employee engagement

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT HOW TO ACHIEVE EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION IN YOUR EFFORTS

Steve Wise February 2011

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

¨  Individual and Organizational Efforts – often and more than likely include the participation of its People.

¨  Getting your People to accept and participate in such efforts – can be a challenging endeavor.

¨  But such participation is extremely critical to the success of Your efforts.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

¨  This Training Presentation is directed to anyone in who Leads People in the attainment of a Goal or Responsibilities.

¨  Included herein you will find what actions that I have found success at with Engaging My People…along my way.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

¨  Why is Employee Engagement Important

¨  Know Your People

¨  Relating Your Efforts to What They Do

¨  Communicating Why it is Important

¨  Include Your People as a Critical Part

¨  Share Your Results

¨  Continuous Involvement

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Definition:

v  Employee engagement, also called work engagement or worker engagement, is a Business Management Concept.

v  An ENGAGED EMPLOYEE is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about his or her work – and thus will act in a way that furthers their Organization’s interest.

v  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_engagement

WHY IS EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IMPORTANT

¨  EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT – is extremely critical to your Individual efforts or your Organizational efforts. ¤ And how successful you are at engaging your People – will

determine how successful you are at succeeding with your efforts including the time frame it will take you to accomplish.

¨  If your People do not feel that they are part of your Efforts or Processes – than how can you expect them to give anything more than an average effort.

DOES A LEADER LEAD HIS or HER PEOPLE BY –

v  Telling them what to do?

v  Or by Working with them to achieve goals?

WHY IS EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IMPORTANT

¨  EXAMPLE – As my Company’s Quality Improvement Chair – I am leading an initiative to introduce Lean Six Sigma (LSS) into my Organization.

§  This effort is supported by Senior Management.

§  But will result in additional work and time for anyone so wanting to participate in.

§  WHAT CHANCE is there for this effort to succeed – if I do not reach out to my People and include them as a critical part of this LSS effort?

WHY IS EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IMPORTANT

¨  EXAMPLE – You are a Supervisor of a Production Line that is experiencing Poor Quality and Inefficiencies on a regular basis.

¤ As the Supervisor – do you think that you can fix the problems yourself?

¤ Or would it be best to reach out to those performing the work and include their input?

WHY IS EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IMPORTANT

¨  If your People are not Engaged in Your Individual or Organizational Efforts –

¤ They will either resist what you are trying to implement or change – or be reluctant to be a part of your efforts.

¤ The time it will take you to accomplish your efforts – will be delayed and extended due to attempting to get your People on board with your efforts.

¤ More than likely will lead to Your Individual or Organizational efforts falling short of their Goals.

KNOW YOUR PEOPLE

In order for You or

Your Organization

to be successful at

Engaging Your People

– You must

Know Your People &

What Drives Them

KNOW YOUR PEOPLE

A Leader that is looking to Engage their People must know certain aspects of their People including – ¨  What MOTIVATES them or gives them SATISFACTION

in the Workplace.

¨  What provides them SECURITY in the Organization – i.e., Financial Stability, Defined Work Procedures, Ability to be Creative in what they do, or Open Doors.

¨  How willing are they to LEARN new things and what are the avenues available to TEACH THEM.

KNOW YOUR PEOPLE

A Leader must know certain aspects (con’t) –

¨  How critical and visible must SENIOR MANGEMENT SUPPORT be of your efforts for your People to notice.

¤  In most cases unless your People see such visible Senior Management Support – they will be reluctant to accept and participate in your efforts.

¨  How willing do your People ACCEPT CHANGE.

¤ Do they tend to be receptive of Change Efforts – or are they the type of People that either fight for status quo or must see results before they jump on board.

KNOW YOUR PEOPLE

A Leader must know certain aspects (con’t) –

¨  What will be the best forum or method to use to solicit the maximum EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION – and how best to explain to them so that THEY UNDERSTAND.

¨  What AVAILABLE TIME will your People have to participate in your efforts.

¨  How best and often do you need to COMMUNICATE your efforts your People – to spur and keep their interest.

RELATING YOUR EFFORTS TO WHAT THEY DO

How Do Your

Efforts

Relate – to

What Your

People Do?

RELATE YOUR EFFORTS TO WHAT THEY DO

¨  Once you know what Matters to Your People – you must then set out to Relate Your Efforts to them and what they do.

¨  Such action will include determining how Your Efforts: ¤ Are a part of the daily responsibilities that Your People

perform.

¤ How Your Efforts can improve what they do and the results that they attain.

¤ And how Your Efforts pertain to Departmental and Organizational Goals.

RELATE YOUR EFFORTS TO WHAT THEY DO

¨  WHY EXAMPLE: My prior Plant was incurring a rash of Soft Tissue Injuries – resulting in several of our People being placed on restricted duty. ¤  In response – I formed a Corrective Action Team (CAT)

whose Goal was to reduce and prevent such Injuries.

¤ To be successful at this effort – I needed to find out what actions our People were performing that were causing these Injuries including looking at everything that they did.

¤  In order to get their support in this effort – I started by providing Education on these Type of Injuries on how they were incurred by the Operations that they performed.

RELATE YOUR EFFORTS TO WHAT THEY DO

Ways that you can Relate Your Efforts to Your People –

¨  SPEND TIME WITH YOUR PEOPLE – By going around and discussing how your efforts can/will impact them and how they relate to what they do.

¨  SHOW THEM HOW – Visually show via actual demos, on site training, or videos of 3rd party efforts.

¨  OUTSIDE EXPERT – Have an external expert come in and discuss with those that are/will be affected by – which can reinforce what you are trying to do.

RELATE YOUR EFFORTS TO WHAT THEY DO

Ways that you can Relate Your Efforts (con’t) – ¨  HOLD INFORMATION SESSIONS – If your efforts

can be considered a major undertaking (i.e., such as implementing Lean Six Sigma) – ¤  It is highly recommended to hold Info Sessions on what

such efforts are about and where Your People can ask Questions regarding.

¨  EDUCATE YOUR PEOPLE – By sharing details of what your efforts entail – including what actions will be needed/taken, timeframe to complete, etc.

RELATE YOUR EFFORTS TO WHAT THEY DO

Ways that you can Relate Your Efforts (con’t) – ¨  LEARN FROM OTHERS – Includes learning and

sharing what other Organizations have done with similar endeavors – ¤ Spend time to research other Companies that are similar

to yours – find out the problems that they faced and what they did to improve their performance and results.

¤  Include what actions that they took to implement such efforts and how successful were their results.

¤ Post such information to a Company Website that your People can view and learn about on their timeframe.

COMMUNICATE WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Would You Undertake Efforts –

Without a Cause?

COMMUNICATE WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

¨  A critical aspect in Engaging Your People – is Communicating to them WHY they should participate in Your Efforts.

¨  Such actions should be taken to – ¤ Show why there is a need to change or improve

Departmental & Organizational Efforts. ¤ Address shortcomings that may be consistent, negatively

impacting financial standings, take too much time to complete, or that have too much variation in their performance.

¤ Show what is available for those that look “Outside Their Box” and their Normal Routines.

COMMUNICATE WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Communicating Why to Your People – is basically an extension of Relating Your Efforts to What They Do –

¨  BENCHMARK CURRENT RESULTS – of Departmental or Organizational Responsibilities to other Company’s that perform similar Operations. ¤ Such efforts should compare Organizational Results to

other like Organizations including your Competitors.

¨  SHARE CASE STUDIES – The internet is a great source to find Examples of similar Actions taken by other Organizations – that include hard results data.

COMMUNICATE WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Communicating Why to Your People (con’t) – ¨  QUANTIFY WASTED EFFORT – With most

Organizational Processes – one can find Wasted Effort without digging too hard. ¤ Such does not add any Value – delays the Completion of a

Process – and adds to the Cost to perform. ¤ AND WASTED COST = JOBS ¤ Take time to analyze the Process that you are looking to

improve – and show Your People how much their wasted effort is Costing the Organization.

COMMUNICATE WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Communicating Why to Your People (con’t) – ¨  SHARE THE DETAILS INVOLVED – To be successful

at engaging Your People – sometimes all it takes is to share the details that are involved. ¤  If your effort is more than a quick fix – and one that will

take planning, time, and commitment – you need to share the details involved with those that will be impacted by.

¤ Along with your sharing your details – include what You expect your major actions to – do, produce, improve, etc.

¤ Make sure to give fair estimates on the additional time that it will require of them to be a part of such efforts.

COMMUNICATE WHY IT IS IMPORTANT

Communicating Why to Your People (con’t) – ¨  WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM – Your People will need to

know that if they jump on board with your efforts – how will they Individually benefit from them. ¤ This can include providing them additional Education – to

being part of an effort to improve what their People do.

¨  STAYING CURRENT WITH TODAY – Means that we as Individuals and Organizations must stay current with technology and other means in our Workplace. ¤ Our times are constantly changing and it does not take

long to fall behind what is current today.

INCLUDE THEM AS A CRITICAL PART OF YOUR EFFORTS

Getting Your People

to Engage in

Your Efforts –

Means that they

become an

Extension of You

INCLUDE THEM AS A CRITICAL PART OF YOUR EFFORTS

¨  MY EXAMPLE: At my prior Plant I served as the Safety Manager – and had the responsibilities of keeping My People Safe in the Jobs they performed.

¤ To be successful with this Responsibility – I felt that it was critical to My Safety Efforts – that all of my People needed to be actively involved in Plant Safety.

¤  In my efforts I would often talk about having “Safety Eyes” – which watched for unsafe actions and conditions.

¤  In addition to my own – I wanted my People to have “Safety Eyes” as well = Having 300 Pairs of “Safety Eyes” was better than just 1pair.

INCLUDE THEM AS A CRITICAL PART OF YOUR EFFORTS

¨  Getting your People to be a part of Your Efforts can be a challenging endeavor.

¨  Factors that you should consider here include what has been addressed above – ¤ What is important to your People? ¤ Would there be time made available to them? ¤ What roles could they serve in your Efforts? ¤ Would their efforts matter?

INCLUDE THEM AS A CRITICAL PART OF YOUR EFFORTS

There are various ways to include your People as part of Your Efforts –

¨  PLANNING PROCESS – Include your People as part of your Planning Process – solicit their Ideas and Recommendations and include them as part of your efforts if so worthy.

¨  CREATE ROLES of RESPONSIBILITY – To progress your efforts you will need People to advance certain Responsibilities – Use your People to fill these Roles.

¨  USE VOLUNTEERS – Find People who would be willing to try out something new – and have them report to you Their Findings and Results.

INCLUDE THEM AS A CRITICAL PART OF YOUR EFFORTS

There are various ways to include your People (con’t) – ¨  SOUNDING BOARDS – Use a Work Group Leader

to discuss elements of your efforts and your expectations.

¤ Then ask them for their Feedback & Suggestions. ¨  SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS – Make use of SME’s

that can add extra know-how and experience to your efforts – which can promote buy-in.

¨  FOLLOW THROUGH – As questions, concerns, and issues come up – make sure that you address them on a timely basis.

INCLUDE THEM AS A CRITICAL PART OF YOUR EFFORTS

¨  PEOPLE ARE IMPORTANT – Make sure that you conduct your efforts with Your People in mind.

¨  THEIR NEEDS & ACTIONS – Include them as part of your efforts – Your People will notice and take interest.

¨  EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION – Take time to recognize your People that partake in your efforts.

INCLUDE THEM AS A CRITICAL PART OF YOUR EFFORTS

There are various ways to include your People (con’t) –

¨  FORM TEAMS or COMMITTEES – If your effort is a large undertaking – consider forming a Team that will help lead and see your efforts through.

¨  PROVIDE THEM ADVANCED TRAINING – To get your People on board – you may need to provide them Advanced Training on your efforts.

¨  STAY ACTIVE WITH YOUR EFFORTS – Make sure that you stay active with your efforts – do not tire lest your People will fall out of interest.

SHARE YOUR RESULTS

If You are someone

looking in – wouldn’t you

want to know

HOW YOU ARE DOING?

SHARE YOUR RESULTS ¨  If you are someone that is leading a New or Change

Effort – I feel strongly that you must SHARE YOUR RESULTS with your People.

¤ This includes with both the People that are directly impacted or affected by your Efforts

¤ As well as the Senior Staff of your Organization

¨  To be successful here, you must know – ¤ What and How to Share ¤ How Frequent to Communicate your Results ¤ Where to Share Your Results for maximum exposure

SHARE YOUR RESULTS Reasons why you need to SHARE YOUR RESULTS –

¨  Get and sustain Senior Management Support

¨  Benchmark against other like endeavors

¨  Being able to Continuously Improve

¨  Requesting Operating or Capital Funding

¨  To Stay Ahead of your Competition

¨  Keep People Interested & Involved in Your Efforts

SHARE YOUR RESULTS You should use various ways to Share Your Results in order to maximize your exposure – ¨  COMPANY WEBSITE – Post Information and Results

of your efforts to the Company Website – which allows your folks to view them at their leisure.

¨  HOLD CELEBRATIONS – If you attain significant milestones (i.e., attaining Green Belt Certification) – hold an event to celebrate and talk about.

¨  KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS – If your effort has merit – establish and post KPI’s and keep them updated on a timely basis.

SHARE YOUR RESULTS You should use various ways to Share (con’t) – ¨  EMPLOYEE INFO BOARDS – Make use of Information

Boards where your People gather to read various updates on Company Matters. ¤  But make sure that you tailor your Postings to provide the

needed info in quick manner.

¨  DAILY BRIEFINGS – If your organization makes use of Workgroup / Departmental Communications – make sure to use this avenue when appropriate.

¨  INFO FLYERS – Posting teaser type information in Common Areas – could spur your People to want more.

SHARE YOUR RESULTS ¨  COMPANY NEWS – If

your organization makes use of a Company Newspaper – write an Article on what you have accomplished.

¨  READER BOARDS – When used are in common areas – make sure your message is too!

SHARE YOUR RESULTS Other Considerations when Sharing Your Results – ¨  HOW OFTEN – In order for your People to want to

frequently read, you have to keep your Results and Information – up-to-date. ¤ Postings that are old and outdated – will not spur your

People to come back to read more.

¨  WHAT TO SHARE – If you want your People to be a part of your efforts – you must show Results that affect them or that show improvements gained. ¤ Sharing “Case Study” type info with results attained

can answer – What, Why, When, Where, and How.

SHARE YOUR RESULTS ¨  ENLIST HELP – When

sharing your Results – don’t do it alone – use others to help spread the word.

¨  BE A VOICE – As the Driver of your efforts – you must be a constant cheerleader. ¤  Seize all opportunities to

communicate your Results.

CONTINUOUS INVOLVEMENT

A Successful Manager – is

one that is always

looking to keep His / Her

People ENGAGED

CONTINUOUS INVOLVEMENT

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT to me – is a never ending task for a Supervisor,

Manager, or Department Head.

¨  If you can keep Your People Engaged in what you do – the potential that you can achieve as a Work Group could be endless.

¨  But doing so will not be as easy – it will take hard work on your part and will most often require you to look outside your means.

CONTINUOUS INVOLVEMENT

The following are essential skills that are needed for Continuous Involvement –

①  Leaders should never be happy with Status Quo. §  Doing so will allow you and your People to be

passed by those wanting more.

②  Never Ending Learning – should be the personal characteristic of anyone looking to better themselves.

§  How else do you keep up with our constantly changing times before it leaves you behind.

CONTINUOUS INVOLVEMENT

The following are essential skills needed for CI (con’t) –

③  Embrace Change and expect Your People too! §  Be willing to accept Change – lest you be changed.

④  As mentioned above – Look Outside Your Box.

§  We all must find it in ourselves to look outside our norm, our everyday routine, the things that we find comfort with. Don’t take today for granted.

⑤  Don’t go it Alone – It is much easier to get there with many hands on deck…beating to the same drum…and going in the same direction.

CONTINUOUS INVOLVEMENT

The following are essential skills needed for CI (con’t) – ⑥  Continuous Involvement always looks for something

new – something not tried before. §  You must be continually looking to reshape what you

and your People do – in order to be prepared for tomorrow.

⑦  Learning from Others provides you the ability to not spend as much initial effort – since someone else has already done the leg work. §  There are so many sources available – Internet, Social

Portals, Networking – learn to use them all.

CONTINUOUS INVOLVEMENT

⑧  Always asking your People – “What If”. §  Often and frequently

ask your People for their Thoughts and Recommendations.

§  Include what they have to offer – since more than likely they are the ones involved with the every day details.

CONTINUOUS INVOLVEMENT

The following are essential skills needed for CI (con’t) –

⑨  Learn from Your Mistakes and don’t be afraid to admit and show it.

§  Not everything that you try or do will work.

§  You must be able to identify when it doesn’t – then recalibrate and try something new.

⑩  Make sure that the Goal of your effort is sound. §  Special efforts at your workplace should be intended

for the advance of your Organization or your People.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

¨  This sums up what I have to offer on Employee Engagement.

¨  I hope that you may have found something worthwhile for you to use in your efforts to Engage Your People.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

¨  My Thanks to those who took the awesome Lighting Strike Pictures that I found off the web.

¨  All credit goes to them whom took them.

¨  Their inclusion is to give you something to look at and wonder.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

¨  If you care to send me Your Comments – I welcome them.

¨  Please e-mail me at sdwisers25@gmail.com

¨  Good Luck in your endeavors to Engage Your People…They are so critical in what you do.