Reality Check: Employee Engagement

Employee engagement and employee experience are not rocket science and they are not made effective by tactics or manipulation. As hard as they try, leadership doesn’t get to determine what is or isn’t engaging to the team.

hen that misconception is mixed with a lack of quantitative analysis, it’s wasted resources-pure and simple. When quantitative evidence is not contextually analyzed using qualitative inputs, it completely misses the boat. O. C. Tanner recently released the results of new research on this subject.

THE 6-MINUTE $20 MILLION SPEECH

Peabody Award Winner, Fred McFeely Rogers, has been lauded for cinching the $20 million funding for public television. What is less discussed is what it was about his testimony that won the day. Here is what can be learned from this crucial 6-minute speech that gave the committee leader “goosebumps for the first time in two days.”

CUSTOMER COMPLAINS – STAFF CALLS OUT THE “FIRING SQUAD”

Again, Starbucks corporate office rightfully apologized for an unfortunate, poorly handled, incident at one of their stores. Given the company’s history of addressing similar matters, they took further action to ensure no further such occurrences. There appears to be no transparency, however, with respect to what that action entailed. But that is a matter for another blog post. Let’s hit the rewind button here.

PURSUIT OF PERFECTION: ENEMY OF INNOVATION

“I’m a perfectionist.” How many times have you heard that from a coworker, supervisor or in an interview? At first light, you might think this individual is perfect for detail-oriented tasks. You might consider them for supervisory work that requires a detailed review of subordinate work products. But, is this character trait really what the organization needs?

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE OR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT?

Several of my clients have wondered whether employee engagement is better than employee experience methods. Some expressed the view that “employee experience” is just another name for “employee engagement.” They wanted to know what is the difference and if there is a difference, which should be their focus. Employee experience is much more than traditional employee engagement. Employee experience cuts to the core of why employee engagement has been difficult to define and, often, inappropriately measured.

THE 5 QUESTIONS THAT CAN LEAD TO A 29% INCREASE IN YOUR BOTTOM LINE

It is no longer adequate for leaders to simply know what each team member does. Knowing the assigned tasks and job titles is not enough, especially as it relates to high-performers. Regardless of industry or organizational type the most effective manager understands the why behind the do. Focusing on this connects leadership with key elements […]

Achieve 33% Higher Revenue (Per Employee) by Changing Two Things

For how many years have you had an employee engagement strategy? How’s that working for you? Tactics without Strategy are DOA, but if a certain group of individuals does not align with that strategy, the company is treading water without a life jacket. Seventy percent of your company’s engagement relies on one group and a well-placed dose of what I call the Awesome Sauce.

DON’T OVERLOOK THE SWORD-BEARERS

In a March 2015 TED Talk Bill Gross spoke about what drove the failure of multiple startups he’d launched. The Startup King and founder of Idealab concluded that timing was a primary factor in startup failures. But, that was not the most valuable take-away from Gross’message. A more important nugget went unnoticed. Bill said, “If […]

YOUR CULTURE IS AT RISK IF THIS IS MISSING FROM YOUR RECRUITMENT STRATEGY

You’re forking through the avalanche of applicants and resumes, narrowed them down to a manageable list of interviewees, and now you are ready to make a hiring decision. Likely, there are multiple highly qualified candidates that will participate in the second interview round. How will you decide? Will the final decision swing on tangible or […]

Mental Illness in the Workplace: What to do Before its Too Late (Case Study)

Few leaders are trained or educated in recognizing symptoms of mental illness. Dealing with the matter while staying within the bounds of civil rights, HIPPA, and employment law is difficult ground to navigate. So, we tend to ignore it. This article presents actionable advice that could keep the organization on the right side of the law, support employees affected by mental illness, and still stay on target with the strategic mission.