Posted by Laura Sheffield on Fri, Sep 03, 2010 @ 03:24 PM
This cartoon is laughable because it is surprisingly close to reality.
Often, when organizations plan employee engagement surveys, they forget the most essential piece of the puzzle—trust. Trust requires transparency, honesty, and truly anonymous survey results. Sadly, we occasionally have to remind our clients that a deceitful survey process is counterproductive.
A trusting relationship fosters honest feedback from employees. A distrusting relationship leads employees to give insincere feedback out of a fear that if they were honest, what happened to Dilbert would happen to them.
In order for an employee engagement survey to be effective, a trusting relationship must be pre-established in the organization. The pre-existing trust comes from how management has administered employee surveys in the past, what real changes have been made as a result of previous feedback, how management treats the workforce, and the integrity of the individual executives.
This established trust should be maintained through the facilitation of the survey. True anonymity of survey participants is the key to maintaining trust. Surveys administered and processed directly by management can sometimes appear suspicious in that regard. Surveys run by an outside company, especially when the outside firm is committed to maintaining anonymity for employees, can nurture the trust required for surveying success. Having an outside firm handle the feedback demonstrates to employees that management is uninterested in individual results and is instead focused on receiving overall information on the state of the firm.
Dilbert will never be an engaged employee. His company has never established the trust (see other Dilbert cartoons).
What do you see as the relationship between trust and employee engagement? How do you establish trust in your organization? Does trust need to be managed?
Posted by Laura Sheffield on Thu, Sep 02, 2010 @ 09:49 AM
I heard a story. The story goes like this: one very important man said to another important man, "If you ever feel awkward and out-of-place at a cocktail party, find a person in the room and say, 'Tell me about yourself.' It will cure the awkward and enliven your perspective."
It's a magic request, this "Tell me about yourself." You're inviting connection. You're inviting engagement.
Could this magic request change your relationship with your employees? Affect your organization's employee engagement? Could this one phrase trigger an employee engagement conversation?
Consider other magic requests: tell me about your job, tell me about what's working with the team, tell me about this project that you're working on, and tell me how I can help you.
Asking for open communication and greater understanding generates increased employee engagement. What works at a cocktail party has greater application with employee engagement.
So, tell me about yourself.
Posted by Laura Sheffield on Fri, Aug 13, 2010 @ 09:53 AM
In the freezing cold temperatures of Antarctica, emperor penguins are huddled in a tight circle walking slowly to protect each other and the eggs incubating in a pouch on their feet against 200 mph winds that whip around them. We've all seen March of the Penguins. You remember the miracle. You remember the march-- a careful march to keep blood flowing.
The penguins on the outside of the circle rotate toward the middle where they are warmed before rotating back to the outside; each penguin follows this pattern and is given a chance to get warm in the center. By the time the egg hatches, the penguin will have fasted for around 115 days and lost more than half of its body weight.
The penguins have a common cause: keeping the eggs warm and themselves alive until the eggs are given the opportunity to hatch. All the penguins depend on each other and work together, rotating in a circle and supporting each other amidst freezing temperatures and sweeping winds to accomplish their purpose-- each taking turns to sacrifice in order to benefit the group.
Learn from the penguins.
Do your employees sense a common purpose? Do they work together to make it happen? Are they dependent on each other's skills, talents, and knowledge? How engaged are your employees? Can you improve your organization's employee engagement by centering your employees on a purpose? A goal? A mission?
Posted by Laura Sheffield on Wed, Aug 11, 2010 @ 12:39 PM
Zappos, the online shoe company that has become so much more than a shoe company, is everywhere known as the customer service company. They don't just serve customers, they try to dramatically stun them. And that, more than anything else, is the core of their business. At this point, it doesn't matter what Zappos sells.
The company could do anything and succeed. Their profits have jumped from $70 million five years ago to an estimated $1 billion this year. Zappos has created this explosive success by first cultivating employees that are fanatical about Zappos. You can't provide excellent service to customers without first having engaged employees.
How do they do it? A Harvard Business Review blog post examines one facet of Zappos culture that is part of creating an engaged workforce. It's "one small practice that offers big lessons for leaders who are serious about… filling their organization with people who are just as committed as they are."
Here's the one small practice: after a new hire’s first week of intensive work at Zappos, the new employee is offered full salary for that one week plus a $1,000 bonus to quit and walk away from the job.
The Zappos mentality? If the new employee takes the offer, good riddance. Zappos wants commitment, excitement about the job, and employees that want to work for Zappos more than they want an immediate $1,000.
If an employee will stay despite a monetary offer to quit, it's a good sign that they'll be engaged. Zappos has learned that engaged employees are better at serving customers. And when serving customers is the core of your business, it's a pretty good idea to have employees that are good at it.
Would your employees quit the job if you offered them $1000 to do it? What does that say about your company? About the design of their position? About the employee engagement level in your organization? How do you make sure your employees are committed to the business?
Posted by Laura Sheffield on Mon, Aug 09, 2010 @ 03:12 PM
Many employees experience fear, anxiety, and distrust when they hear that their company is about to conduct 360-degree feedback surveys. Participants worry about what people will say about them and how the results will be used. Those providing feedback fear that they might be identified by their comments and the person will react negatively towards them.
On both the organization and individual level, proper communication should be used before conducting 360-degree feedback surveys to ease anxiety and ensure valid results. Employees should be briefed on the reasons for the 360 survey, the survey process, and how the results will be used. They should also be given the opportunity to ask questions about the 360-degree feedback process. Employees are more likely to have a positive experience with the feedback process when they know more about it.
Most importantly, giving forewarning and clear communication prior to the administration of a 360 survey lessens opportunities for miscommunication and fosters trust between the company and the employees. With a clear understanding and increased trust, employees are more likely to participate and more likely to give honest feedback. Employees that are given communication prior to the 360-degree feedback process are also more inclined to change as a result of the feedback they receive.
Posted by Tracy Maylett, Ed.D. on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 12:13 PM
As I have met with organizations over the past month to discuss the results of their Employee Engagement surveys, one item tends to stand out more than ever before. The topic of discussion nearly always turns to opportunities for development— in particular, one question that we include on the engagement report: “This organization provides attractive opportunities for growth and development.”
While employee engagement scores have certainly decreased over the past two years, we see an even greater decrease in the scores on this particular question. Initially, corporate execs quickly dismiss this as an unfortunate result of the economy, and one that is really beyond their control. After all, a difficult economy means fewer jobs and, therefore, fewer opportunities for advancement. Let’s look at this logically: a poor economy means fewer jobs; fewer jobs means fewer opportunities for advancement; fewer opportunities for advancement means fewer opportunities for growth and development. It’s as simple as that.
Or is it?
Our DecisionWise database of several thousand organizations shows a significant decrease in favorable scores in questions relating to growth and development—about 10-12%.
However, during the past 18 months, a number of organizations have actually seen a significant increase in questions relating to growth and development on both Employee Engagement surveys and 360-degree feedback. The difference? It’s not that these organizations are hiring more people (in fact, the bulk of these have either maintained employee headcount or decreased number of employees). In addition, they are not investing more of their precious training dollars in development (like most companies, their training budgets have been reduced).
So what is the difference? The difference is that these companies with an increase in growth-related scores are taking advantage of the opportunities that these recent trends have created. Rather than lamenting the loss of training dollars, these organizations are encouraging employees to explore opportunities to do more. They have each developed systematic approaches to taking on additional on-the-job development. Employees are encouraged to step out of their current job roles and, as one of our clients puts it, “operate one level up.” Because there are less people to handle all of the responsibilities (the amount of work hasn’t appeared to decrease, even though the available resources have), these employees look at this as an opportunity to learn additional skills.
The key here is not merely in a shift of mind-set, although seeing these new opportunities requires looking at the “problem” as an “opportunity.” It also requires a formal, concerted effort to act on these opportunities. While employees are, to a large extent, responsible for seeking out and identifying these opportunities, those leaders who can consciously formalize these opportunities experience a double-bonus—engaged employees who are engaged and growing, while simultaneously getting more done with less.
Sounds like a win-win proposition, doesn’t it?
Posted by Laura Sheffield on Tue, Jul 20, 2010 @ 10:32 AM
Our office treat cupboard was restocked today. So was employee morale.
Three different times this morning, I heard someone open the cupboard and get excited about the new goods: NutriGrain bars, Oreos, Fruit-by-the-Foot, canned peaches, trail mix, and even Veggie Straws. With a treat in their hands, each person went back to work with a bit of an uplift, a little excitement, and maybe even a piece of fruit roll-up stuck in their teeth. Myself included.
Taped on the inside of our treat cupboard is a quote from Michael Scott, the company manager on our favorite sitcom, The Office. From a character who is right about very little comes a bit of wisdom: “I’m a big believer in keeping employees happy. I believe there are two key parts to that: field trips and free snacks.”
The treat cupboard does a few small things that make a significant impact in our employee engagement:
- Rejuvenates: The treat cupboard gets people out of their chairs, away from computers, and into a new part of the office. Blood flows into legs and back up to brains; people feel refreshed from the quick break. They go back to their desks a little more alive than when they left them.
- Curbs Hunger: My mom always said, “Hungry kids aren’t happy kids.” The same goes for employees.
- Promotes Interaction: As people go get a treat from the cupboard they tend to stop on the way for conversation with coworkers. A destination treat cupboard promotes collaboration and relationships between employees in all departments.
- Demonstrates Caring: Providing “free snacks” illustrates just how important employee satisfaction and contentment is to the company. Employees notice the emphasis placed on keeping them happy, they feel valued, and consequently work harder for an organization that cares.
It’s no surprise that happy employees are more productive, efficient, creative, and likely to stay with a company longer. It's also no surprise that treats and sweets generate cavities. Happy employees also recover more quickly after a root canal. Keeping employees happy should be everyone’s priority.
And yes, we take field trips too.
Posted by Laura Sheffield on Thu, Jul 15, 2010 @ 12:40 PM
First, watch the video below and count the number of passes the people dressed in white make:
But did you see the gorilla?
In a study done by Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris in 1999, over half of the people shown this video did not notice the gorilla . The study proved that when people are focused carefully on something, they often fail to notice surprising events-- even when the event happens right in the open.
Our research using 360-degree feedback surveys with leaders confirms this simple study. When people are focused on something (as they generally are), they often fail to notice surprising situations, other's perceptions, and problems on their teams. They don't notice the man in a gorilla suit walking right through the room.
"Although people do still try to rationalize why they missed the gorilla, it's hard to explain such a failure of awareness without confronting the possibility that we are aware of far less of our world than we think," Simons told LiveScience. (Yahoo! News)
Once we acknowledge our lack of awareness, we recognize the need for assistance. 360-degree feedback provides self-awareness and helps identify the "invisible gorilla" issues that impede leaders from reaching their full potential.
Posted by Charles Rogel, MBA on Thu, Jul 08, 2010 @ 11:55 AM
Many people feel that employee empowerment is the same as employee engagement, but there are distinct differences.
Employee empowerment is giving employees the authority make decisions about their jobs. Instead of managers deciding who to hire and how to staff a shift, the employees on an empowered team collectively make these decisions and more. Empowered employees may be given the authority to decide work schedules, productivity goals, and even daily priorities.
Employee empowerment is a component of employee engagement. The more employees feel like they have the authority to make decisions about how their work is done, the more engaged they become in their work and company. Empowerment leads to greater collaboration and sharing of ideas. It can also lead to productivity gains and increased performance. Employee engagement suffers if employees don’t have the authority to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.
Employee engagement describes how committed and energized employees are about their jobs. Because empowerment is only a component of engagement an employee can be entirely empowered without being engaged. This could be caused by low compensation, a jerk boss, or burnout.
To acheive employee engagement an organization needs some level of empowerment, but employee empowerment alone does not ensure employee engagement.
Posted by Laura Sheffield on Fri, Jul 02, 2010 @ 03:08 PM
Feedback is designed to motivate change. Employee surveys, self-assessments, 360-degree feedback, and performance reviews are worthless if they don't inspire change and development. The hard part is making the leap from feedback to change results. The leap is often a big one, over a seemingly deep and dangerous canyon.
How do you motivate an employee receiving 360-degree feedback to make the leap? What will inspire management to jump after seeing the results of an organization-wide employee engagement survey?
In the Heath brothers' book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, they assert that inspiring change requires channeling appropriate feeling and emotion.
Feedback (employee surveys, 360-degree feedback, etc.) can be seen as a slap in the face that creates negative responses that, in turn, motivate change. The Switch authors note: "We often hear that people change only when a crisis compels them to, which implies that we need to create a sense of fear or anxiety or doom." Is it true?
The Heath brothers refer to a "burning platform", a phrase that describes a horrific gas leak explosion in 1988 on an oil rig. Survivors of the accident had a choice: jump into the sea or burn to death on the platform of the oil rig. In that situation, fear elicited response. Survivors jumped and lived. Yes, negative emotion motivates change.
Are negative responses the best way to motivate a response after feedback? No doubt, it's one method. In fact, most people initially respond with negative emotion after receiving lower-than-expected 360-degree feedback or employee survey scores. But the Heath brothers argue that it's not the most effective.
Positive emotion is stronger and facilitates creative responses to feedback. Positive, hopeful emotion motivates broader change and unique (personally-adapted) solutions that are more effective. "We need to encourage open minds, creativity, and hope," assert the Heath brothers. How should this be done in conjunction with the fear and anger that seem to naturally arise after receiving low scores on feedback assessments?
- Put out the fire on the burning rig by helping people "engage fresh thinking and enthusiasm."
- Focus on positive results and elicit good feelings.
- Ask 'what if' questions.
- Set short term goals.
- Promote hope for improvement and success.
- Facilitate positive reactions by communicating the power of change and the success that's in reach, just on the other side of the canyon.
Feedback can be used as a negative slap in the face to motivate change, but positive responses to feedback are more powerful and longer lasting. Feedback used correctly creates positive emotion. Initial negative feelings can be turned into hopeful emotion and generate creative solutions through effective coaching.
In this way, feedback is turned into results.