23 top tips for better employee engagement what it takes ... · there is no prescriptive list of...

What it takes to make your employees feel valued

23 top tips for better employee engagement

How do you energise your people, increase discretionary effort and maximise the resources dedicated to employee communications? Our 23 top tips on better employee engagement provide a brief introduction to the key steps and thinking needed to set you up for success.

This booklet has been designed to help executives and managers in any discipline, take action to improve employee engagement within their organisation. Whether you are looking to improve communication channels, create the right environment to share information or simply setting the agenda for change, we’ll guide you on the path to improved engagement and achieving your organisation’s strategic objectives.

Employees are your most important asset and significant cost. Ensuring they are fully engaged and committed to the success of your organisation is crucial

It’s good to talk but better to share

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Do individuals and departments fully appreciate what value and services others bring within the organisation? Can you do more with the same resource? Create the environment and structure for disparate parts of your organisation to engage with each other, share knowledge and best practice.

Ask us how we improved innovation and reduced costs within GSK.

Contact us: +44 (0) 20 7842 3000 / [email protected]

Identify what engagement drivers work and are appropriate for your organisation. There is no prescriptive list of dos and don’ts, each organisation is unique and therefore you require a distinctive employee engagement approach and strategy.

One size does not fit all

22 Contact us: +44 (0) 20 7842 3000 / [email protected]

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Consider the impact employee engagement makes to your bottom line, human and financial resources. What is the positive impact engaged employees have on operational performance and profit? It is estimated that disengaged employees cost the UK economy £64bn through lost productivity, poor service delivery and reduced discretionary effort.

Talk to us about understanding and measuring the true value of engagement to your organisation.

Establish the value of employee engagement to your organisation


20

You will do your own and your organisation’s reputation the world of good by getting out into the business. Especially during tough, difficult times. By taking the pulse of your organisation in a direct and personal manner you enhance the connection between employer and employee as well as providing valuable insight into your own plans and agenda.

A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world


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It’s a myth that engagement can be difficult to measure and quantify. The increased use of digital platforms to communicate enables far greater insight. Also look at your aligning internal and external activities. Why not link your employee engagement survey metrics to customer service results?

If you can’t measure it, don’t do it


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Whatever you do, whether it’s a blog, a newsletter, or a weekly review follow these three golden rules. Who wants to see a news item on your intranet last updated dated six months ago?

Do it often, do it clearly and do it consistently


17

Establish who in your organisation is responsible for employee engagement

We’ll save you the trouble. The answer is everyone. Leaders should set the tone and direction. Internal and corporate communication teams will ensure the messaging is clear and consistent, the communication channels selected are appropriate. All employees should feel to some extent that they are part of, and contributors to, the engagement agenda in your organisation.


16

Do your employees and the people responsible for internal communications have the right material and infrastructure in place to communicate effectively, share knowledge, receive feedback?

Call us to find out how we helped clients to create the tools and framework for successful employee engagement, including BP and Logica.

What’s in your tool box?


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Happy employees are not always engaged. Engaged employees are not always productive. There can still be operational and managerial barriers to overcome which prevent your engaged employee becoming an effective one. Some employees may be transactionally engaged but not emotionally engaged.

Ask for our advice on the questions you should be asking in your annual employee engagement survey.

Don’t confuse happiness with engagement or engagement with effectiveness


14

There is growing evidence to suggest that the hormone oxytocin is an important driver for employee engagement. The hormone gets released into our brains through a variety of stimuli, including whenever we feel a sense of bonding, engagement, trust and empathy. Fear on the other hand inhibits its release. Using social networks, whether for business or pleasure, causes a surge in oxytocin release. Perhaps your next business update should be on Yammer?

Get the oxytocin flowing


13

Especially in tough times. Speak honestly about the challenges being faced, as well as anticipateddirection. Without direct and continual communication, employees are likely to fill the void themselves, often with worst-case scenarios.

Silence is rarely golden


12

Informal groups and social networks on intranets are changing the way organisations are structured and in some instances deconstructed. Trust is one of the most powerful motivators in any relationship, in advancing employee engagement it is critical. Formal structures can, on occasion, inhibit entrepreneurship and knowledge share. Sometimes letting your own employees work things out for themselves yields better results and strengthens engagement.

Sometimes you need to let go


11

Do not allow a negative or defensive narrative to dictate your communications. Even in challenging times, good behaviours are still demonstrated by employees, successful operational events still happen so celebrate and showcase them. Likewise, if you know there are challenges being faced, where you can, be open about them and acknowledge you are dealing with them.

We help organisations with reputational challenges, talk to us about our approach and successes.

In challenging times, make sure you give a voice to the majority who make the difference, not the minority who shout the loudest


BP employee communications

The concept and photographic style behind the ‘We are BP’ campaign has been adopted for other BP employee engagement campaigns around the world.

I stand for BP’s values

DarrellTechnician

Logica intranet

Logica’s new intranet allows employees to add content while on the move.

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When you open up your communication channels to the wider employee base, you not only increase engagement levels, you often create an environment for innovation. You can also strengthen the understanding and ownership of key business objectives and strategies.

Ask us about our innovative approach to unlocking potential at Logica through their intranet.

User-generated content is often more engaging than a corporate monologue


9

92% of adults in the UK own a mobile phone, over half of those are smartphones. Tablet and e-reader sales are doubling year on year. Reconsider the channels you use to engage with and communicate to employees.

Talk to us about our POV on the digital landscape and ask for a copy of our white paper on the social intranet.

Technology is not just for generation Y


8

Should you really be on Facebook, YouTube or Twitter just because your competitors are? What if they only have four friends and two ‘likes’. Think through the rationale for why you are doing what you are doing. If it is simply to follow the herd then you risk damaging your reputation, not enhancing it. You may also be wasting valuable time and resources.

Avoid fads


7

What is the purpose of your internal communications team and the outputs they produce? What is their agenda, and focus, does it align with the organisation’s? Ask yourself if you are giving the necessary direction and setting up your internal resources for success.

Ask yourself, why?


6

Go beyond the employee engagement survey.Involve your employees in the solutions to the engagement challenges your organisation faces.

Listen, learn,empower


5

Practice what you preach. Your internal brand and approach to employee engagement should reflect the promises you make to external stakeholders. Your claim to be a leading, innovative provider of services will carry little credibility if your employees do not live and believe in those promises and brand values themselves.

What you say to the outside world should resonate internally


4

How do you communicate with your employees? Top-down information from senior leadership to the wider employee base has its place, however it should be part of a wider communications mix. Do an audit of what you say, how you say it and where. Identify where employees have the opportunity to have their say. Successful organisations know when to talk and when to listen.

Are you conducting a monologue or a dialogue?


3

Ask yourself what value does each communication and engagement activity brings to your organisation? How much time and resource are you dedicating to both communicating and consuming information? Would a more focused, reduced level of activity yield greater results?

Ask us how we achieved a seven-fold increase in ‘thank yous’ for British Gas employees for a lot less money.

Spending and doing less can sometimes achieve more


British Gas employee communications

The informal recognition scheme ‘Simply Thank You’ went from 100 emails a month to nearly 3,000 ‘thank yous’ in the first week.

M&S employee communications

Since the campaign was launched, store energy efficiency has improved by 19%.

2

Is it time to take a fresh approach? Rethink and revisit every aspect of your communication strategy and outputs. What can seem ‘dry’ subject matter, especially in the areas of compliance and risk, offer an opportunity to engage and inform in a totally different way.

Ask us how we created a superhero to drive the sustainability agenda at M&S.

Don’t tick the box. Think outside of it


1

Employee engagement is too important to be left to one individual. However, you are not alone. We get employee engagement (we’re employees too, after all). We see things positively. We create and deliver ideas with you, not just for you, that’s why we’re called The Team.

Call us on 020 7842 3000 Email [email protected]

Talk to the experts

30 Park Street, London SE1 9EQwww.theteam.co.uk

©The Team Brand Communication Consultants Limited 2012

+44 (0)20 7842 [email protected]

23 top tips for better employee engagement what it takes ... · there is no prescriptive list of...

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