Engagement Program Pit Fall

Having been involved in the development and on-going management of over 1,000 employee and consumer engagement programs for 30+ years a common pit fall to watch out for:

More Than Surveying – Many of the newer apps/tech are focused on surveying the base (whether employees, salespeople or customers) to capture data and user insights. While this increased insight and understanding of the drivers and decision making of key audiences is powerful it is also creating and expectation of response.

To asked means to care; to care means to take action. By reaching out and gathering data it is key to respond to what is learned. In one example I reviewed an Engagement Program where the CEO had reached out to the 100+ employees three times a week for a month, by the second week the response rate dropped from 90%+ to less than 5%. When I talked with the employees, they felt that the interaction was one way and worthless to them.

As I sat with the CEO to share the findings of why the program was failing, he was not connecting on the issue. He thought that asking was enough, “they should want to help the company succeed by sharing with the upper managers!”

Challenge: When you ask employees or customers to share information there is an unsaid expectation that the results will be shared, and if there are clear actions coming from the data that the leadership will move forward on the revealed path. To survey and survey and survey never revealing the results or sharing potential outcomes only builds resentment and decreases the participation over time.

Solution: Always share back the results, or at minim the high-level findings. Even if the results have negative elements to them it is important to present the findings. In addition, if there are requested changes, improvements or clear issues to be address the leaderships needs to address them even if there will be no action the reasoning of “why not” needs to be shared. In the case of the 100+ employees there were requests for “healthier eating choices” in the company meetings and events (everyone loved pizza Fridays, but could things like salads be added to the mix?)

When you ask shared back. Even if your unable to take action its best to share that fact and the reasoning behind the decision not to move forward on a request. The more you can turn a one-way conversation into a dialog the better. 

About David Carrithers: With over 30 years of business and personal development experience he has built a list of clients, skills and positive outcomes for the top brands in the world. His expert support has been applied to business in the loyalty, rewards, incentive, technology and payment technologies industries. As the inventor of our modern payment technologies he has learned that all development starts with the people on a team and aligning their skills for the desired results.

David is available to help leaders, teams and boards evolve to new levels of success through collaboration, alignment and transformational strategies. Reach out today 707-484-3620.