How can you help employees understand their role in the company's success?

Can we just get real? It’s not that hard. I hate the buzzwords - engagement, change management, employee experience. Effective employee communication is like any effective communication between one human to another. Be honest. Be transparent. Invite feedback. Don’t be thin skinned. Listen. Learn. Be open. Speak in plain English (or any other language). Know your audience. Put yourself in the employee’s shoes and recognize not every employee wants/needs the same thing. Employee comms - whether in person or powered by the most innovative technology - is just a way of connecting with other human beings. Let’s get back to basics and just talk to each other.

1. Clearly communicate company goals and each role's impact on these objectives. 2. Offer role-specific training, highlighting contributions to the company's mission. 3. Provide regular feedback and performance reviews. 4. Encourage ownership and autonomy in their roles. 5. Recognize and reward significant contributions. 6. Foster open communication for feedback and suggestions. 7. Share real-life impact stories to demonstrate the value of their work. 8. Involve employees in relevant decision-making processes. 9. Create a supportive and positive work environment.

With my experience in Pharma/diagnostic sales, I've learned the significance of clear and simple communication to help employees understand their role in a company's success. Simple language is crucial in conveying the message effectively. Employees who comprehend their significance in the organization are more engaged, motivated, and aligned with its goals. Fostering a sense of belonging, recognizing individual contributions, and maintaining regular communication are key elements. Celebrating achievements and a positive work environment further solidifies employee understanding. In essence, it's about making employees feel valued and essential, ultimately driving the company's success through clear, engaging, and straightforward language.

Leaders should emphasize the importance of team members efficiency in critical tasks and show trust to help them outperform and meet expectations. Also effective & clear communication of an organization's vision and values is crucial for team motivation and success. Key values can be demonstrated through presentations or corporate videos, emphasizing achievements and future plans. Encouraging participation, active listening, and frequent feedback can help achieve common goals and will make the team member understand their contribution to the overall success of the firm.

Here's my golden formula: -First, ask this question: What is the problem you're trying to solve? (For the answer, gather input from stakeholders, focus groups, survey, etc.) -Get clear on your business outcomes. -Identify the risks and roadblocks in achieving those outcomes. -Define your audience segments; determine what you want each to know, believe, feel, and do (behavioral outcomes). -Use all the above to inform your strategy and objectives. -Set clear metrics (SMART) to measure progress against those objectives/outcomes. -Develop tactics to support your strategy/objectives. -Execute and use real-time data/insights to pivot as needed along the way.

This is a very top down approach and one that is outdated and not helpful. Modern organizations work in partnership with their people. Therefore design time and space for insights, advice and ideas to flow from Leaders, Managers to teams and back up. Connect and open up conversation around what all parties can expect from on another in terms of delivery. This is not just focused on employees. Leaders and Managers need to step up and own this as well. Addressing skill gaps, threats and risks to the project early is essential and is a valuable piece of work to be undertaken as a connected team. This is done at an individual level, but also department and whole of organization level.

Y es importante que la retroalimentación sea 360. Los empleados también han de valorar a sus responsables, siempre de un modo constructivo.

You wouldn't want to be too prescriptive here as usually within any mature org there are going to be many types of role that have different structures and approaches to how performance is evaluated. Something that is common that you can talk about at vision level is the responsibility each of us holds to make it a reality – make it more aspirational and less tactical, that layer will come as it should from people's managers.

Clear communication is key! Thoughtfully consider expectations from a higher level and communicate these expectations with your team. Including your team early on in processes and being transparent is also important, as team members are able to partner with each other to achieve a common goal. Be clear and concise in your feedback and mean what you say.

The key here is ...KPIs that align with the vision and values. Oh how I've seen so many times that they don't. When you talk about taking care of people and building relationships and then have KPIs that don't allow you to do either, employees will immediately call BS and begin to check out or they just won't trust you anymore.

To ensure team goals are achieved without deviating from organizational values, the leader must ensure a positive and productive work environment and make sure that all the team members stay empowered and motivated. By including employee feedback, promoting cooperative teamwork, funding training and skill development initiatives, promoting participatory decision making and team bonding activities, acknowledging and valuing team member contributions, and keeping employees updated about the goals, difficulties, and accomplishments of the goal, it can really help the team to work collaboratively & be motivated & empowered.

And if you solicit feedback and input you need to be prepared to implement their ideas, or explain why you won't. Don't solicit feedback to check a box if you don't plan on acting or communicating your decisions. Employees want to contribute and be involved but there's also a line that you don't want them to cross and they certainly don't want to cross. They don't need to see everything behind the curtain, nor do they want to.

If you want people to care about the outcomes and impacts they need to be involved at every touch point, including the early design and planning phase. This means in this example - connecting with employees to understand their workplace reality positive and negative - how this communication will impact on how they work day to day - any historical experiences that will shape how employee engage with the plan - co-designing roles to best respond to new expectations and changes This is best done in person, face to face having genuine conversations. Meeting this way conveys commitment and willingness to listen. It is also effective in picking up misinterpretation in real time and answering concerns.

Encouraging open communication channels ensures that every team member feels heard and valued, fostering a collaborative environment where diverse ideas can flourish. Clearly articulating the organization's vision and goals helps align individual efforts with overarching objectives, instilling a sense of purpose among employees. Providing ample opportunities for training and development not only equips them with the skills needed for their roles but also communicates a commitment to their professional growth. Empowering employees involves delegating responsibilities, granting autonomy, and recognizing their contributions, cultivating a sense of ownership and accountability.

Probably the most important one. I work for a University where liberal arts is part of our daily life. One of the most important things I’ve learn while working here is that employees can engage in different challenges and surprise the whole team when they are given the chance to get involved and be critical thinkers, this applies at every level in the organization, from assistants to directors and VPs. To give people the opportunity to make decisions on regards their roles and to be problem solvers helps the organization since not every problem has to go through more people to solve it. Freedom and accountability have to present in every aspect.

Acknowledgement is key but also use this as a time to tell a new story where possible. This is where I start. What was different about this approach? How were employees involved? What were the outcomes and impacts of this and how? Key challenges and how were these overcome - who was involved as part of the solution? What did the organization learn and how will this shape the organization in the future?

I like to start with the value and motivation.....effective communications is grounded in seeking to understand...so sharing the conversation of value...and the "us" factor

If you notice when an employee does something wrong, make sure you're also noticing/acknowledging when something goes well. If you regularly share appreciation before you bring up a concern, the employee will more likely be willing to address the concern and improve their performance.

Here's an example of mine. There's a non governmental organization in my home country that I was contracted to manage their team. I realized that these employees are doing so phenomenally great individually. I pulled up a suggestion to host event workshops and appreciation banquet for them. Their input does not have to be overlooked but celebrated. This method has been adopted to commend every effort contributed by the employees. It is a win win strategic approach which I believe will yield long term results and foster relationships.

Create a culture of positivity and pride by including all the import achievements, across all levels. You'll easily spot a culture of achievement and positivity when the leaders share accolades with all the team members who helped to make it happen. If they accept it alone, you know there is a problem.

Start from the beginning. Understanding one's role should start at the onboarding phase. This also applies to the internal transfer and mobilization. Although internal transfer employees are more adaptable to their BAUs (Business As Usuals), the first 100 days in the new roles should be treated as the same as the onboarding phase. Besides the usual On-the-job-training, mentoring, coaching, buddy system, here are several other things to make job roles adoption smoother in case of transition happen: 1. Proper knowledge transfer (if possible) 2. If not, refine your Knowledge Management infrastructure with adequate documentation and archivings 3. Due diligence on the offboarding process for replacement roles 4. Periodic job role evaluation

It is very important for the team leader to ensure that all team members participate in all activities and contribute equally as needed, without piling too much work on any one person. The team's workload should be distributed equitably. I have seen that a lot of leaders are so focused on getting things done that they fail to give specific tasks to the individuals who should be doing them. This leads to confusion and turmoil. Therefore, it should be totally avoided, and the person or group that is intended to accomplish it should be assigned a particular duty.

Be careful what you wish for. I once implemented an anonymous question submittal form to address employee's questions at our annual meeting. There were some tough ones. I verbally read and answered every question and if the information that was asked for was confidential, that's how I answered. Uncomfortable? Sure, at times, and I'm sure not everyone liked the answers. But they asked for it. :)

At times we like to make things complicated, but simplicity can be a bliss. A few rules of thumb to remember for increasing employee engagement and that can get you far ahead in life at work: 1) Treat each other as human beings, not experts or numbers, but as people with feelings, hopes, dreams and desires. 2) Seek to understand before being understood. When you practice active listening, it means reframing your mindset from judgement, blame or shame to curiosity, forgiveness and empathy. 3) People almost always have a positive intention behind their behaviours, which does not always show. Our mood, our emotions, our life and our challenges influence how our intention translates into action. Be kind, it can make a world of difference.

I'm in a support service so because we are not providing direct service to clients but rather to those delivering to the clients, it can be harder to see how you fit into the larger vision. In the end, it's not that hard, draw the lines between the work the individual is doing and the work of the broader group. Have the conversation. Talk to each other. Set the expectations. Ground your own deliverables within the broader context. Listen to what people have to say. Adjust as needed to the changing environment.