Engagement: A new approach for a new decade
At Melcrum’s SCM Summit UK, the keynote speech was delivered by Wayne Clarke, managing partner at Best Companies Partnership. Clarke set the scene for the two days by sharing the engagement secrets of organizations listed in the Sunday Times 100 Best Companies To Work For. Here’s a snapshot of some of the ideas he offered to take employee engagement to new heights as we enter a new year and a new decade.
by Sona Hathi, editor, Melcrum
The concept of engagement has been around for a few years now, but according to Wayne Clarke, (pictured, right) there’s never been a better time to revisit it. “Over the past 18 months, large-scale organizational change, job losses, a decline in corporate reputation and massive cuts in budget have forced us to look at engagement from a fresh perspective. What does employee engagement mean in today’s world? Is it still important? Why should we invest in engagement? Who should we be engaging and who’s responsible for doing so? And last but not least how do we engage in today’s tough climate?”
Before engagement: Quality dialogue
The Best Companies Partnership gets an in-depth look at the engagement levels inside hundreds of organizations when compiling the Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For list, so they’re well placed to identify what the most important contributing factors are. But Clarke argues that before engagement, comes quality dialogue. “Our data has demonstrated for years that engagement leads to better customer service which leads to an increase in cash flow. But more recently we’ve identified quality dialogue as the beginning of the process. And this is where internal communicators come in. Facilitating and encouraging managers and leaders to have open conversations, share information and listen to employees has a huge impact on engagement, and as a result on the company’s profitability.”
Clarke outlined the issues employees are asked about when measuring the level of quality dialogue within a company, and approaches you can take to resolve them:
- My manager shares important knowledge and information with me. Approach: Share the important information.
- My manager talks openly and honestly with me. Approach: talk openly and honestly.
- My manager regularly expresses his or her appreciation when I do a good job. Approach: Formalize the way we recognize progress, help managers do this.
- What’s expected of me and my work is made clear to me. Approach: Cause clarity, during difficult times people want certainty.
- Senior managers do a lot of telling and not enough listening. Approach: Help senior management to truly listen.
- My manager does a lot of telling but not much listening. Approach: Help managers listen.
Strategic steps to higher engagement
However, before quality dialogue, there are three other operational and strategic steps that the best organizations are known to take in order to score highly in Best Companies’ engagement factors. The first of these steps is “Primary Purpose”. Clarke says organizations must ask themselves: Why do we exist? What’s the core purpose of this organization? Making money shouldn’t be the answer. Ask yourself how does your organization make a difference to people and the wider world? Clarke offered the following example of what happens in the absence of a primary purpose.
“At one particular law firm, employees were of the highest calibre. Bright, young and driven, with degrees from Oxford and Cambridge Universities, but the employees had problems with creating their personal development plans. This was because the leadership was so paternalistic, they didn’t feel it necessary to share with employees the company’s purpose and vision. This absence of primary purpose had a huge impact on engagement levels.”
Company values, morals and “Core Principles” can also affect engagement levels. Clarke has seen first hand that organizations that articulate the corporate values and demonstrate how leaders live the company values tend to have higher levels of engagement.
Do you have an “outrageous ambition”?
Perhaps Best Companies’ most interesting idea is that we truly need to carry forward into the new decade if we want to create a highly engaged workforce is “Outrageous Ambition”.
Ths is the idea that future events that haven’t yet taken place can shift your present behavior. Giving employees a clear picture of the future and something to work towards, will make them act differently today. Clarke says organizations should ask themselves: What is there to aim for? “So many companies have lost this ambition, so many leaders have lost the dream! How can you expect employees to be ambitious and motivated if leaders themselves have lost sight of the company’s dream?”
Have your say
How do you measure engagement in your organization? Have you been through the Best Companies process? How did it change your corporate culture?
Recommended resources:
Essential techniques for employee engagement
What makes your employees tick?
CASE STUDY: Engaging Renault Truck employees with the World Café concept
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