How do you make Employee Engagement a strategic priority?

The business case for investing in employee engagement is simple. It yields significant returns for companies through improved performance, higher talent retention rates, increased customer satisfaction and a competitive advantage in the market. Defining the current situation is the first place to start. Look at the current state of employee engagement to help identify challenges and areas for improvement, so that you can develop targeted strategies to address them. I’m a firm believer that what is measured is managed, so in quantifying and tracking employee engagement, setting realistic and measurable goals for improvement and then linking these with KPIs - the natural conclusion is engagement will be seen as a priority.

Employee engagement is a critical driver of employee commitment, which in turn leads to higher productivity, lower turnover, and better overall organizational performance. 1. Foster an open communication culture 2. Enhance positivity & transparency across 3. Reward & Recognize any & every contribution 4. Focus on aligning your employee development strategy with career goals of your employees 5. Empower Employees 6. Promote Inclusive culture leading to emotionally stimulating work place 7. Ensure Fairness & Equity, promoting merit over tenure / years of experience 8. Coach your leadership board to lead by example Building an engaging workforce is not a day's job, it takes consistent, committed & focused approach

Como líder de RRHH siempre comienzo por entender nuestra situación actual. Para esto realizo diferentes ejercicios como encuestas de satisfacción y entrevistas individuales para obtener una imagen clara de cómo se sienten los empleados. Esta evaluación inicial es crucial para saber desde dónde comenzamos, identificar áreas de mejora y oportunidades para aumentar el compromiso.

I work with a lot of clients rapidly assessing current and desired state with a 24-36month outlook. Most leaders in F500 companies know that employee experience (engagement is a KPI of this), drives customer and brand experience which drives sales, profitability and growth. By prioritizing efforts to reach the desired states, a value driver analysis can show what can be gained (or lost) $$$-wise by investments in engagement.

Don't start with "Engagement" it is too nebulous for many managers/leaders to grab on to. Instead, make it about Employee Performance with the core belief that "no one wants the existence where they wake up and think , 'man, I hope I suck at my job today.'" People want to be successful, they want to contribute, and they want to improve. Remove the barriers and make it easier for them to be successful. They are the same levers that lead to employee engagement. Give people... - Clear expected outcomes - Trust and autonomy to achieve them (and the freedom to do it even if different than your approach) - Resources and feedback as needed - A safe environment for them to use errors as a learning experience (not a punishable offense)

Sin duda, la participación de los líderes y gerentes es crucial para cualquier estrategia de compromiso. En mi experiencia, cuando los líderes muestran un verdadero interés en el bienestar de sus equipos, esto se refleja a través de toda la organización. Para ganar su compromiso organizo talleres y sesiones de formación para asegurar que nuestros líderes comprendan la importancia del compromiso y sepan cómo fomentarlo.

By empowering leaders and managers with the tools and training needed to inspire and recognize their teams effectively, you create a ripple effect of engagement. Their genuine involvement sets the tone for an inclusive workplace culture, where every employee feels valued and understood. This commitment from the top down not only boosts morale but also aligns personal achievements with the company's strategic goals, fostering a united and motivated workforce.

When leaders and managers are pulled in 100 different directions it can feel challenging to communicate the importance of engagement initiatives. The best examples I've seen has been when the person driving the engagement project has found out what's important to their leaders and managers, and used that as a hook for the project. For example, if there's a focus from leadership (who tend to be more commercially minded) on employee retention found out the current cost to hire and train new starters, % of leavers and demonstrate how a 1% increase in engagement could positively impact those figures. It's numbers they can't ignore! Personal relationship building also plays a huge part in recruiting engagement champions.

Leadership involvement pre- and post-engagement survey is pivotal. They are on the forefront to implement any engagement strategies and have to feel comfortable in communicating and driving positive change processes. Involving and training leaders ensures a culture of engagement, with accountability for outcomes. This strategic alignment is key to driving successful engagement initiatives.

To make Employee Engagement a strategic priority, I When leaders prioritize engagement, there's a 29% increase in profitability and a 24% reduction in turnover. Engaged leaders inspire and motivate their teams, fostering a positive work environment and driving organizational success. Therefore, involving leaders and managers is crucial for embedding engagement into the company culture and achieving tangible business outcomes.

Este paso en vital, para que una estrategia de compromiso sea efectiva, ésta debe de estar alineada con los objetivos de negocio. Trabajar estrechamente con la alta dirección asegura que nuestras iniciativas de compromiso apoyen y fortalezcan los objetivos estratégicos de la organización, creando así un círculo virtuoso entre el éxito del negocio y la satisfacción de los empleados.

The most crucial step here is understanding the most effective way to support your employees in achieving your business strategy in their day-to-day work. The purpose of an engagement strategy is for employees to feel as though their contributions matter and that there is a clear correlation between their role and the company's overall business strategy. Take the time to educate your team on the WHY behind their work and create space for THEM to share if it's apparent to them and if it supports their personal goals and objectives as well.

You integrate employee engagement into your culture by: - Making engagement part of the business focus and leadership style - Getting employee insights, ideas, and opinions regularly - Acting on the insights daily or weekly - Measuring engagement and making it one of the KPIs - Building a natural desire to improve engagement within the leadership team

Engaged employees are more productive, feel valued and heard, committed and help others. It's a win-win for both the organization and the leaders to have engaged employees.

Aligning engagement strategy with business strategy ensures they support and enhance each other. Reflecting organizational values and goals, the aligned strategies should guide employees towards achieving higher engagement. Further, aligned strategies can improve processes such as recruitment and performance management.

El empoderamiento es una pieza clave en la estrategia de compromiso. Si proporcionamos a los colaboradores las herramientas y la autonomía necesarias para tomar decisiones, fomentamos así un sentido de pertenencia y responsabilidad. En mi rol, siempre animo a los empleados a proponer ideas y soluciones creativas, lo que no solo aumenta su compromiso, sino que también aporta nuevas perspectivas valiosas para el negocio.

Engagement is individualised, everyone is different and wants something slightly different. It is important that you not only create a strategy that is meaningful, provide the tools to empower individuals, give the managers guidance on how to support employees and finally give the employees the time to do more of 'what they love'. If one of this isn't completed engagement is likely to fall over. Continuous conversations, support and training will empower the employee to take ownership of their own engagement.

100% agree with this. I see a lot of engagement from people is when they are unhappy - they want to complain and voice their upset. It's important to not stifle this but instead try to ask the right questions to get people thinking of their own solutions. It's also good to demonstrate to others the benefits of sharing positive content - things that went well, people that have been helpful, etc.

By giving employees autonomy and decision-making authority, they feel more invested in their roles and motivated to excel. This sense of ownership fosters a culture of accountability and innovation, where employees actively seek opportunities to make a meaningful impact. Additionally, it boosts morale and job satisfaction, leading to higher levels of engagement and productivity. Providing opportunities for skill development and recognizing their achievements further reinforces this sense of ownership, creating a positive cycle of engagement and organizational success.

We've created 'Engagement Month', to kick start people in the organisation sharing more content on Linkedin specifically. No-one has to do, it's still a choice, but being able to demonstrate benefits, and add a competitive element, has dramatically improved posts. If you know impressions can be on average say ￡10 per 1,000, think how much your employees can achieve, and put some of that money into a reward for those who smash it (and are proud to share)

Ya todos sabemos que lo que no se mide no se puede mejorar. Es vital monitorizar y evaluar constantemente nuestro progreso en términos de compromiso. Para esto utilizo métricas claras y revisiones constantes para medir el impacto de nuestras iniciativas. Esto me permite ajustar las estrategias en tiempo real y asegurarme de que estamos en el camino correcto hacia nuestros objetivos de compromiso.

It's great that you've got a strategy in place for engagement, but if it's not working (whether from uptake or results), you'll need to rethink it. If it's working in pockets, what's separating success from everything else. If it's working everywhere - great, COMMUNICATE so people are aware their contributions are making a difference, and build on this success moving forward.

Monitor it THROUGH managers AKA, don't measure everyone. Instead, measure manager's assessment. Easier, and follows the science: Managers account for 70% of employee engagement variance, but are only 15% of the organisation. It's the pareto principle at work.

"We want everyone posting every day for 3 months" - probably not going to be fun for all - where if you had a competition across departments, you could gamify this and give more incentive to contribute "Team with the highest percentage of people posting more than 5 times in a month win a prize" could be a better introduction - we've tried it at EMJ and it's got our Sales and Operations teams battling out (and communicating more than ever before)

You wouldn't think employee engagement is simple, when you read over all this articles. There's so much to think about! But yes, you CAN make it simple by boiling engagement down to it's three components: - HEAD engagement: do people know what is expected of them? Does communication easily flow through the organisation? - HANDS engagement: can people take action without things getting in their way? Do they have the tools they need? - HEART engagement: how does the organisation ensure work doesn't leave people WORSE off?

To become a competitive organization, the employees play a significant part in delivering high-quality results. As every organization's main focus is revenue generation, it is also important to invest time, money, and energy in employee engagement. Organizations should implement modern employee engagement programs to build an employee-centric environment which is focussed-driven and aligns with the company's vision and mission. Once the employee and employer are on the same page, the organization will be on its way to achieving greater heights of success.

We need to reframe how we talk about and define employee engagement. In many employee engagement articles and discussions, discretionary effort is touted as the holy grail. Engage your employees and they’ll do more for you: they’ll work more and longer hours, they’ll take on greater responsibility, etc. Employee engagement should focus on the employee not the company. There must be a mutual benefit. Discretionary effort is an outcome of engaged employees. Let’s stop talking about it as the goal of employee engagement. Instead let’s raise the bar on our expectations of what the minimum effort entails and commit to focusing on the drivers of employee engagement.

What do you want to achieve? What resource do you have to achieve your goal? Who will be your resource to make it happen? Do you have buy in? Is it easy for people to get involved at all levels?

Making engagement a priority starts at the top. The CEO and their direct reports need to commit to building an engaged workforce, and it can't be viewed as an HR function. It must permeate all parts of your organization, be part of your leadership culture and should be a component of your bonus structure for leaders.