Tag: employee engagement

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Engagement

What Can Nonprofit Leaders Do to Keep Volunteers and Employees Engaged?

I’ve heard from numerous nonprofit professionals and volunteers in response to my recent posts on “When Passion for the Mission Isn’t Enough.” The following comments are representative of the feedback I received. I wanted to share them with you to stimulate discussion and ideas on how to better engage employees and volunteers.

One volunteer shared her current take on volunteer disengagement:

 “Volunteers are readily distracted by the demands of paying jobs, which in this day and age are onerous and leave little time for charity. If they don’t feel appreciated, and feel like they have no power in the volunteer environment, they will bolt.”

Even nonprofits that foster an engaging workplace are concerned about operating in economic and political uncertainty. An executive director described her frustration:

“When I get together with other nonprofit executive directors, we all look at a dismal funding future, and wonder how long we can hang on. Personally, I will continue to work to do the most with what we have, as long as we are funded, but I do sense an exhaustion in my peers. While our board is wonderful about contacting legislators, I can’t help but think that they would be more engaged if we weren’t regularly threatened with a cut-off of funds.”

The challenge of striving to meet growing mission-related needs with scarce resources has long existed in the nonprofit sector. But employees, volunteers and board members have grown weary of being asked to “do more with less” and “work smarter, not harder.” Sadly, the risk of burnout is greater than ever.

How Are You Coping?

We can all dream of finding a magic lamp with a genie who can take care of funding and resource issues (if only!). Seriously though, how are your dealing with the situation?

I welcome your ideas on what works to keep your volunteers and employees engaged these days.

Categories
Engagement

Lament of the Disengaged

Here’s another one of my favorite engagement poems from David Zinger’s book, Assorted Zingers. Many of us have experienced these feelings at one time or another in our work lives.
Payday
by David Zinger

When did it become
the way of work
to hate
our work
our organization
and our peers?

The daily distaste for work
crumbled our contributions
into gritty crumbs
lacking nourishment
for body, soul and self.

Is this what we get paid for?

Categories
Engagement Marketing Training & Development

Internal Marketing Spotlight: Just Born

Although I work primarily in the services sector, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to showcase Just Born, manufacturer of “quality confections” including well known brands Peeps®, Mike & Ike®, Hot Tamales®, and Peanut Chews®. The company made headlines in the business press and blogosphere last year when it sent one of its sales teams to Fargo ND for falling just short of its sales goals.

Just Born is based in the Lehigh Valley, PA area where I reside, so I’m familiar with the company and its commitment to the local community. The business was founded in 1923 and now employs more than 500 associates. In response to the growing popularity of its brands, including the cult status of its marshmallow Peeps®, the company will soon open its second branded retail store.

The more I learn about Just Born from a business perspective, the more I continue to be impressed. So I sat down with co-CEO Ross Born to gain more insight into the company’s operating philosophy and culture.

QSM:  Just Born’s vision is “Continuing as a family-owned confectionery company, our commitment is to be a market-driven, quality business enhancing our reputation as a progressive, ethical and respected employer, manufacturer, marketer, and member of the community.” I notice that you list your role as an employer first.

Ross Born: If you have the right people, they’re number one. You take care of them, they’ll take care of your customers. They’ll make sure the product is right; they’ll make sure they’re treating the customers right. We look for people that really care about what we do, that care about our brands. Just Born’s two most important assets are our brands and our people who nurture the brands.

QSM: When I read your company’s philosophy, I was struck by the frequent mention of employee engagement-related statements such as:

  • We believe vision, compassion, courage, and integrity are the cornerstones upon which we build each day and each endeavor.
  • We believe in building and sustaining an environment where people, ideas, and creativity can flourish.
  • We believe in promoting a healthy and safe work environment.
  • We believe trust is the foundation of all personal, interpersonal, and organizational achievement, and the building and maintaining of trust is our top priority.
  • We believe great things happen when everyday courtesy, kindness, and humor are woven into all our personal and professional interactions.
  • We believe in treating others as we would like to be treated, creating a common connection from co-worker to customer to consumer to community.
  • We believe in nurturing respectful relationships with one another and encouraging the best in each other.

Caring about people is really important at Just Born, isn’t it?

Ross: Let me respond first by sharing an experience I had when talking to a group of middle school students. They asked me what I do at work, what are the important things I do. They were surprised when I told them ‘I say hello to people. I know people’s names.’ They were expecting me to talk about the reports I read, the meetings I go to, and the decisions that needed to be made. I do all those things, but the most important is I care about people.

It’s not enough to say ‘we care about our people,’ they have to know that they’re cared about. I remember visiting a company that was decorated with motivational posters. As I was reading some of them, an employee walking past me whispered, ‘Don’t believe everything you read.’

Part of caring is giving people the right tools and in the right environment. It’s also about doing the right thing. For example, we had a situation with a water main break that occurred as a result of construction on someone else’s property nearby. We had to send people home and lost two days of production, but we paid those scheduled to work those days. It wasn’t a matter of ‘let’s check out our insurance coverage first.’ I didn’t want our people to wait until we got paid by the insurance company. Even though the situation was out of our control, it was our responsibility to ensure our people were taken care of. That’s an example of putting actions to our words that we care about our people. If we had waited to see what the insurance company would do, that would have sent a message that we care more about money than our people.

QSM: Another part of your philosophy states, “We believe there is much to learn from one another and much to teach one another.” Tell us more about how you live this philosophy.

Ross: We provide a lot of training and cross-training. One of our ongoing in-house programs is our High Performance Leadership Development training that emphasizes effective decision making, problem-solving, communication and coaching skills, along with continuous improvement tools. More than 140 people have gone through the program so far. We’ll soon be introducing the program for everyone, including all our production people. Participants in this training apply what they learn in individual and group projects that they come up with, and the projects have to be of measurable benefit.

QSM: I know Just Born is also committed to the local community.

Ross: We care about our community; having a strong community is essential for a strong business. We encourage volunteerism – giving back to the community. Volunteering builds character in addition to promoting camaraderie among our associates. More than half of our associates are active, regular volunteers in projects ranging from packing meals at the food bank (very popular) to cleaning the kennels at an animal rescue shelter. Community projects involve associates from all parts of our business, and some are team based.  Everyone of our associates is given 24 hours per year of paid time to volunteer, and a significant majority of our associates also volunteer on their own time.

At Just Born we believe it’s possible to be socially responsible while maintaining a growing, profitable candy business. We’re doing it!

QSM: Now that’s what I call a sweet approach where everyone benefits. Thanks for sharing, Ross!

Categories
Engagement Marketing

Tribute to Bob Wood

This weekend, I lost a hero. I share my sorrow with the Lehigh Valley PA community in the loss of a beloved friend and philanthropist: Bob Wood.

Bob was the former Chairman of Wood Dining Services, a large regional food service management company based in Allentown PA.  Prior to becoming part of Sodexho, Wood Dining Services employed more than 15,000 people serving more than 500 accounts in 28 states – with an impressive 99% client retention rate!

I had the privilege of working for The Wood Company many years ago as a training consultant and learned of the company’s people-first commitment. Bob was the epitome of an engaged and engaging leader who truly cared about his employees and customers. He maintained a corporate culture that was best described on the back of one of the birthday cards it sent to employees:

“The Wood Company’s recipe for success is developing and nurturing its people. We value and understand the difference they can make in pleasing our customers. We believe in celebrating our people’s success and important events in their lives.”

Making people feel valued

I interviewed Bob for my first book, Taking Care of the People Who Matter Most: A Guide to Employee Customer Care.  Bob & company were featured in a chapter on how internal marketing could be woven through “ordinary, everyday activities rather than extraordinary events.” Internal marketing wasn’t a distinctive approach practiced at The Wood Company – it was something Bob did intuitively.

Here is one of my favorite stories about Bob and the power of employee recognition. Bob spent a lot of time in the field visiting clients and staff. In his pocket he carried a handful of small gold plastic pins in the shape of pineapples, the international symbol for hospitality that was also part of the Wood Company’s brand. Whenever he saw an employee doing something right, he gave that person a gold pineapple pin. Bob said he never ceased to be amazed at the employees’ reaction when he gave out the pineapple pins.

“I think these pins cost 47 cents … but these people think you gave them a pile of gold. Everyone wants to be part of something … everyone wants to feel that they are valued, that they made a difference. To the degree we can celebrate our people, that’s our greatest tool.”

In making people feel that they mattered, Bob, you made an incredible difference. I am honored to have known you and will continue to celebrate your memory in my book and workshops.

Categories
Engagement

Nonprofit Employees: When Passion for the Mission isn’t Enough

I’ve been thinking about this topic a lot lately, especially working on my book about nonprofit employee and volunteer engagement. Despite their well-intentioned commitment, sometimes staff members (and volunteers) get frustrated with a nonprofit organization and reach the point where passion for the mission and meaningful connection are no longer enough to convince them to stay. In other words, once engaged doesn’t mean always engaged.

Why People Become Disengaged

People don’t stay committed to an organization when they:

1. Feel overwhelmed with too many or conflicting management directives

2. Don’t understand what the organization is all about and what is expected of them

3. Are afraid that their work isn’t valued

4. Don’t see how the various parts of the organization connect in the “big picture”

5. Don’t share a sense of ownership in the organization, including being involved in solving problems and offering ideas. [Source: The Art of Engagement]

High turnover and low morale are signs of a disconnected, disengaged workplace run by complacent management or the clueless-in-charge. And the damage isn’t confined to the internal organization – customers, donors, volunteers and other external stakeholders are aware of, and possibly affected by, employees who disengage at work.

Can you hear me now?

A nonprofit professional and her colleagues were increasingly frustrated, discouraged, and disheartened about their work situation which they described as “toxic.” Managers issued frequent conflicting directives and set unrealistic expectations while providing little guidance and insufficient resources to enable staff members to achieve their goals. Management also paid scant attention to staff concerns until a consultant was hired to address the issue of high turnover. At the consultant’s recommendation, management set up a “suggestion box” system to solicit employee feedback and ideas. More than 135 suggestions were turned in the first week, and there were only 30 employees on staff!

If you’re thinking about a “quick fix,” think again

Disengagement and burnout don’t suddenly happen. Most people start off engaged and excited about their work; the erosion occurs gradually based on one or more of the reasons mentioned above. According to Dr. Judith M. Bardwick: “When people are perceived as a cost and not a resource, when they are treated as a liability and not an asset, when no one seems to know or care that they are there, they don’t work well, and they don’t stay.”

 

Categories
Engagement

Which Engagement Path Will You Take?

The following poem was written by David Zinger and is one of my favorites in his new book, Assorted Zingers (with great cartoons by John Junson).

Two roads diverged
by David Zinger

Let me tell you a tale
about the disengaged.
A tell tale sign is
you are told not asked,
you are fringed not foreground,
work is an energy drain,
not an energy gain.
You would rather be anywhere else,
yet you seem stuck in place.
And you have to stray
because of the pension, economy, fear, benefits
or just the plain inertia of it all.

It is time to tell a different tale
where you are connected
in the foreground
gaining energy
and making contributions.
If that tale cannot be told
get your tail out of there.
You only have so many days to work
and when you work in those days
and those days work for you
it makes all the difference.

Categories
Customer service Engagement

Do Your Customers Have a Rosie?

I’ve been fortunate in my 23 years as a consultant to work with truly wonderful people. Among them is Rosemary (Rosie) Makosky, who recently retired from Lehigh University’s Office of Distance Education (DE).

Lehigh was a pioneer in offering graduate degree programs by live satellite broadcast to corporate employees in the early 1990’s. I served as distance ed‘s marketing consultant back then, and we relied on relationship marketing for company/student recruitment and retention. Several times throughout the year we visited company sites to meet with current students and recruit new ones. These  visits also enabled us to acknowledge the efforts of corporate staff who helped coordinate the on-site details of Lehigh’s distance ed programs. As DE Director Peg Portz was fond of saying, “Our programs may be by distance, but not our relationships.”

Rosie was the student administrator who coordinated distance ed’s admissions, handled registration, answered student questions and concerns, etc. She was the behind-the-scenes “go to”person for students … but she wasn’t kept behind-the-scenes.  One of my favorite memories working with DE was accompanying Rosie on site visits, especially watching the reaction when she and the students met face-to-face for the first time. “So you’re Rosie!” they’d exclaim. “It’s great to finally meet you in person!” And then Rosie would engage in conversation asking about the student’s classes, family, and work situation. I loved witnessing such powerful connections – these students knew and appreciated how much Rosie cared about them.

I loved watching Rosie work her magic with students. Regardless of when they called, she never treated them as an interruption. She was always responsive, empathetic, and concerned in helping students get what they needed so they could succeed. She shared their triumphs and occasional setbacks. What I call being truly customer-focused is part of Rosie’s DNA. If only we had more Rosies in the workplace …

Thank you, Rosie, for all you shared and taught me when we worked together. Enjoy your retirement, dear friend!

Categories
Engagement Marketing

What I Did on My Summer (Blog) Vacation

Thank you for your patience during my blog break. What did I accomplish this summer?

Most of my time was spent researching and writing several chapters for my new book on how nonprofits can use internal marketing to engage employees and volunteers. I interviewed colleagues and experts in the field and will connect with more of them this fall.

As part of my research, I read the following books (and I highly recommend them):

In addition to keeping up with my client work, I managed to get in a few days of vacation and enjoyed spending time with friends and family.

Hope you had a great summer!

Categories
Engagement Marketing

Special Request Over My Summer Blog Break

Note to my loyal blog followers:

It’s time for my annual break since blog traffic is typically slower in summer. What’s special about this year’s break is that I’ll be using the time to research and write my new book for nonprofits: Engaging Nonprofit Employees, Volunteers, and Consumers: A Manager’s Guide to Inside-Out Marketing (the “working title” at this stage).

Please let me know if you want to share any good or bad examples of internal marketing in nonprofit organizations. The “good” examples of nonprofits that effectively engage staff and volunteers (including board members) I choose to use in this book may include the organizations’ names, pending their permission. However, I won’t name nonprofits with “bad” examples of what not to do when it comes to engagement or, conversely, how to alienate staff, volunteers, and (ultimately) consumers.

Note to new readers:

Welcome! I hope you’ll take a few minutes to explore my blog that offers an abundance of thoughtful content – more than six years worth! I also invite you to share good and/or bad examples of nonprofit engagement.

See you in September

I’ll return to posting this fall with new content – including updates on my new book. In the meantime, enjoy the summer!

 

Categories
Engagement

Many Employers Still Clueless (or Why I feel Sorry for HR)

I truly feel sorry for the HR folks who work with these CEOs. HR folks shouldn’t have to sell the importance of employee engagement – they should be supporting the CEOs in their efforts to create and maintain an engaging workplace.

Until these CEOs truly “get” employee engagement, I urge HR professionals to start stockpiling sunglasses. Because when the executives’ rose-colored classes fall off, they’re going to be blinded by all the empty space once filled by their employees.

“CEOs are not listening to the message around engagement, because HR is not convincing them of its importance,” according to an HR Magazine post.

“ … employee engagement and loyalty is at a three-year low, but many employers have no clue as to the dismal state of affairs,” reported in a recent study.