Author: sybil

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Engagement Marketing

Internal Marketing Goes South

I was honored to be one of three speakers from the U.S. invited to participate in the 6th International Marketing Congress: Marketing from the Inside, hosted by Asomercadeo, the Colombian Marketing Association. My Atlanta-based colleagues, Debra Semans and Ron Strauss, and I journeyed to Medellin, Colombia, recently to share our perspectives on internal marketing and internal branding. Stershic presentation at AsomercadeoMore than 400 business professionals gathered at the Congress to focus on the strategic impact of internal marketing in organizations “where there is a synergy between the areas of marketing, communications, human resources, and senior management.” Speakers addressed the elements of employee engagement, corporate culture, corporate social responsibility, marketing’s relationship within the organization, and leadership on brand-building.

For me, the highlight of this conference was learning that the core business concepts that my North American-based marketing colleagues and I advocate are becoming more universal in practice. This revelation was reinforced in the following themes repeated frequently during the conference:

  • People are the central axis of a company.
  • Employees and customers need to feel valued.
  • Organizational culture nourishes the brand.
  • Marketing, Human Resources, Operations, Finance, and all other areas of an organization need to work together as a team.
  • CEOs talk about human capital, but few actively engage them.

Another highlight of the trip was experiencing the ultimate in southern hospitality. Cristina Jaramillo Lopera, Academic Leader of the International Marketing Congress, and Asomercadeo’s leaders and event staff were most welcoming and accommodating. Truthfully, I was apprehensive about traveling to Medellin given the area’s reputation and that fact that I don’t speak Spanish. Cristina graciously hosted us on a wonderful tour of Medellin. The city and country-side are truly beautiful; the city is also aptly recognized as Innovative City of the Year.  I was impressed with its public access to arts & culture. The strong sense of pride that residents and businesses have in Medellin and Colombia is palpable. And I look forward to returning someday.

 

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Engagement

Keeping Employees from Becoming Invisible

New employees are easy to engage. Companies welcome new recruits with open arms as they explain the company’s mission-vision-values and goals, outline employees’ work duties, introduce them to their managers and co-workers, and perhaps even assign them peer mentors. I’m simplifying the onboarding  process here, but  new employees receive a fair amount of attention to engage them from the start.

This level of attention wanes the longer employees are on the job, and that’s when the potential for becoming invisible sets in. To illustrate, I often ask attendees in my internal marketing workshops about their job descriptions. Less than one-third typically respond that their job descriptions are up-to-date. In some companies, employees only get reminded of their fit within the organization and what’s expected of them during the annual performance review – an event about as welcome as a root canal.

Gradual descent into disengagement

It’s not that employees are clueless about their roles or that managers are purposely keeping them in the dark. (I know, I’m giving employees and managers the benefit of the doubt here.) The reality is that marketplace changes – including increased competition, evolving customer needs,and financial pressures – also prompt changes in company goals and strategies. Yet revised strategies and adjusted expectations of employees don’t necessarily filter down to everyone in the organization. With managers struggling to cope with limited resources, information overload, and demanding bosses, who’s got time to update job descriptions? Or keep employees in the loop by addressing their questions and concerns in staff meetings?

To learn what’s going on in the company, some employees will take the initiative to approach their managers. Over time, however, these employees may become frustrated and disengage if they have to continually seek out company and job-related information. Meanwhile, other employees will:

  • Tap into the company grapevine to get information
  • Hunker down and keep doing what they’ve been doing until they’re told differently
  • Grow frustrated and eventually leave or retire on-the-job.

To prevent employees from becoming invisible and disenfranchised within the company, managers need to proactively share what’s happening in the company and why. They also need to reinforce employees’ alignment and fit within the organization, including how their efforts individually and collectively contribute to the bottom line.

“Don’t make your employees guess about whether they’re doing enough or fulfilling [the company’s] expectations… Make people feel like they are in the loop,  and they’ll feel more engaged… ”
– Alan E. Hall

 

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Engagement

When Your Plate is Full

Engaging the meatball
by David Zinger

Another meatball tossed
on our overflowing
spaghetti-like plate of work.

Before forking into our crowded strands of work
yet another meatball is tossed on the pile
colliding with the meatball already there
precipitating an avalanche of meatballs
hurdling downwards in all directions at once.

If work is to nourish us we must say no
even when we are told, “it is just one more meatball.”

[Source: Assorted Zingers, a book of poems on workplace engagement by David Zinger, with great cartoons by John Junson]

Categories
Engagement

Celebrate Service – It’s National Volunteer Week!

While engaging and caring for volunteers is an ongoing activity, National Volunteer Week (April 6-12, 2014) is an important reminder to celebrate volunteers and their impact. This week provides an opportunity to honor “the enduring importance of recognizing our country’s volunteers for their vital contributions” and “their collective power to make a difference.”

It’s also an opportunity for me to share a glimpse into what Lehigh University’s Alumni Association (LUAA) does for volunteer recognition. Lehigh is my alma mater, and I served on the Alumni Association Board many years ago. I asked Lori Kennedy, former director of alumni volunteer engagement and current director of Lehigh’s career services, about the Alumni Association’s volunteer recognition. She explained that National Volunteer Week is “part of our five point recognition plan [to] recognize our volunteers very thoughtfully throughout the year.” LUAA’s calendar of volunteer recognition efforts include:

  • August – volunteers receive a copy of the Alumni Association’s annual impact report
  • November – volunteers receive a thanksgiving “thank you” card
  • December – volunteers receive a holiday card
  • April – recognition e-mail for national volunteer week
  • Throughout the year – each volunteer receives a personal birthday card signed by Bob Wolfenden, head of Lehigh Alumni Relations.

Volunteer recognition isn’t limited to these activities, as alumni volunteers receive additional recognition from the Association’s program managers throughout the year. From my own and others’ experience, I know that Alumni Association staff members (current and retired) build great relationships with alumni volunteers and leaders. Here’s one example that Lori shared with me.

“Monica Timar, LUAA associate director, worked with a volunteer who moved to Florida. The volunteer shared with Monica how much she enjoyed fall and the leaves on campus. One fall, Monica went outside and filled a box with leaves and sent the box to the volunteer in Florida!  A great example of a personal and meaningful way to recognize a volunteer.”

Way to go, Monica! She understands that volunteer engagement is all about creating and maintaining meaningful relationships. Without that relationship, any volunteer recognition is token at best.

 

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Engagement Featured Post

The Funny Thing About Employee Engagement

It’s easy to make fun of employee engagement based on how some companies approach it. They proclaim “employees are our greatest asset” — it says so in our annual report! — but it’s all lip service. They conduct an employee engagement survey or two, but don’t respond to the results. They may even appoint an employee task force to come up with ideas to improve engagement, but with no authority or budget to make anything happen.

It’s not surprising that these companies experience low morale and engagement. They also inspired a business, Despair, Inc., that sells anti-motivational products that satirize superficial engagement. Here’s a sample of Despair’s demotivational posters:

  • “Apathy: If we don’t take care of the customer, maybe they’ll stop bugging us.”
  • “Get to Work: You aren’t being paid to believe in the power of  your dreams.”
  • “Perseverance: The courage to ignore the obvious wisdom of turning back.””
  • “Worth: Just because you’re necessary doesn’t mean you’re important.”

Sadly, Despair, Inc. wouldn’t be successful if it didn’t resonate with people who work in companies where workplace engagement involves displaying motivational posters and initiating token employee recognition programs.

For those of us passionate about employee engagement, Despair’s response to ineffective, insincere and/or shallow attempts to engage employees is an opportunity to poke fun at ourselves, while also reminding us of the importance of our work.

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Engagement

Gather Round: A Staff Meeting Template That Really Works

This popular post shares a practical and engaging staff meeting agenda. It’s been updated from its original posting in 2009.

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With e-mail dominating internal communications, staff meetings are becoming a lost art form. Here’s a meeting template that helps engage employees and minimize their passive participation.

I initially developed this template for an advertising & marketing firm that needed to bring together its creatives and administrators (aka “the suits”). With the creative staff at their desks and the account execs meeting with clients or media reps outside the office, casual internal communications was no longer effective for this group of 12 employees.

The following agenda (approximately one hour in length) was used in the agency’s staff meetings held twice a month. This template can be adapted by other organizations to suit their needs.

  1. What’s going on – agency principals share strategies, policies, and organizational updates with time allowed to address employee questions and concerns.
  2. Business development updates – account execs, sales and/or administrative staff members discuss:
    1. New clients and prospects,  including which account execs are involved so staff know the key agency contacts if a new client or prospect calls.
    2. Expanded client opportunities, soliciting employees’ ideas and suggestions on “what else” can be offered to help clients achieve their marketing and sales goals.
    3. Analysis of lost business to understand what happened with any terminated account.
  3. Campaigns in progress – creative and media staff members briefly share creative work and, if needed, changes or updates to existing campaigns.
  4. Lessons Learned – one or two employees voluntarily share a recent work-related experience:
    1. Favorite Mistakes (things we did that we don’t want to repeat)
    2. Favorite Catches (good things we did that we hope to do again).
  5. Wrap up/next steps – summarizing any follow up action items.

Implementing this meeting template resulted in a more informed and cohesive staff that better understood the firm’s business.They also expressed a better appreciation for how their individual and collective efforts contributed to client service and satisfaction.

 

Categories
Engagement

Sage Advice for Dealing with Management Turnover

Senior and middle managers leave organizations for many reasons: poor performance, management or board conflicts, retirement, health issues, new opportunities, etc.  The euphoria or disappointment felt by employees soon gives way to uncertainty and anxiety regarding the manager’s replacement if s/he is brought in from another organization. Change can be scary, especially given the unknown of the newcomer’s personality and agenda.

That’s why it’s important to remember the words spoken by the wise knight in Indiana Jones’  The Last Crusade: “choose wisely.”

If you’re in a position to select a manager’s replacement, consider the type of manager recommended by thought leader and academic Henry Mintzberg in his classic (1999) article “Managing Quietly.” He describes managers that:

  • Inspire rather than empower their people by creating a culture with “conditions that foster openness and release energy” so that “empowerment is taken for granted.”
  • Care for their organizations by spending more time “preventing problems than fixing them, because they know enough to know when and how to intervene.”
  • Infuse change so that it “seeps in slowly, steadily, profoundly” instead of dramatically so “everyone takes responsibility for making sure that serious changes take hold.”

For executives and search committees tasked with filling managers’ positions, you don’t want it said that you “chose poorly.”

 

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Engagement

What’s So Special About March 1st?

Besides that we’re inching closer to spring, March 1st is World Compliment Day!

Here’s why I advocate this little known holiday:

“The initiative, in contrast to Valentine’s Day, Secretaries’ Day, and Mother and Father’s Days, is not commercially oriented, so everyone can afford to participate. ‘World Compliment Day’ simply addresses the basic human need for recognition and appreciation. Nobody wins commercially, but everybody gains emotionally. And therein lies its power.”

It’s also easy to participate. The World Compliment Day website features a “Create Award” link to a simple award form template. In just a few minutes you can complete and email or print & deliver the award form to the people you want to recognize.

Regarding employees, colleagues, customers, suppliers, volunteers, donors, friends, family members: acknowledging and affirming people’s value is critical to their engagement.

Who is deserving of your recognition this week?

 

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Customer service Engagement Featured Post

How to Engage Employees in Customer Care

When it comes to getting employees involved with customer satisfaction and retention, it’s not as difficult as some managers believe. Smart employees, including those who don’t have direct customer contact, have a vested interested in customer care. They get the reality that no customers = no business, and no business = no jobs.

Here are four critical keys to effectively engage employees in improving customer care.

Key #1. Solicit customer feedback from your employees. In staff meetings or in anonymous written form, ask employees to share what they hear from customers. You can use fill-in-the-blank type questions such as:

  • When asked what they like best about our company, our customers typically tell me …
  • When asked for ideas on how we can improve our products/service, customers tell me …
  • Recently, I heard about a customer’s (positive or negative) experience with our company. This is what the customer told me …
  • When people hear I work for this company, their typical response is …

Employees, especially those on the front line, have their ears to the market and need a safe outlet to communicate what they hear upward in the company. Their qualitative feedback is also valuable in alerting you to any changes in public perceptions about your brand.

Key #2. Solicit employee ideas on how to better serve your customers.  I once worked for a bank that received low customer satisfaction scores. Management responded by calling a meeting to share the results and then proceeded to berate the branch managers for the poor scores. And the bank wondered why their quarterly numbers didn’t improve while employee morale also declined! Yes, there were operational issues, but management didn’t want to hear about them. How much better it would have been for everyone if bank management had taken the time to ask branch team members some basic questions:

  • What gets in the way of your being able to provide quality service to our customers?
  • What can we reasonably do, given our resources, to overcome these obstacles?
  • In what ways can we better serve our customers?

Key #3.  Seek to strengthen workplace engagement from the inside out. Internal customer service drives external customer service. That’s why it’s important to engage the behind-the-scenes support staff who serve their fellow employees (i.e., “internal customers”). Encourage employees to work together to improve internal service and systems.

Key #4. Recognize your employees’ efforts in improving customer care. Acknowledge and reinforce employee engagement in improving customer satisfaction and retention in whatever way works best  in your organization.  And don’t forget to celebrate your success. (Not sure what to do here? Ask your employees.)

CAUTION: Employees feel respected when management asks for their input and listens to them. Nothing will shut down communication and trust faster than when employees see managers as just going through the motions to engage them. That’s why I advise you to proceed ONLY if you are serious about responding to your employees’ input and ideas. You’re not expected to implement every single employee idea you receive, but you are expected to explain which are feasible and which are not. Otherwise, you can forget about passing go and forget about collecting $200, as they say in Monopoly. Most definitely, you can forget about employee and customer engagement!

 

Categories
Engagement

How Many of Your Employees Will Be Looking to Change Jobs This Year?

“Preparing for Take-Off,” a global study on turnover conducted by The Hay Group, forecasts employee turnover will rise sharply in 2014. People considering a job change this year are encouraged by reports of a growing competition for talent spurred by the global economy.

If they haven’t done so already, executives and managers need to ask themselves: Who in the organization is most likely to leave? Hint: it’s not always the employees you’re happy to see exit.  And who is most likely to stay? It’s not always the top performers you rely on. What managers perceive as employee loyalty may simply be an employee’s lack of opportunity up to this point.

“With retention a growing concern for organizations – not just for key high performing employees, but also core employees – understanding the factors that drive commitment and loyalty is essential for managing increasing turnover risks in the months and years ahead. Now is the time for organizations to understand where they stand on and tackle these influences, to keep employees from taking flight.”  Mark Royal, The  Hay Group senior principal and co-author of The Enemy of Engagement.