Employee Engagement - First thing First

Time and again some stats are thrown at us which says x percent of people are unhappy at their work and given a choice would like to switch to greener pastures. I am not sure if that x percentage is on right or wrong side but I am absolutely sure that it falls on the higher side of any percentage which is staggering.

I would say this is not a problem but an opportunity for managers like us to grasp. With the influx of millennial and generation after that making a mark inside the corporate corridors the stats are bound to rise. The situation is already there in western economics and the fever is griping the Asian economics at a heated speed.

The situation is already being seen and multiple pulse survey which every organization do annually further reinforces the fact. But do we always need a particular lens to capture the essence of emotion which is being displayed by a particular employee. Majority of the times the need is all the same, which I or you would also desire. The root causes can be easily discovered about this emotional bump. The next steps should be to arrest or answering the facts directly which is having a negative impact on the morale and the productivity. For this we need a cultural shift of not just the organizations but also inside the minds of the managers who deals with people around us. After all we all together make an organization.

With all this in mind let’s pave the way forward for a Great Place to Work offices.

Listen & make them feel valued

Majority of the employee face a time in their career where their decision making capability takes a hit or meets a roadblock. The direction are clear or somewhat clear by the higher ups but the support needed to carry on the task is missing. Tight deadlines, frequent travel, unclear job descriptions, unclear expectations, lack of guidance and many more reasons make the worst out of every performer. The higher ups gives little time to listen and understand their limitations and a culture of obedience shrouds the actual culture of silence which plays spoilsports.

The way to answer this situation would be by encouraging frequent feedbacks and working on right action plan to strengthen the support system for the performers. The only way an employee would be happy and engaged is, if he/she feels he/she is being heard and his thought process are being valued and implemented. Try this and see the change for yourself.

50% work – 50% life (Balance it out)

Times are getting different now. Globalization is there is to stay and even if the countries start playing the protectionism card the in-house competition in a growing economy like India is always there. In this trying times the need to balance the work and life demand a greater focus. Giving your 100% is good for your work but we need to be careful that we don’t stretch our performers to a level that brings a burnout or deadfall. A flexible approach to meet the target plays a right template because it keeps the physical and mental clock of an employee balanced and mobile. The greater need is to be in close connect with the performer and understand what keeps him ticking on work and on life front. Show engagement with him/her to make him/her an engaged employee.

Creating career ladders

Tell me who wants to drive in an area that does not have clear indicator or pathways. The end is bound to be meet with accidents. The same is true for an individual career. It is observed that after every year of a specific role a person gets plateaued and unsatisfied if there is no clear career direction for him. If feels like hitting a glass ceiling where no further progression is happening on responsibility and learning front. The best answer to capture this kind of disengagement is to sit with every subordinate/performer and design his chosen career framework for the next 3-5 years which leads him motivated and engaged by showing him/her clear career directions. Add important ingredients of stretch assignments, shadowing, mentorship and traditional training and development to it and a true flavor of career milestone and progression is built. The end output out of this would be a solid succession plan which increases the talent bench strength of the company.

Frequent Communication from your Desk

Present the vision of the company through your mouth and through your desk. Use technology and link the barrier between Individual plans and business objectives on regular basis. Time every communication effectively and target it in a way that decreases uncertainty and disengagement. Clear the purpose on why the specific task need to done and in what time. The best a manager can do to a larger base of performer is to give them a reason to perform through effective communication avenues.

Trust them and Thanks them

A single act of thanking goes a long way in improving the morale of the performer. They feel valued and recognized. There is no denying the fact that everyone works for appreciations and the more it comes the better it is. Trust them with challenging work and thank them in public once the major objectives are met. We should also be careful in timing the recognition as a delay in thanking right behaviors at right time brings down the motivation level of the performer and it has an impact on his/her next assignments.

Be creative with Benefits & Incentive program

There should be an ideal mix of benefits and incentive program for every performer which should top up the remunerations the individual is taking home. Incentive program on pay for performance increases the retention of the performers and can be directly linked to profit sharing programs. It is a quick way to answer the employee performance and make him motivated to achieve his next business target. Measure the performance metric through this light and it will give a direct correlation in term of Y percentage of effort & performance increment with every right incentive program.

On the benefits side the companies can be creative in designing Bouquet of Benefits which directly & indirectly support your performers on financial numbers. Offering like mobility facilities, mobile reimbursement, health and well-being membership, discounts on products, loans facilities at cheap interests, leaves programs, free meals, onsite assignments, higher education programs & many other helps them to be retained and it goes an extra miles recognizing their hard work and their families interest..

Performers who are engaged and happy tends to have a higher productivity, less burnout and a clear knowledge of deliverables.

Why not use some of these ideas to bring in engagement, productivity and most importantly happiness to your performers. Do let me know your thoughts in comment section and let’s keep the learning curve going.

About Vishal

Vishal is a Seasoned HR professional with 8 years of experience with reputed Automobile and IT Multinationals in a matrix environment as a HR Business Partner & Corporate HR expert with strong exposure on Strategic Business Partnership, Employee Relations, Talent Acquisition / Management-Development ,Compensation & Benefits.