24 May 2007
Why communicators won't "fatten the sheep by weighing it"
Measurement's the talk of the town at Melcrum's 3rd Annual Employee Engagement conference.
If you're seeking pointers for how to measure your employees' opinions, and how often, then this week's 3rd Annual Employee Engagement conference in London has all your answers.
Approximately 140 delegates are attending the conference, which this year concentrates on "Transforming engagement strategy into action".
Introducing flexible flexibility
Mark Blundell, head of HR operations at fast-food retailer, McDonald's,
kicked off the presentations yesterday morning, talking about the organization's
flexible workplace program.
Blundell explained how it differentiates between "flexible flexibility" and "inflexible flexibility". So, instead of just offering "inflexible flexibility" – typical flexible workplace allowances offered by many companies (employees leaving early in order to collect their school-aged children, etc), McDonald's accommodates employees who prefer a more "ad-hoc", irregular timetable with "flexible flexibility" (for example, an aspirant actor who might need to take regular days off to attend auditions).
McDonald's employees are now demanding extra computers to be available in each branch's staffroom so that they can access the 'Our Lounge' site.
Having identified that many of its employees had poorly developed basic literacy and numeracy skills, McDonald's introduced a skills-development program, which in turn led to developing the "Our Lounge" online community for employees. Our Lounge has helped to improve engagement levels and communication, as employees are now demanding extra computers to be available in each branch's staffroom so that they can access the site.
Identifying future fashions
During a particularly energetic session from Jeremy Starling, managing
director of The
Eventworks
business consultancy, delegates were transformed into fashion directors.
During a particularly energetic session, delegates were transformed into fashion directors.
As part of his drive to prove that the key to engagement is involvement – getting staff to play an active role in setting and shaping the organization's goals – Starling set out nine mannequins around the room and asked delegate groups to "dress" the models as various communications "superheroes". "Maverick Man", "Best Practice Man" and "Old Skool Woman" all featured, but in the end the winning trophy was awarded to "Future Woman" (see Figure 1, below) as "she" displayed all the attributes that a future communicator should possess: a communicator's toolkit, forward-thinking, big heart, a good listener, able to accept criticism positively...and of course, great shoes!
Figure 1. "Future Woman" claims victory at the conference 
Just the fact that you measure it won't affect the levels of engagement - you have to act on the feedback.
Fattening your flock
Debbie Whitaker, group head of people product management at global
bank, Standard
Chartered Bank, wasn't the first person of the day
to mention using Q12 survey questions from performance management
research organization, Gallup, as
part of her company's measurement activities.
Whitaker was keen to stress that "You don't fatten the sheep by weighing it." She said "Just the fact that you measure it won't affect the levels of engagement – you have to act on the feedback" – which is exactly what Standard Chartered Bank do. Partly due to taking action on comments provided in the Q12 responses, 45% of the bank's employees are now highly engaged. For a large organization, the global average is apparently 25-30%.
Engagement vital for customer focus
Day two
has seen speakers talking about using engagement to create customer focused
employees in both the public and private sectors.
The day began with a presentation by Richard Roberts, head of resourcing
and people engagement at mobile phone network operator, Virgin
Mobile.
Roberts explained that his organization's entire culture is based
around the idea that happy employees will mean happy customers. He told
the audience about the close link between the company's brand and
its engagement objectives.
"Our brand is completely focused on the customer," said Roberts. "I
want our people to say 'I love working for Virgin Mobile.'
People who are enthused will achieve the company's goals better
than ones who aren't," he said.
People who are enthused will achieve the company's goals better than ones who aren't.
Unleashing active dialogue
Next to speak was Chris Hipwell, a senior communications consultant
at UK tax-gathering organization, Her
Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), who talked to the audience
about his team is working with the department's
top 500 senior managers in order to change its culture.
"Our goals aren't that different from Virgin Mobile's," Hipwell
said. "We're trying to create a customer-oriented culture
by unlocking the dialogue between very talented, but not communications-savvy
senior managers, who normally don't take the initiative in communicating
actively," he
said.
Paul Middleton, internal communications manager at local authority, Westminster City Council, spoke about driving its "Worksmart" change program, and discovering that internal communications is "easy, as long as things are done in the right order". The annual budget for internal communications at Westminster is £16,000. "But you don’t need a huge budget to make engagement work. You can do a lot with a little if you understand your employees, research the issues and argue for involving staff in making plans," Middleton said.
For more news and views about the 3rd Annual Employee Engagement conference, check out the Melcrum Blog for more discussion.
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