Developing Your Employee Engagement Strategy For Business Success: Part 2

Time for a new approach…

In Part 1, we took a closer look at:

- Introducing employee engagement - The business case - How do you do it?

- Building an engagement strategy

We looked at the traditional engagement approach – a transactional process, which is rarely followed up or acted upon.

We think it’s time for a new approach – and in Part 2, we’ll let you in on the secret behind successful, sustainable employee

engagement.

• 2

Time for a new approach – but what does this look like?

• 3

What can we learn from

positive psychology?

Focus on the (positive) psychology of engagement

The current paradigm:

Work harder

More Success

Happier/Engage

d

But this formula is scientifically broken

• Every time we have a success the goalposts change: we reach our sales targets, so we get set higher targets

• So we’re continually pushing happiness over our cognitive horizon

• And in fact…. The opposite is true – positive brains perform significantly better than negative, neutral or stressed brains

• So if we focus on creating happy, positive, engaged brains, or people, we are more successful

• Research shows increases in intelligence, creativity and energy when we are in a positive state

• This translates into business outcomes

Positive thinking

• Lyobomirsky 2005 found:

– 31% increase in productivity

– Improved resilience

– Less burnout

– Less employee turnover

– Increased sales by 37%

– When your brain is in a positive state it performs better

then in a neutral, negative or stressed state

Why is this?

The formula is the wrong way round

• Being in a positive brain state releases Dopamine

• This makes you feel happier

• But it also turns on all your learning centers in

your brain

Work harder

More Success

Happier/Engage

d

Discovery“the best of what

is”Appreciating

Destiny“How will we get

there”Sustaining

Design“What should be”Co-constructing

Dream “What could be”

Envisioning

Definition“what frames our

inquiry”Framing

Taking a strength based approach to engagement using appreciative inquiry

SEE THE DIFFERENCE

BE THE DIFFERENCE

SHAPE THE DIFFERENCE

IMAGINE THE DIFFERENCE

CHANGE

The employee engagement toolkit

Did it work?

• 87% of employees voluntarily signed a consent form to reduce salaries if required –potential £1.2 million saving

• Survey response rates increased from 50% to 94%• Improved engagement scores across the board• Contribution towards £2.5 million reduction in

operating costs • Volume of local activity focusing on reducing costs

and increasing sales• An example of best practice, finalist CIPR Pride

awards and Personnel Today awards

Engagement techniques

Appreciative inquiry

ConversationsStorytelling

Employee led change

Listening groups

Anecdote circles

Employee has a voice

and feels listened to

Measuring Engagement

The measurement challenge

What are we actually measuring? – this is why our definition is so important!

“you sort of smell it don’t you? What goes on in meetings, how people talk to each other. You get

their sense of energy, engagement, commitment, belief in what the organisation

stands for…” Lord Currie, Dean of Cass Business School

“you know if when you see it” David MacLeod

The Survey• Useful as a foundation for insights for action• Health warning – it is only a small part of the jigsaw!• There are a whole range of different survey tools out there,

exactly what aspect of engagement these tools analyse will vary:1. Level of engagement as a scale or percentage – allows

benchmarking2. Identification of key drivers of engagement via

regression analysis3. Pre-conditions of engagement4. Outcomes of engagement5. Attitudes

•15

What do the different surveys out there look at?

Towers Perrin: ‘Extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work’

Gallup: ‘Involvement with & enthusiasm for work’

Hewitt: ‘Intellectual & emotional commitment to the organization’

Hay Group: ‘stimulating employees’ enthusiasm for their work and directing it toward organizational success’

The Evaluation Model

Process

Impact

Outcomes

Measures audience perception e.g. this meeting was useful

Measures initial impact e.g. I think this is a great place to work

Measures business outcome, often behaviour change e.g. lower employee attrition

Your strategy roadmap- evaluating your impact

You role – sustainable engagement

Communicating your strategy

• Using your strategy roadmap• We need a consortium – engagement

doesn’t sit neatly in one place• Who will help you bring your strategy to

life?• What do they need to think, feel and do to

support your strategy?

Your personal commitments

What next?You have a choice

Thank you!

Fancy a chat?emma@peoplelab.co.uk07595 465515@miss_commslab & @peoplelab_www.peoplelab.co.uk