Employee Engagment - Who is responsible?

Employee Engagement – Who´s responsibility is it?

Feb. 26th, 2015

Herdis Pala

About me

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» Internationally certified ACC coach, ICF, 2013

» Executive Coaching, CoachU, 2012

» MBA, UNH, 2000 (concentration in HR)

» B.Ed., University of Iceland, 1994

» RB, VP - Human Resources & Communication, Nov. 2013 -

» Speaker, lecturer, author, coach, consultant, Jan 2012 -

» Byr bank, COO, 2006-2012

» Islandsbanki, Director – T&D, 2002 – 2006

» Capacent, HR Consultant, 2000 - 2002

What is Employee engagment?

» Employee Engagement ≠ Job satisfaction or loyalty» Possible to be happy in job, but still not engaged, not willing

to work for maximum contribution for the company.

» Engaged employees» Work on goals and share values of the workplace, » have intrinsic motivation, to do what they can so the company does

well and at the same time» able to work on improving their wellbeing.

» Emotional/Psychological commitment towards the company and its goals

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Screenshot from video by BlessingWhitehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ3wxgog4nc

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ3wxgog4nc

© www.herdispala.is

Why does this matter?

Affects organizations results

Affects wellbeing and quality of life for the employees

On average we spend 50% of our waking hours at work

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Employee Engagement – soft or hard?

» Some used to say Employee Engagement was some soft and fluffy stuff

» Now more and more realizing this is one of organizations main challenge

» Wide gap between what we know about engagement and how well we are doing in building and increasing it

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Outdated definition, in business everything is rock solid!

Challenge to reach maximum contribution and

maximum satisfaction at the same time

Soft or hard?

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...relationship with next-in-line manager...

» So often it is talked about the relationship between employee and manager as the main driver or factor behind employee engagement (trust, feedback, motivation)

» I want to talk about more factors…

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Various explanations» MMR

» Relationship with manager» Faith in top management team» Pride in working for the organization

» HCI» Training and development (opportunities and encouragement)» Faith in managers» Expectations and joy/fun

» Modern Survey» Faith in top management team» Faith in opportunities for personal growth and development» Experience of getting results in own job» Faith in the future of the workplace» Faith in organizations´ behavior is controlled by its values» Getting constructive feedback from manager

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Management.Communication Skills.Self-Confidentce.

Not a one wayresponsibility.

Isn´t this something we have to look into...

Self-leadership is about having a good understanding of who you are, what you are capable of, where you are headed, what you want to stand for etc.

Also the capabilities to influence others, communication-skills, emotional intelligence and habits/behavior that will get you to your desired destination.

1. Self-leadership 2. Lead others 3. Lead results

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Who is responsible?


Top management?

Have to be clear on the vision and what is wanted from line managers:

Create a good community, connect with people, help employees see the connection between their assignments and the strategy in whole

Be authentic and true in what they do

Help people see the purpose in what they do

Create the atmosphere for wanting to reach further with the workplace

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Line managers

Responsible for teams, assignments and help employees to become more capable:

Coach and support their employees

Have the right people doing appropriate/right assignments

Feedback, motivation and recognizing

Ambition for job and connecting with people

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Who is responsible?


Employees:

» Not so much talked about this but recent study by Leadership IQ showed that employees can have to 94% affect on own engagement

Assess own job satisfaction and contribution

Communication about their job satisfaction, wellbeing and expectations

Look for help and support to get to the APEX (high in contribution and satisfaction)

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Who is responsible?

Values and Engagement

» Employees that say they know and understand the values of the

workplace are 30x more likely to by highly engaged at

work

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First things first...

» To boost employee engagement we have to start by increasing everybody´s understanding on what engagement is, its affects and everybody´s responsibility in that matter

» Annual workplace survey not enough, even though they are fine

» Conversations with teams and individual employees and get a good and deep understanding what affects employee engagement and work strategically with results

» Different factors between industries, teams and individuals

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5 key things

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» Even though companies are different and may need different approaches to engagement there are still some key things every organization needs for high employee engagement

1. Set clear values everybody know and understand

2. Work strategically on building up good culture

3. Demand good management from those in management roles

4. Create platform for fun

5. Let employees in on the game


3 Good management

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Chris Bones, professor at Henley Business School: Line managers are the lens employees use to assess the

workplace/organization and that the company uses to assess the employees Therefore they have a big affect on engagement

Employees hire themselves to companies but leave live managers (or quit but don´t leave…)

Dr. Bob Nelson» “43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a

week compared to only 18% of employees with low engagement.” TowersWatson

» Communication is the lubricant of any well-functioning relationship so it comes as no surprise that those who receive almost two-and-a-half times more feedback at work will likely be more engaged than those receiving far less feedback where they work.

» All the better if the feedback can first-and-foremost focus on those things employees have done well as opposed to dwelling upon any mistakes they have made or offering up criticism as to what they could do better.

» It’s as easy to build a person up as it is to beat him or her down and the former is far more productive for all involved.

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Outdated or not

» Some say that the conversation on Employee Engagement is only a hype and is already outdated…

» Just be humane and work with your people!

» Human Resources or Human Beings

» Others say that budgets will be increased to all kinds of wellness programs to boos engagement, motivation, improved workplace culture and wellbeing

» And decrease absenteeism, disengagement etc.

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VirginPulse.com

What can we do?

» Communication and motivation key factors along with managers letting employees feel they matter.

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Managers´ support

» Give employees space and support to

» create new ideas,

» find purpose in what they do,

» set challenging goals,

» work in alignment with strategy,

» have clear vision for everyday work,

» connect with customers

» etc.

» Servant Leadership

» Remove possible hindrances for employees

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Boosts employee engagement

Engaged employees…


…..give better service

…. which leads to happier customers

…. which leads to increased sales, loyalty of customers and great testimonials / word of mouth

... create better quality and more productivity

…. greater results of company

…. creates better environment for employees

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Communication or mind-reading?

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Orðið „hlusta“ á kínversku

Hear ≠ Listen25© www.herdispala.is

Take aways

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Q&A...

» Thanks

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