Tag: employee engagement

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Engagement

Why We Need to Put the Brakes on Wheel-Spinning Managers

Bike racing is a great sport but it’s a lousy metaphor for management. I know because I had the unfortunate experience of seeing such management in action.

I once worked for a boss who had a bike racing poster in his office. The poster was a gift from the Lehigh Valley PA-based Velodrome cycling track to its corporate sponsors. Over time I came to view this poster’s image as a symbol of my boss’s wheel-spinning management style. He would give direction for a project and then shift gears once the project was well underway. My staff and I were continually frustrated as a result. Despite the pressure to complete our work with limited time and budget resources, we had to stop the project in progress, regroup, and somehow find the time to do things over – all on budget and deadline, of course.

So forget about this type of fast track management. You can’t win with disengaged employees drained of energy and enthusiasm.

Categories
Customer service Engagement

Good Signs of Customer Service

Irish restaurant welcome sign

  • Employees who smile and are genuinely happy to see you.
  • Employees who sincerely want to help you.
  • Managers who smile and are genuinely happy to see you.
  • Managers who sincerely want to help you or help their employees help you.
  • Happy customers.
    Copperhead Grill sign-3
Categories
Engagement

Employees as Volunteers? Or Volunteers as Employees?

If your organization relies on paid employees to get its work done, would you treat them any differently if they were volunteers?

Other thought leaders have shared their views on this topic, including:

Here are my thoughts to build on this management discussion. The key difference between these two sets of workers are that volunteers “aren’t bound by the same command and control requirements that employees have.”  This means volunteers can voluntarily choose to offer their time and services to what they consider a worthwhile organization. They can also voluntarily choose to withdraw their time and services  when it no longer suits them. Even though employees are in contractual work situations, they can also choose to stay or leave an organization. Unlike volunteers, however, employees may need to stay for their paychecks even though they would prefer to leave — engagement for payment purposes only.

If your organization relies on volunteers to get its work done, would you treat them any differently if they were employees?

As I’ve found in my work in the nonprofit sector, the presumption that all nonprofits value volunteerism is not necessarily the case. Some nonprofit managers only give lip-service to their volunteers despite benefiting from their time and skills. These managers can take advantage of their volunteers’ passion for the mission for only so long before those volunteers get frustrated and leave.

What matters to employees and volunteers is being treated with respect while getting the tools and information needed to effectively contribute their time and talents. Whether an organization is profit-driven or mission-driven, the quality of workplace engagement depends on its culture and values including how its people are treated, regardless of their paid or unpaid status. Both employee engagement and volunteer engagement are critical – neither should be taken for granted.

 

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Marketing Training & Development

Is Your Recruiting Hurting Your Brand?

Talk about first impressions! Managers responsible for recruiting new employees have a significant impact on both the employer brand and their organization’s overall brand.

Here are two examples of how an ineffective recruiting experience – described by a potential candidate looking for work in the nonprofit sector – resulted in a negative brand impression. [Note: I’ve heard similar job applicant horror stories in the for-profit sector as well. ]

Example #1. “I had a telephone interview for a grant writer position in an arts-related organization. It was clear during the interview that the supervisor had no interviewing skills — she did not seem to know what she wanted to ask, nor could she process my responses. She was very busy concentrating on what to say next rather than evaluating my answers. Mid-way through the interview she sighed with exasperation and said she had no idea how to talk with me because I was not ‘part of the art world.’  At the conclusion of the interview the HR person asked if I would be available for an onsite interview, and I said yes. I never heard from them again.”

Example #2. “In my experience with another organization, the telephone interview was a fiasco. Three people on a speaker phone interviewed me; I could barely hear one of them and was never quite sure who was speaking.  The first question asked why I had applied for the position. My response addressed the unique combination of duties, appeal of the variety of work involved, etc. When I finished my response they told me they were no longer certain that the position would be structured as posted. They then asked a series of narrowly focused questions that indicated very clearly that they had not read my resume or that they were incapable of shaping the questions to elicit additional information. At the conclusion of the interview, the convener told me that additional interviews were being scheduled the following week and that he would be in touch ‘either way.’ Two months passed and I received an email from him saying they had decided to put the position on hold while they reviewed and possibly revised the position’s responsibilities.”

Bottom line brand impact

The job candidate had previously worked in HR. Here’s what she had to say about her experiences with the two organizations that interviewed her:

“As a former HR and management professional, I am appalled at the ridiculous turn the interview process has apparently taken. I am struck dumb by how little regard or understanding these folks have of their role as brand slayers. They seem completely unaware of the fact that an interview is not a one-way street.  While they are asking questions and making some attempt to assess the applicant, the applicant is gaining a great deal of insight into the nature of the organization and the people who inhabit it!  My respect for these organizations is diminished, my interest in supporting them in any way is erased, and my new and distinctly negative view of their capacity is going to be a topic of conversation for some time to come.”

Do the people who recruit and interview potential employees for your organization understand how their actions affect perceptions of your employer and external brand?

 

Categories
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.

 

Categories
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

 

Categories
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 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.

Categories
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.”