It’s slowly creeping back onto the agenda

I have been quiet for a while, I know, but circumstances have had me concentrating on some other projects.

But now – just as I was wondering whether or not it was time for a career change, there has been a flurry of activity yet again. Communication and engagement are activities which need to go on all the time and have constant drip feed of attention. They are not start/stop or tick box activities, yet that is how they seem to be regarded on the business agenda.

Companies tend to make a brief investment and commitment and then see that as a job done. They do not appreciate that the temporary improvements from one off projects soon fade away and leave employees feeling even more disillusioned and disengaged than ever before.  That’s certainly not the way to drive incremental and lasting benefits from a communication or engagement initiative.

In fact, it just makes things worse…..

Things are hotting up in the Public sector

Employee engagement is not a concept reserved for the private sector. After all,  we rely on people to fulfil our business service offerings whether we are in the private sector, public or even the voluntary (and having  just delivered a two day course as a Prince’s Trust volunteer, I know the latter to be true!).

It is interesting to note how engagement is gradually creeping up the public sector agenda though. With forecasts of up to 750,000 public sector job losses over the next four years (source: CIPD), there are growing concerns about the engagement levels of the staff left behind, when they are asked to step into absent colleagues’ boots and deliver as much, if not more, with more limited resources.

Engagement basics - clear  and honest communication; a strong sense of vision and purpose;  strong leaders and managers –  are essential to ensure  empowered and productive people, as we move through a period of significant change in all sectors.

But the impact of job reductions in the public sector has a second, less frequently considered, consequence. How will the influx of highly paid public sector candidates into the job market affect recruitment and job prospects for existing candidates and employers alike?  Recruitment companies will need to manage their new, more diverse talent pool.  Employers will need to consider a broader range of potential candidates, maybe with transferable skills from different sectors.

With budgets slashed and the recession still biting at our ankles, a holistic engagement  plan at the recruitment stage will have to be a major consideration for the employer and the employee alike to ensure the best possible outcome for all parties.  Not sure how to manage that? Then get in touch and let us help you…

Getting HR onto the strategic agenda

It always baffles me somewhat that on the board of directors in manycompanies, the HR director is seen as a sort of second class citizen, responsible for the touchy feely people admin stuff rather than the critical business input.

Given that we all agree (in principle at least) that our people are our greatest asset, then surely the HR function has a key role to play in driving results ? But how……?

By building engagement levels to drive performance, HR directors can actually quantify and qualify a tangible input to the bottom line. Mae West once famously said that ” an ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises”.  Performance is what actually drives results and people need to be supported, developed and motivated to change their behaviours to improve performance and get the results the CFO wants to hear about at the board table!  If the HR director can show the leadership team where engagement is driving performance, then the strategic contribution of the HR function can no longer be denied….

Maybe good HR Directors are our greatest asset?

Long haul and leaders

I received a mail today from a  leading communications company, which cited the following facts.

-Engaged employees take an average of 3 sick days per year; disengaged take 6
-Engaged employees generate 43% more revenue
-Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave an organisation
-67% of engaged employees advocate their company or organisation compared with only 3% of the disengaged 

Taking this in conjunction with a current hot topic – the BA strike – I couldn’t help but wonder about the numbers of cabin crew who have called in sick during the industrial action. The empty long haul flights can hardly be generating more revenue for the company, I suspect.  And looking at the interviews with BA staff both on line and in the news media, it is quite apparent that they are largely demotivated, considering leaving and  – to a great extent – disengaged. But why?

The main reason seems to be the way the leadership of BA has handled the situation. To quote one employee;

“I’ve been here 23 years and I will continue to support them. I am willing to take a pay cut and pull back in what little I am spending. But what I won’t do is not have my voice heard or be dictated to. At the moment I feel we are being harassed, we are being bullied. I have seen friends who are sitting at home, suspended for saying that they want to go on strike.  I feel this is a huge issue and I feel that bullying and intimidation is crossing the line in terms of civil liberties.”

Strong and fair leadership is an essential pre-requisite to hgh engagement levels. If BA leaders continue to come across as dictatorial and dismissive of staff, they will damage one of the proudest, most committed and loyal employee groups  ever seen. And imagine what that will do for their brand?????

Onwards and upwards

Happy new year everyone and let’s hope that 2010 brings personal and business success for everyone!  To help ensure this is the case, you can harness the power of positive attitude and thinking. If you see the bottle as half full, rather than half empty, then you are already 50% of the way towards achieving your goal.

A positive outlook will keep you happy and healthy, will influence those aroung you in a positive way and is sure to bring benefits to everyone. Moreover, being upbeat can counter the negativity we see around us so often in our daily life and can be a lifechanging force for the better. There is masses of information about the power of positive thinking, but this one by  Laurie Pawlik – Kienlen captures the essence of it quite succinctly. In terms of employee engagement, a positive attitude automatically makes you more amenable to putting in the all important discretionary effort. And we all know that positivity is just as catching as negativity can be….

I intend to be positive about all I do in 2010 and hope that will help to bring success to me, to my family and to all those with whom I come into contact.

It’s the little things – like remembering to say Happy Christmas

Okay, so it is that time of year where the shops are crowded, the finances stretched, the in laws argumentative and the kids totally hyper about the possibility of massive expensive  presents awaiting them on Christmas morning… but do you know, it is still the little things that make the big differences?  Like your colleagues, leaders, customers and suppliers wishing you a Happy Christmas and really meaning it.

We have all been through a bit of a roller coaster ride over the past few years and so 2010, more than any other year, will certainly be one where we wish happiness, success and prosperity for ourselves and for one another. As I write this, I am listening to a completely naff Christmas record on the radio, but – odd as it may sound – it feels good! I had one family Xmas “do” last weekend and have another to look forward to this weekend. Yet – odder as it may sound – I am actually looking forward to it (well, except the drive up there, of course!). I’m actually waiting for the first teenage yobs to knock on the door and try to convince me that one verse of “We wish you a Merry Christmas” constitutes a carol recital which deserves ample monetary reward.

Yes, this Christmas more than any other we should embrace the plastic goodwill, the back to back Wizzard and Slade, the silly hats in the office and the churning out of emailed goodwill and festive wishes. Because this year, the underlying intentions are genuine, we have all pulled together to get through the worst and we all deserve to share a little smile, no matter how naff the delivery!

So from me and mine to you and yours.

and a very Happy and Prosperous 2010 to you all!

Dealing with the cynics

I have been very fortunate to work in organisations where the employees have all been immensely intelligent, very highly educated, passionate, committed to their work and cynical beyond your wildest  imagination. From a communication and engagement perspective, these audiences – often to be found in technology companies and academia, as we discussed in one of our master classes this week – are a massive challenge. They can be suspicious, arrogant and selfish and can put up a seemingly inpenetrable wall of opposition to any people focused initiatives.

But they also provide a unique and fantastic opportunity. Involve them in the design and rollout of your programme. Their input can help you build robust plans for employee resistance, which will ensure your eventual success. Include them, consult them, listen to them and convert them to your cause. You will then have the strongest ambassadors possible to help you convince the rest of the employee base.

Sure they can be difficult and contrary, but learn to love your cynics – they will give you perspective and help you to succeed.

Once upon a time

We know that communication is critical to any engagement effort. We also know that employees who are not engaged will not pay heed to your communications, no matter how well crafted and articulated they are, no matter how well aligned to your business strategy and no matter how super the copy you produced! So it’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation…how do you engage your people so that they pay attention to what you are telling them?

I have long been a fan of the use of storytelling and it does seem that by using simple, but compelling illustrations to get your message across, you can both interest and engage your target audience. Remember to keep it simple, avoid the use of jargon, appeal to the imagination and you could all live happily ever after

Using benefits to drive engagement levels

We had a wonderfully diverse and participative set of people at our masterclass this week, exploring a dual topic of using engagement as a differentiator in benefits provision and looking also at how to use the total rewards offering to drive engagement levels in staff. The unanimous conclusion was that it is actually quite easy to make a massive difference to employee motivation and engagement but at minimal cost (yes, really – I kid you not!)

All you need to do is apply a bit of imagination and creativity to whatever benefits and perks you are offering to your staff, to communicate them effectively and to make sure you present them in an attractive holistic wrapper, which reinforces both the appeal and the strategic alignment. I know that sounds a bit “high faluting”, but it really is not as complicated as most organisations suspect or fear. Why not get in touch and let’s have a chat about how we can bring some imagination and creativity to your benefits provision and your employee engagement programme.

Someone explain it to me in words of one syllable…

Employer Brand versus Employee Engagement.

It is a war which has been raging for years now and there are many amazingly articulate and intelligent  people with diametrically opposed views, sitting on opposite sides of the fence, arguing as to which is most important and what the difference is. I wish I understood their arguments as for me it is just blindingly obvious that you cannot, cannot, CANNOT  have any semblance of a viable employer brand without first having some degree of employee engagement. But I admit that I am biased towards the people side of things and maybe someone more impartial can convince me of my error?

Can brand really drive engagement and how?  Someone please enlighten me…