
for a series of incremental raises and
to be adaptable and flexible, yet it still
promotions is pointless. To them, success must be fair.
for a job well done.
than periodic feedback. So, performance
management systems should be built to
and/or process that links these critical
elements together seamlessly:
• Communication
• Engagement
• Performance.
6
Our story (what worked for us)
We have been talking with our clients about
the challenges they face with employee
Kelly client corporate performance compared to public indexes
engagement for some time. We are always
20%
looking for tools and approaches that help
solve productivity, turnover and service
challenges, so we often test solutions on
ourselves first.
15%
Kelly 2+ Year
Client Average
In 2010, we started using the
BullseyeEvaluation system in both Asia-Pacific
10%
and the Americas. This is the employee
S&P 500
engagement and productivity tool that we
rely on to drive results for our business, and
the numbers here will
5%
show you why.
Dow Jones
Average
GDP Average
Performer
0%
7
references
2012 Global Workforce Study from Towers Watson http://www.towerswatson.com/research/7177
Towers Perrin. See the 2006 report, Ten Steps to Creating an Engaged Workforce:
Towers Perrin Global Workforce Survey. http://www.towersperrin.com/gws
US Census Bureau http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/
Towers Perrin. (2008). Employee Engagement Underpins Business Transformation. Stamford,
Mercer June 2011 http://www.mercer.com/press-releases/1418665
Globoforce 2012 report based on SHRM Membership Study http://go.globoforce.com/rs/
globoforce/images/SHRMWinter2012Report.PDF
The Importance Being Known from BlessingWhite http://www.thesocialworkplace.com/
CT: Author. www.towersperrin.com/tp/getwebcachedoc?country=gbr&webc=GBR/2008/200807/
TP_ISR_July08.pdf
2011 Survey of Sustainability Executives by Green Research. http://greenresearch.com/2011/11/30/
corporate-sustainability-leaders-to-focus-on-employee-engagement-and-supply-chain-in-2012/
2012/08/21/the-importance-of-being-known/
US Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t04.htm
BlessingWhite. (2008). The state of Employment Engagement – 2008: North American overview. Quote from Terry Stockham (SPHR, GPHR) during “The Future of Work” presentation.
Princeton, NJ: Author. Accessed online on March 1, 2009 from www.blessingwhite.com/
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/terry-stockham/11/8a8/bb2 http://blog.bullseyeevaluation.
EEE__report.asp
com/?tag=the-future-of-work
“The Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes.” August 2009.
A study by Reuters found that 80 percent of workers are dissatisfied with their performance
A 2009 Gallup Inc. study of over 1,000 US based employees shows the impact of different
reviews and would like to see them better reflect their real work. http://www.reuters.com/
kinds of feedback on employees. http://gmj.gallup.com/content/124214/driving-engagement-
article/2009/04/15/us-usa-workplace-reviews-idUSTRE53D6WV20090415
focusing-strengths.aspx http://www.gallup.com/poll/150383/majority-american-workers-notengaged-jobs.aspx
The Social Workplace Blog: What is a Disengaged Employee Costing You? http://www.
thesocialworkplace.com/2012/03/06/when-employese-arent-happy-then-the-company-isnt-happy/ “Employee Work Engagement: Best Practices for Employers.” June 2009 Volume 1 Issue 2,
from Research Works, a Partnership for Workplace Mental Health Journal. http://www.concern-
http://www.thesocialworkplace.com/2011/08/08/social-knows-employee-engagement-statistics-
eap.com/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=XTwQrS0tLvQ%3D&tabid=69
august-2011-edition/
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About the Authors
Anthony Raja Devadoss is currently the Vice President – APAC with the Outsourcing & Consulting Group of Kelly Services. From
network services, engineering to e-business solutions, Anthony Raja has worked in both India and Malaysia, in roles ranging from
technical to CEO. He has received his Bachelors degree in Science and his MBA in Marketing and a Postgraduate Diploma in Computing.
He holds membership in various local and international associations such as the MIM, Human Capital Institute and Association of Career
Professionals International. He is the Head of Policy Enablement and Government Liaison with Outsourcing Malaysia and a member of
the Industry Advisory Board for the Graduate School of Business, UNIRAZAK. He was recently appointed to the HR Capacity Building
taskforce by the Ministry of Human Resources, Government of Malaysia. Anthony is also a member of the HROA APAC Chapter Board.
http://my.linkedin.com/in/anthonyraja
http://twitter.com/anthonyraja
Charles BEDARD is Vice President of Global Strategy, BullseyeEvaluation and has extensive knowledge of technology and outsourcing
options for today’s business. He serves as a Strategic Advisor, Chief Strategy Officer, and Global Strategist to B2B technology and
outsourcing providers. Previously, Charles served as a Director for multiple fast-growth companies in BPO, IT, HR/Human Capital/HRO,
Technology/Software, and Professional Services. He has earned his Bachelor of Arts from Southwestern University and his Masters of
Business Administration from Texas Christian University.
About KellyOCG
KellyOCG® is the Outsourcing and Consulting Group of workforce solutions provider, Kelly Services, Inc. KellyOCG is a global leader
in innovative talent management solutions in the areas of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO), Contingent Workforce Outsourcing (CWO), including Independent Contractor Solutions, Human Resources Consulting, Career
Transition and Executive Coaching, and Executive Search.
KellyOCG was named to the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals® 2012 Global Outsourcing 100®
list, an annual ranking of the world’s best outsourcing service providers and advisors.
Further information about KellyOCG may be found at kellyocg.com.
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