Employee Engagement InTurbulent Times

By,

Mr. Deepak Bharara

Director HR – Lanco Infratech Ltd

1990’sThe Policy Changes

2000The Dotcom

Bust

2005Terrorism &

Security

2010The Great Recession

Testing Times

Should the context of TIME be our Focus? Or

How We proactively & productively engage employees?

Fast Growth

Cut Throat

Competition

Increased

Market

Share

Global

Presence

Testing

Times

Land Acquisition

Project Finance

FUEL LINKAGES(Coal/Gas)

Project Management

CapabilityAvailability

of EPC Contractor at Remote Locations

Poor Health of Discoms/

SEBs

Cost of Power - State

control on selling of

Power

Local Agitations

Challenges of Power Sector

Challenges of

LANCO

Regulatory Challenges

Succession planning- creation of leadership pipeline

Capability Development to meet dynamic business scenario

Effective Project

Management- Timely Completion

Fuel Availability & Logistics

of Fuel Evacuation

Value Based

Leadership

Ensuring system

effectiveness

• Insecurity – Downsizing/Salary cuts/ withdrawal of benefits

• Unable to anticipate the future• Heavy workload with limited resources and/or salary

Low Engagemen

t

• Direct correlation between the level of employee engagement and the productivity/success of the business organization. 

• Difficult economic phases create pressure to optimize resources and results

Low Productivit

y

Impact of Economic Slowdown on Employees

What makes good companies great is their ability to attract, retain, and engage the right employees – in difficult times, even more so.

Environment/Time[Non

Controllable]

Factors that Influence

• The Cascading effect : Engagement starts at top, and without engaged senior leadership, companies are not be able to engage the hearts and minds of their employees.

• Turbulent times call for bold leadership in all sectors and in spheres

• It is essential to learn leadership fundamentals, in order to maintain high morale.

• Make sure that all individuals are in the correct positions and have strong leadership skills in place in order to face challenges.

• Engage with leaders who have successfully thrive during difficult economic times.

• Develop a strong leadership pipeline in an organization.

• Engaged managers are more likely to build engaged teams

Leadership drives Engagement

Distinctive Leadership practices influencing Engagement

Connecting with employees Effectively communicate the organisation’s goals and objectives

Consistently demonstrate the organisation’s values in all behaviours and actions

Appropriately balance employee interests with those of the organisation

Fill employees with excitement for the future of the organisation

Performance focussed Effectively communicate the organisation’s goals and objectives

Empower managers and employees and instil a culture of accountability

Set aggressive goals at all levels of the organisation

Future and development oriented Communicate the importance of spending time on feedback and provide performance coaching

Fill employees with excitement about the future of the organisation

Effectively communicate the skills/capabilities employees must develop for future success

Invest in long-term growth opportunities, even during difficult times

*Source: Aon Hewitt

Re-Engagement in Tough Times

Stay Centred to your Core Values 

Explicitly Support your Employee

Solicit Employee Feedback

Communicate Up Front with Employees

Commit to Your Employee’s Employment

Enhance Career Growth , Learning & Development

Increase Recognition

Demonstrate a strong commitment to employee well being

Innovative and sustainable business practices

Engagement – Responsibility at different Levels

Employee Engagement is the responsibility of the entire work force and at all

levels in the organization

Individual Level

Managerial level

Executive level

Responsibility at Individual Level

Engagement is fundamentally an individualized equation – reflects each person’s unique relationship with work

Individuals must: Own their engagement – they are ultimately responsible for their personal and

professional success

Be clear on their core values and goals – if they do not know what is important to them, they will not find it in their current job, or potentially in any other

Take action –need to take Initiative

To Build their skill sets

To Articulate their interests

To Satisfy their core values

To Identify ways to apply their talents to achieve organization’s goals

To Have conversations about reshaping their jobs

To Clarify their work priorities

To Get the support they need from Managers

Responsibility at Managerial Level

Managers matter – they work in the core where employee engagement happens – or does not – their sphere of control is limited – they can’t change direction if the organization is stumbling, and they can’t actually make employees Engaged

Managers must, however: Take control of their own engagement – remember they are individual employees first,

managers second

Facilitate team members’ unique engagement equations through coaching – understand each member’s unique interests, talents and aspirations – align individuals’ passions and proficiencies with clearly articulated organizational priorities and projects – keep the dialogue going by providing feedback, course corrections and development opportunities to ensure high performance

Build Relationships – drop the veil of your positions and become known to employees, sharing personal motivation for work, challenges, appropriate weaknesses, the reasons they came to the organization – and why they stay

Appreciate team dynamics – need to deal quickly with potential problems and also capitalize on the enthusiasm and work ethic of Engaged team members to ignite the team as a whole

Responsibility at Executive Level

Executive Behaviour sometimes matters more than manager actions – after all, they have the farthest reach

To fulfill their ‘individual’ and ‘manager’ responsibilities, Executives need to – Commit or quit – regularly reflect on why they joined and why they stay

Pay attention to engagement of their direct reports – if they expect leaders at all levels to coach their people to higher levels of engagement but do not do it themselves, they undermine their message

Executives also need to – Talk about engagement with passion – weave engagement into the daily workplace

conversations

Build a culture that fuels engagement – promote practices that propel High Performance and weed out practices that undermine performance

Inspire commit & trust – communicate ‘what’ and ‘why’ of decisions, demonstrate visible commitment to organization success in their ‘Actions’

Set a clear direction – Clearly Articulated Compelling Vision Strategy

LANCO Infratech Limited From 2006 - 2013

A Saga of High Growth to Slow Down

LANCO’s Rapid Growth (2006-10)

Levels Engagement Initiatives

Individual

1. Work on cross functional roles2. Taking new projects/ responsibilities3. Aligning oneself with the big picture

Manager

1. Rewards & Recognition2. Transparent Performance Management3. Aligning individual KRA’s with Business Goals4. Team Parties5. Celebration of special Occasions

Executive

1. Building Leadership Framework2. Working on Succession Management3. Building the Lanco Culture4. Organization Structuring5. Technological Up gradation

Levels Engagement Initiatives

Individual

1. Developing knowledge & skills Level2. Cross Functional Projects3. Participating in open sessions with seniors & HR4. Revisiting processes5. Cost Control initiatives

Manager

1. Carving out new roles for team members within function/other function /other group company

2. Town Halls3. Coffee Meetings4. Celebrating small successes5. Developing Team Members6. Cost Control Measures

Executive

1. Open & Transparent Communication2. Building organization Culture3. Focusing on Values of the organization4. Re aligning Organization Structure5. Cost Efficient Culture

LANCO’s Slow Down (2010-13)

Mistakes to be Avoided during Employee Engagement Initiatives

1. Consistently asking for feedback and not taking action once received

2. Glossing over the hard stuff, and without getting to the root of real issues. If an organisation focuses only on fun without addressing the core issues, fun activities are wasted

3. Not outlining clear ownership between HR, and business units, and within business units, or ensuring the action owners have the authority required to make critical changes

4. Connecting engagement to performance measures without monitoring the negative impacts it can create, e.g. Gaming. Although what gets measured, gets done, measuring the wrong things can create adverse effects

5. Trying to change the engagement score, rather than fix the issues that make up the score. Programmes focused on changing engagement must be connected to business core values, and tied to the operating principles and behaviour of the organisation

6. Misjudging the performance anatomy, culture or values of an organisation. How a company performs on engagement is in many ways tied to the performance anatomy of their organisation, its culture, personality and leadership

- DIAL/HIAL

Or

-Turnaround

aREAL TIME SUCESSS STORIES on Active Employees Engagement

POWER OF EMPLOYEES ENGAGEMENT

Top Trends Lead to Focus on Employee Engagement- Unprecedented Changes are happening in global market place

Employee-employer relationship evolving/changing to partnerships

Increased demand for work life balance

HR’s greater role in promoting the link between employee performance and its impact on business goals

Increasing focus on selective retention for keeping mission critical talent

Work intensification as employers increase productivity with fewer employees and resources

Acquiring and keeping key talent re-emerging as top issues of concern

Decline in traditional communication methods and increase in cyber communication

Needs, wants and behaviors of the talent pool driving changes in attraction, selection and retention practices