Happy employees and their link to organizational success.

Employee engagement and empowerment represent powerful ways to enhance productivity and profitability. Valued employees are happy employees; and happy employees are what drive business success.

There are several steps that will help to empower and engage your employees. The top five are covered here.

1. Perception of job importance - If your employees feel that their jobs are important, they will feel valued, and you will have employee loyalty.

2. Clear expectations - Clear expectations, basic materials, and equipment must be provided or negative emotions such as boredom may result. Employees will become more focused on getting through the day than about how to help the organization succeed.

3. Regular feedback from superiors - Feedback is the key to giving employees a sense of where they're going. Many companies are lacking in this department. This feedback has to be positive as well as constructively critical.

4. Use a suggestion box - Allowing your employees a say in what is being done in the work place will strengthen their pride in their job and let them feel as if they have an affect on the company's operations.

5. Effective communications - Employees want to know what is happening in the workplace. Accepting that employees wish to feel involved in what they are doing is the first step in creating a more productive work environment.

Employee Engagement: I WANT IT, what is it?

CORNELL UNIVERSITY
2007 White Papers
Employee Engagement: What Do We Really Know? What Do We Need To Know To Take Action?
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: PAPER ABSTRACTS

Employee Engagement: I WANT IT, what is it?

There is confusion and misdirection as to what exactly employee engagement is. The primary causes of this confusion and misdirection are a lack of congruity concerning the definition and measurement of employee engagement and a lack of distinction from other closely related concepts. This paper addresses these issues in greater detail as well as provides advice for human resource leaders.

Employee Engagement and Fairness in the Workplace

There is little doubt that employee engagement can be strengthened by fairness and its related elements, just as employee engagement can be weakened by unfairness and the like. As both the workforce and the workplace evolve, organizations may find that in order to win the “war for talent,” they must first win the battle for employees’ hearts. Justice, trust, perception and risks are only a few pieces of a greater puzzle; and their roles are can be made clearer. This paper clarifies these roles and addresses the links between fairness and engagement as well as discusses the impacts of perceived unfair treatment on engagement.

Old Wine in New Bottles? Engagement and the Bottom Line

Beginning with a discussion of employee engagement as a theoretical construct and its operation within the firm, this paper examines the extant research linking engagement, and related measures of employee attitudes and commitment, with bottom-line financial results. From here, discrepancies between and within the academic and practitioner literatures are addressed as are possible alternative explanations of the engagement-business-outcome relationship. Last, the implications for HR managers and executives are considered.

Employee Engagement and Change Management

This paper provides an overview of change management and employee engagement. It details background information on the two concepts; relates the two concepts to each other; introduces findings on the relationship between organizational commitment and change management; discusses types, key functions, and strategies of change management; and presents barriers to as well as success stories about engagement during change management initiatives.

Communicating for Engagement

By now, it has become common knowledge among HR executives and the employees within their respective firms that the nature of internal communication within the organization can have a dramatic, if not revolutionary, impact on the conduct of business. However, the methods of communication your company employs as well as the manner in which those methods are carried out can have a large effect on both the process and results of your company’s efforts to get the workforce engaged. This paper explores how to maximize the effectiveness of your company’s engagement efforts by maximizing the effectiveness of communication within the firm.

"Seeing Clearly:" Employee Engagement and Line of Sight

Establishing a clear line of sight and building an employer brand around it from inside the organization while leveraging leadership, communication, employee development and corporate & social responsibility may not be something entirely new to the world of strategic HRM, but it does appear to be a worthwhile investment, especially with regard to employee engagement. This paper examines engagement as it relates to employment these subjects and offers suggestions for HR practitioners.

The idea of creating a more engaged workforce is not a new idea. For decades, managers have been looking at the organizational factors, which engage (or disengage) employees. The manager, not the pay, benefits, perks, etc. was the key in building and sustaining a strong workplace.

Currently, about half the Fortune 500 companies conduct formal employee engagement surveys on a periodic basis, such as every two years. In addition, thousands of smaller companies also conduct such surveys.After thousands of surveys, a set of "best practices" actions has emerged to guide companies in conducting engagement surveys. Foremost, if you are going to conduct an engagement survey, you must have a strategy in place to implement the results.

Employees didn't believe that management had any interest in making changes based on what they said in the surveys. In short, the studies were counter-productive because the employees felt that the results were ignored. What happens if you do implement the results? Over the long run, it appears highly likely that companies who listen to their employees and implement key suggested changes see an increase in engagement, productivity, and profitability.

When companies focus on the problem, research suggests that it is possible to increase the number of engaged employees significantly, resulting in an almost corresponding increase in profitability.H ow much can you increase engagement?

The bottom line about employee engagement surveys is that they work, provided that you commit to implementing the results.

The 14 Keys of Employee Engagement

Posted by David Zinger on October 6, 2009

14 Keys of Employee Engagement
“You sort of smell it, don’t you, that engagement of people as people. What goes on in meetings, how people talk to each other. You get the sense of energy, engagement, commitment, belief in what the organisation stands for,” is how Lord Currie, former Chair of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) and Dean of Cass Business School, puts it. From the United Kingdom MacLeod Report: “Engaging for Success: Enhancing Performance through Employee Engagement”.

Employee Engagement, as a term, has been around since the 1990’s and has recently gathered exponentially increased attention. The United Kingdom just released the above-mentioned MacLeod Report: Engaging for Success: Enhancing Performance through Employee Engagement to bring engagement to the top of everyone’s agenda. The United States government released two reports entitled The Power of Federal Engagement and Managing for Engagement. A Google search of employee engagement 2 years ago found about 300,000 resources while a Google search of employee engagement today revealed 1,640,000 resources.
So what is engagement? Employee engagement is a lot like love. You don’t have to wear a ring and always love your job but employee engagement and love are defined in so many different ways. Each consulting company seems to have their own definition. Some seem to define it as feeling good about your company, some define it as getting more discretionary effort from employees and some define it as a high response to 12 questions that include having a friend and getting feedback.

The Zinger definition of engagement :Employee engagement is the art and science of engaging people in authentic and recognized connections to strategy, roles, performance,
organization, community, relationship, customers, development, energy, and happiness
to leverage, sustain, and transform work into results.

“4Cs” Model of Employee Satisfaction

All Insightlink reports are structured on the basis of our “4Cs” model of Employee Satisfaction, which categorizes most survey results into one of four factors that influence and sustain employee involvement. These four factors are: Culture, Commitment, Communications and Compensation.

Most of the measures are based on 5-point agreement or rating scales. Wherever appropriate, summary means have been provided in addition to percentage distributions. The means are also calculated on a 5-point scale, with “1” being low and “5” being high.

Key benchmark norms have been included in this report to give context for organizations' performance against a norm for all U.S. employees and, when available, against a representative norm for their industry.

These benchmark norms are derived from an independent Insightlink study conducted annually among employees in the U.S. This study is based on representative samples of employees that is rigorously designed to match the most recent U.S. Census demographics and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics industry distribution.

Communicating Action Plans

Accountability is one of the most crucial ingredients when implementing Action Plans. Without accountability for implementing each Action Plan, little or no organizational change will occur. Employees often experience a sense of chaos and uncertainty when their organization makes changes to its current systems and practices, even when those changes are meant to improve the overall work environment. As a result, it is critical to create a communications strategy in conjunction with your Action Plan and to designate a person responsible for implementing the communications plan. Once an Action Plan is set, the plan sponsor and/or the applicable Task Force should host meetings with the qualified employees to present and discuss the Action Plan. These meetings should focus on three simple topics:

The actions to be taken immediately and by whom.
The actions to be taken in the medium- and
longer-term, and the parties responsible for these actions.

Employee recommendations or expectations that cannot be implemented (at least over the short term) and the reasons why the organization cannot meet these expectations at this time. As the implementation process unfolds, it is also important to send periodic updates to employees regarding the status of each major Action Plan item. This communication will lend additional credibility to the survey process by reminding employees that the ideas, suggestions and concerns they expressed were clearly heard and are being acted upon. Just as important, this periodic communication will increase the accountability of those responsible for carrying out the Action Plan. It is important that employees recognize the value of their participation in the survey process by regularly seeing both improvements and progress reports. Remember to share successes so that organization-wide communications can reinforce everyone's efforts and contributions to the process.

Leveraging the Connections between Employee Engagement, Customer Satisfaction and Organizational Strength

Companies with high levels of employee engagement earn returns that are more than double those of the overall market" While there is no magic pill or instant solution for employee engagement, Insightlink's years of experience with organizations of different sizes and spanning various industries reveal clear connections between employee engagement and organizational strength. One of the strongest connections is often customer satisfaction. Connection is the link - whether it has the strength of a chain or the precariousness of a thin thread - that correlates employee engagement to an organization's strength (most typically financial strength).

Engaged employees function as the beginning of the link and, ideally, the other side or end is the organization's strength as a whole…the customer satisfaction in between is the crux of the link. That link takes the strength of employee engagement and leverages it into revenue growth and profitability. Engaged employees perform in a manner that leads customers to act more loyally, which generally leads to greater profits and future growth. Disengaged employees (such as what Insightlink's 4Cs framework calls "Dissatisfied Compromisers") do just the opposite.

So how do we help organizations build and strengthen this link? When it comes to employee engagement, the process and practice for appropriate alignment of survey results with subsequent action planning optimally include:

Leadership involvement from senior executives, particularly the top executive
Clarifying and establishing overall objectives
Determining drivers of engagement
Effectively communicating the objectives to the internal audience at all levels
Aligning to objectives, including appropriate accountability
Measurement of the work-life environment
Acting on the results

The underlying premise is that successful organizations need to retain people who care about their work, who care about how they perform it and who care about the overall success of the company. Ready to see how you can benefit from increased engagement? Get an instant quote now or call us at 866-802-8095 x705. Like so many of our customers who return year after year, seeing an average of 6-7% points improvement in their overall employee satisfaction, you'll be glad you did.

Organizational Strength

The strongest organizations are able to successfully develop the ideal combination of (1) quality products and/or services, (2) economic viability and (3) a positive work environment based on fairness, recognition of employee needs and adherence to the organization's values. Such combinations are not easily created and need to be carefully nurtured if the organization is to continue to thrive. The importance of these factors and policies are the basis behind Insightlink's 4Cs model of employee satisfaction, with the four key drivers being Commitment, Culture, Communications and Compensation. Adopting a deliberate focus on Commitment requires organizations to recognize the fundamental role that employees play in the success of the organization. This means thinking beyond the traditional emphasis on physical and investment capital and incorporating the value of "human capital" into the calculation of success, especially with the development of the knowledge economy. Commitment is one of the factors that can help "inoculate" an organization against turnover, at a time when there is an increasing need for companies to find and hold onto their most talented employees. These days, the success of an organization is even more dependent on having a stable and committed workforce whose contributions coalesce into productive group actions. An important contributor to this need is the fact that it is becoming more difficult to replace employees because their knowledge and skills are often more refined and specialized than in the past. Finding and keeping good employees in this environment is imperative but it is not going to be easy - according to Insightlink's Employee Norms for 2005, three-in-ten employees do not expect to stay at their current organization for more than 2 years. As noted earlier, although six-in-ten employees see themselves as being generally committed to their organizations, almost the same proportion do not believe that their organization is committed to them. Although external factors, such as the health of the economy and the availability of work, influence the level of turnover, many organizations fail to recognize that employer/employee relationships are often weak and that it is up to organizations to demonstrate, in a very real way, that they are serious and committed to their employees. In order to achieve and maintain success, organizations need to recognize the following three components of building and managing a truly committed workforce:
Attracting qualified employees Developing those employees over time Building a bond of trust and commitment with those employees

Organizations necessarily need to establish a "reservoir" of prospective, talented employees and a very important element of this is how attractive the organization is as a "mate" (building on the notion of a "marriage" between employers and employees.) The organization's reputation, to those outside of the organization as well as inside it, has a vital impact over its ability to continually attract talented employees. It is very well established that, if an organization treats employees well, they will give back as much or more in terms of both physical and emotional commitment. Corporate respect for employees is manifested in a wide variety of ways, including fairness in the application of company policies, opportunities for growth and development, recognition of employee needs and a clean, safe working environment. A good relationship is exciting and it develops and grows. There is camaraderie around shared values and interests and the enduring sense that each will "be there" for the other when needed. Organizations that are able to create commitment among their employees realize that commitment is ultimately personal. This is the hard part of commitment that has profound implications for corporate conduct. It requires consistency in action at the same time as recognizing the need for flexibility and requires making decisions about what employees are prepared and not prepared to do. It requires the patient and concerted attention of the whole organization. Some of the essentials for building commitment include communicating with employees in an honest and open way, realistically assessing their capacity to engage in various initiatives, giving worthwhile feedback, making effective decisions and taking chances. Every organization needs to enhance the capabilities of its workforce over time, which is why many organizations offer both formal and informal training. However, employees themselves also have to be willing to make the effort needed to improve their skills to help them better meet organizational goals. Commitment to one's occupation is a helpful stimulus for personal growth and Insightlink's Employee Norms suggest that this level of commitment is quite high, since almost seven-in-ten agree that they are committed to their careers and the type of work they do. However, the organization must foster the type of environment that encourages and facilitates the "natural" desire on the part of the part of employees to continually refine and develop their skills and knowledge. Importantly, this should include having clear career development plans for employees, since lack of such opportunities is an important contributor to employee turnover. Organizations need to avoid creating a scenario in which their employees act and are treated more as a collection of independent contractors rather than as a united and cohesive group. Or, to continue the marriage analogy, employees who see their relationship with their employers more as "dating" than as "marriage" are, by definition, not going to be as committed or willing to go "the extra mile" for their employers when necessary. Daters have relationships that are transient with no substantive long-term obligations and do not engage in activities that would be part of a more enduring relationship. On the other hand, "marriage" infers a strong expectation of permanence and a range of obligations on both sides that are intended to improve the quality of the relationship over time. As a first step towards improving employee retention, conduct an employee opinion survey (EOS). Such surveys are conducted for many reasons, from measuring the overall employee experience to finding out their feelings on a particular issue, plan or change within the organization. How well do employees communicate with each other and with management, what's hurting or helping their morale, how do they feel about the pay and benefits provided and how committed are they to the organization as a whole? These are only a small sample of the questions that can be addressed with a survey. More importantly, a company's culture has a very powerful influence over its work environment, which means that culture directly impacts employee satisfaction, morale and the level of commitment they will feel towards that company. Insightlink's Organizational Barometer can help organizations determine how well their company's values and mission fit with those of their employees and how strongly employees are committed to the company's current strategic direction. Understanding the extent of employee commitment is critical to maximizing the success of a company. Insightlink Communications has developed a proprietary matrix-based evaluation methodology for analyzing employee commitment that will give a clear "snapshot" to track over time. Even more critically, conducting an employee opinion survey with Insightlink lets organizations compare their performance on a wide range of measures against Insightlink's nationally representative and validated EOS normative database. Insightlink benchmark norms are derived from an independent study conducted by Insightlink on an annual basis among employees in the U.S. This study is based on a representative sample of employees that is rigorously designed to match the most recent U.S. Census demographics and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics industry distribution and includes benchmarks not only for all employees in the U.S. but for all major industry classifications as well.

Employee engagement has been a buzz word in the human resources community for several years, but there remains an urgent need for scientifically-grounded advice for HR consultants and practitioners from survey experts as to how to measure and increase it.

Custome or syndicated research from Insightlink shows enagagement by industry, what employee engagement means in those industries and identifies its primary drivers.

Insightlink's 4Cs study will change the level of engagement in any organization.

You'll see what it means to create a culture of engagement, get a practical presentation deck and talking points managers can use to introduce the concept of engagement in their organization as well as be able to addresses issues of work-life balance, and non-work activities and their relationship to engagement at work

Part II: "people don't leave their jobs, they leave their managers"

Today, employee loyalty needs to be earned, rather than assumed, and must be specific, rather than general - employee surveys say that people are looking at their employment as a means of achieving personal goals rather than simply being the "good corporate soldier" of the past. This means that companies need to express and act on a commitment to develop employees' career objectives by introducing initiatives that make employees believe that their current job is the best path to achieving their career goals. In particular, consider the following elements of effective strategies designed to build loyalty and retain key employees: Include opportunities for personal growth and invest heavily in the professional development of the best people in the organization.

Provide employees with well-defined career paths (including a succession plan), mentors and tuition reimbursement for job-related education. Train employees, even if it makes them more attractive to the competition. Without seeing an opportunity on the horizon, few high potential employees will stay with a company and allow themselves to grow stagnant. Acknowledge non-work priorities by recognizing and responding to employees' needs for greater balance in their lives, since employees will develop loyalty for organizations that respect them as individuals, not just as workers.

Another approach to the issue of loyalty is to consider the value of the five "I's": Interesting work. No one wants to do the same boring job over and over, day after day. Although any job will require some repetitive tasks, all jobs should include at least some parts that are of high interest to employees. Information. Information is power and employees want to have the information they need to know to do their jobs better and more effectively. And, more than ever, employees want to know how they are doing in their jobs and how the company is performing overall. It is vitally important to open the channels of communication in an organization to allow employees to be informed, ask questions, and share information and to inspire them to share the vision of the company. Involvement. Managers today are faced with an incredible number of opportunities and problems and, as the speed of business continues to increase, the amount of time that they have to make decisions continues to decrease. Involving employees in decision-making, especially when the decisions affect them directly, is both respectful and practical. Not only do those closest to the problem typically have the best insight as to what to do, involving them in decision-making will increase their commitment and improve the success of implementing new ideas or change.

Similarly, management needs to follow through on promises and live the values they preach. Independence. Few employees want their every action to be closely monitored. Most employees appreciate having the flexibility to do their jobs as they see fit. Giving employees latitude increases the chance that they will perform as desired, as well as bringing additional initiative, ideas, and energy to their jobs. Employees also need to be encouraged to achieve their best potential. Increased visibility. Everyone appreciates getting credit when it is due. The occasions to share the successes of employees with others are almost limitless. Giving employees new opportunities to perform, learn, and grow as a form of recognition and thanks is highly motivating for most people. Another important strategy for improving loyalty is to implement a systematic process of performance reviews, since effective reviews can simultaneously increase employee morale and productivity.

To achieve their primary objectives, such as improving the working relationship between employee and supervisor, performance reviews should be structured so as to: Accurately define the employee's job description, including a focus on the skills most important to the employee's job Discuss the job skills the employee performs well on and identify areas that need improvement so as to fairly summarize their most recent job performance Set mutual and worthwhile goals, which are the heart of a professional growth plan Provide useful coaching to improve the employee's performance With these objectives, performance reviews can make an important and ongoing contribution to furthering each employee's career. Related to the role of performance reviews, another important influence on employee satisfaction is a sense of being led by capable management, with both immediate supervisors and senior management having a clear sense of direction for the organization. One of the forces that disconnects employees from their companies is management's ever-changing corporate focus. By introducing yet another corporate initiative, employees come to question the credibility of management and the focus of the company. They begin to wonder what the company stands for, where it's going, and if the latest initiative is yet another "here today, gone tomorrow" program. Employees are therefore skeptical at best - and cynical at worst - about their company's perpetually shifting focus.

Without a constant, long-term strategic vision, organizations risk confusing, bewildering, depressing and disconnecting with their employees. Within an environment of ever-changing focus, employees find it hard to see a strong link between their role and the company's core purpose. Alternatively, communicating a company's shared vision and establishing a shared mission with employees are important means of enhancing employee commitment. Employees feel a stronger sense of job satisfaction when they agree with the strategic decisions, especially when they are involved in developing the strategic direction. In addition to establishing and communicating a strategic vision for the company, loyalty also requires building a partnership between management and employees and creating an environment of mutual respect, involvement and open communication. Maintaining open lines of communication with employees will enable senior management to keep up with their changing needs into the future. Recent studies have shown that managers, whether front-line supervisors, project leaders, team captains or senior management, actually have more power than anyone else to reduce unwanted employee turnover because the most important factors driving employee satisfaction and commitment are largely within the direct manager's control. These include providing recognition and feedback regularly, offering opportunities to learn and grow, helping to ensure fair compensation reflecting an employee's contributions and value to the organization, fostering a good work environment, and above all, recognizing and respecting the uniqueness of each employee's competencies, needs, desires and working style.

At the supervisory level, though, managers also need to strike the right balance of using a more employee-centered leadership style, under which their employees are welcome to participate in making decisions (i.e., "leadership through collaboration"), but without going so far as to abdicate responsibility for decision-making. When the participatory approach becomes excessive, employees may feel that they are being given more responsibility than their positions should require and, thus, can feel overworked or underpaid for the work expected. It is also critically important to recognize that, when employees indicate the intention to leave, they generally do - this means that attrition can be predicted through survey measurement, which gives employers an important "window of opportunity" to foresee and address talent loss within specific departments so as to change the environment that is causing employees to leave. Research has indicated that the biggest gaps between those who intend to stay and those who intend to leave can be best summarized as (1) the opportunity for employees to use their skills effectively and (2) differing perceptions of the leadership ability of senior management.

In conjunction with these key differences, projections have shown that improvements in the areas directly related to turnover can lead to a potential 5% decrease in actual turnover, which has real financial benefits for the organization. Did you realize that employees change jobs more for career options and training opportunities than they do for money and benefits? In fact, seeking opportunities for the long term rather than just the current job has much more influence over job change than monetary compensation - it is evident that money is a satisfier, but not a driver, of employee loyalty. Similarly, it is not salary that makes a committed employee. Compensation packages, while important, have become secondary to the employees' desire to be challenged, to contribute, to be recognized and to know how they will fit into the organization. However, this is not to claim that pay and benefits are unimportant.

There are strong correlations between compensation, benefits plans and employee commitment. It should not be surprising, though, that the compensation plans with the strongest link to employee commitment are those that give employees a stake in the future success of the organization. Compensation plans in general help drive commitment when employees understand the program and believe it to be fair. It is also worth noting that the way an organization distributes money indicates what management really wants including sending a message to employees as to whether the company truly pays for performance. In short, then, there are five actions organizations should take to reduce attrition and improve employee satisfaction:

Demonstrate to employees that the company cares about them, wants them to advance in their careers and will help them satisfy their need for personal growth.
"Walk the talk" by not only communicating the corporate strategy but by also ensuring that it is applied consistently throughout the organization, including making the rewards system consistent with strategic goals.
Watch for and eliminate all inconsistencies between promoting a belief in employees and managerial behavior or policies that undermines that commitment.
Fight attrition with smart training that is not only relevant but helps broaden employee experiences and provides development opportunities.
Weed out poor managers because many employees leave their jobs because they are unhappy with their bosses - remember the adage that "people don't leave their jobs, they leave their managers."

Action Planning Task Force Tips

Your engagement survey is done. You have your results. What now? Since you alone cannot do all the action planning, who is going to help so that all the talk about employee engagement was not in vain?

In order to be effective across the organization, of course, no single person should be responsible for all aspects of the Action Planning process. Insightlink recommends recruiting individual Task Forces for each of your organization’s major opportunities for improvement.

Task Force members will work together as a team to:

Create an Action Plan, including specific action items designed to address the key opportunities (within their designated major area of opportunity)

Share the plan with all employees (at least those impacted). You can either share with the organization as a whole or at a department/site/functional unit level, but do share!

Work diligently to implement each of the action items in a timely way, including monitoring the progress on each item

Help to assess success for each action item at the end of the process

Although the anticipated time commitment from Task Force members is generally about 4-6 hours per month over a 3-6 month period, as an HR insider, you should assess this yourself and manage the expectations of those who are involved.

Ideally, when “recruiting,” look for Task Force team members who are:

Highly creative/articulate individuals who are more likely to come up with “out-of-the-box” solutions
People with high energy and enthusiasm, who tend to get things done and keep others excited
Good team players
Able to devote the necessary time to the process
Skilled in what it takes to develop solutions, especially those with special expertise in the areas of concern
Able and willing to implement the necessary corrective actions

Each Task Force should hold regular Action Planning meetings that focus on setting goals and deciding on viable action items. Some useful tools and tips for effective goal setting are:

Brainstorming: Encourage diverse ideas and don’t censor any suggestions. Record all the ideas given and potential solutions offered, since even the strangest suggestion may represent the “germ” of a worthwhile solution. “Good” ideas are the end product of a process of evolution that usually starts with ideas that are flawed … often seriously. (“Idea Generation”)

Strategizing: Take the opportunity to “grow” flawed ideas by identifying the positives, including 1 or 2 advantages that are not immediately obvious. At this stage, both wishes and concerns are powerful sources for raising the ceiling on ideas. (“Appraisal that Adds Value”)

Removing Barriers: Start to tailor and transform the idea to keep the positives while eliminating the flaws. (“Tailoring and Transforming”) Each Task Force should be responsible for producing a written Action Plan that outlines what specific action items to implement to address the goals agreed to by the Task Force.

Each action item needs to include the following to ensure accountability and progress:
Completion Target Date – Target dates are dependent upon your best estimate of when the action steps will be completed. They can range from almost immediate for the “quick hits” to very lengthy for more serious issues.

Responsibility – Every action plan should have an “owner” who is accountable for the outcomes and the final results.

It is also essential to regularly update your Action Plans, so that you, your stakeholders and your employees can see the progress being made. Recognize, though, that circumstances may require you to change your timeline because of new discoveries or unidentified barriers.

Remember this is a team effort. Don’t forget to share best practices! Learn from your colleagues on what has worked well (or not so well) with their Action Plans.

Employee Engagement, Commitment and Satisfaction

"Companies with high levels of employee engagement earn returns that are more than double those of the overall market" As HR managers consider the various options open to them for conducting their employee surveys, here at Insightlink we've been asked questions relating to the role of "employee engagement" in our surveys. In particular, we've been asked to compare our approach with that of alternatives such as the Hewitt Engagement Model and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. Insightlink's standard 4Cs employee survey contains many of the same measures that organizations use to assess employee engagement, such as "You are willing to work above and beyond the call of duty for your organization," "Your work gives you a feeling of personal accomplishment" and "You feel proud to work at this organization."

However, our experience analyzing numerous employee studies is that employee engagement alone is not a sufficient barometer with which to gauge organizational performance, particularly in terms of influencing more concrete measures such as predicting turnover. In fact, our experience with employee engagement as a survey measure is very similar to the conclusions of the article "Work Engagement in Japan: Validation of the Japanese Version of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale" that (a) all engagement items load on a single factor (rather than the multiple factors included in the Work Engagement Scale), which means that the scale is evaluating just one construct, and (b) that work engagement is positively related to job satisfaction. In other words, we place much more emphasis on the measure of employee satisfaction (using the 5 point scale "Extremely satisfied," "Very satisfied," "Somewhat satisfied," "Not very satisfied" and "Not at all satisfied") as the key predictor of organizational well-being. Our approach has been validated by a recent article from Wharton University of Pennsylvania called "Does the Stock Market Fully Value Intangibles? Employee Satisfaction and Equity Prices."

To obtain a copy of the full article, contact Lara Fordis at 1-866-802-8095 x. 705 or via email at lfordis@insightlink.com

7 Ways to Increase Response Rates on Employee Surveys

No doubt you want to maximize the survey response rate. Low response rates reflect poorly on a project and can inadvertently undermine the validity of the data gathered. For an accurate assessment with any employee engagement or attitude survey, honest responses and high participation are key. The following tips will help boost the number of responses you get the next time you survey your employees.

Communicate Your Commitment to Respondent Anonymity
Employing a third party to collect the data and generate the reports gives you that credibility. Employees feel more comfortable and respond more openly and candidly when they know their responses are being handled by an outside organization. Whether you are conducting your survey online or via paper, having a third party to take care of this will not only improve your response rate, but you will see it in the quality of responses. If you already know that trust is a problem in your organization, give extra thought and attention to this issue. Even if you do not think trust is a problem, don't underestimate the value of ensuring that employees feel as comfortable as possible responding to the survey. The only way to get an accurate measure of your overall employee attitude is via anonymity.

Get Sign Off and a Concrete Endorsement from Senior Management (especially the ones who employees most respect!)
In the weeks or days before the survey, share letter s or notes from the CEO, GM or some other organizational leader that highlight the importance of responding to the survey. These communications should explain why the survey is being conducted and what the organization and the employees stand to gain from it.

Manage Employee Expectations about the Survey Length, Especially if You Can't Keep the Survey Brief
Longer surveys have lower response rates. Nonetheless, collecting enough data for analysis and actionability is essential. A short survey with high participation may lack sufficient depth to provide insights that matter. Regardless of the length of your survey, tell people up front how long it will take them to complete it. Be accurate in your estimate by having people pre-test it. It is better to err in the side of an estimate with a longer time rather than a shorter time. People will feel pleasantly surprised when they finish early!

Explain the Benefits to All Employees
By clearly communicating how employees and the organization as a whole will benefit from the employee attitude survey, you give people a reason to fill out your survey. Response rates will be higher and your employees will be more honest about their opinions.

Explain the "Next Steps"
Communicate clearly what you intend to do with the information you gather from the survey. If you plan to share the results with employees, let them know that. When you share with people what you plan to do with the survey results, you show them that you are serious about what you are doing and that you have given thought to the entire process. They will realize that the time they invest in completing the employee attitude survey will not be time wasted. And, in turn, this will increase response rates the next time you survey your employees.

Follow Through on Your Promises
If you tell your employees what you plan to do with the survey results, be sure you follow through. If you don't, the next time you want to gather information or conduct an employee attitude survey, you will have lost credibility and your response rate will suffer. Be sure to not only follow through on your promises, but do so publicly. Get credit for listening and acting on survey feedback. Remind people of what you promised and show them the results.

Offer Company-Wide, Rather Than Team Incentives
Consider offering modest incentives to the organization as a whole, instead of creating competition between teams or work groups who have the highest response rates. Creating winners vs. losers can exacerbate perceptions of unfairness. Ideas might include a Friday pizza lunch or a cookies. The incentive should fit with your organization's culture and appeal to all employees equally. Insightlink offers what we call "the cookie question" so people not only have an incentive, but a reason to make it all the way though the survey to offer their "vote" on a favorite cookie!

7 Steps to Successful Action Planning after Employee Engagement Surveys

Does the prospect of extracting survey results that are informative, yet not damaging to morale or management, make your skin crawl? Surprise! Research and first-hand experience with clients reveal that after an employee survey has been conducted, employees are much more interested in SEEING action taken than they are in hearing the results of the survey.

In short: Employee surveys have little or no value if nothing is done to make improvements at the organization -- which is why effective action planning is a critical component of successful employee surveys. Whether or not you choose Insightlink for your employee surveys, we hope you'll benefit from some of the tips our clients get from our Action Planning workbook and form-fillable worksheets.

1. Review your survey results yourself and with senior management - the goal is to understand the main themes, identify the key strengths of your organization and decide the primary opportunities for improvement.
2. Take a breath…and share a short, highlight or bullet-style summary of the results with your employees, both to give them a "heads up" that their voices have been heard and to prepare them for the action planning to follow. You do not need to address all the findings, but don't delay in sharing something meaningful!
3. Name a coordinator (usually someone in HR) who is responsible for the Action Planning process. Remember that actions - not mere words -- are key to success!
4. Set clear and specific goals for improvement at your organization.
5. Create an effective and workable Action Plan to achieve those goals, with a concrete time frame for implementation and personal accountability built into the plan.
6. As soon as possible, communicate select, relevant parts of the Action Plans to your employees -- it not only prepares them for the changes that will be taking place but also emphasizes accountability within the Action Planning process.
7. Monitor and measure progress at achieving the goals in the Action Plans on a regular basis -- and be sure to celebrate successes as they occur!

'Employee Partnership' Pushes Engagement

By John Commins, for HealthLeaders Media (published December 29, 2008)

On-site back rubs, and keys to the exercise room might make employees relaxed and more physically fit, but one observer says it won't necessarily improve job performance. Those perks might not even be what employees want or value.

Debbie Paller, vice president of the Physician & Employee Business Unit at Press Ganey & Associates, says hospitals need to do a better job understanding what employees want. With that in mind, the healthcare quality monitor this month introduced a new "Employee Partnership" model that focuses less on recruiting gimmicks and more on employee engagement.

"Our historical approach was to focus on satisfaction. We used to measure engagement and improve engagement by leveraging satisfaction," Paller says. "Through our research we found that they are two very different psychological conditions that should be leveraged in their independent states to get the maximum benefits."

The Employee Partnership model centers around what Press Ganey calls "Five Partnership Principles," namely: systems and leadership, resources, teamwork, direct management, and engagement. Systems and leadership, for example, focuses on issues like job security, input on decisions, fair wages, and recognition. Direct management focuses on coaching, trust, communication, and feedback.

At first glance, the Five Partnership Principles appear to be the same old boilerplate and buzzwords we've heard before. Communicate with your employees? Recognize achievement? Of course! But it's more than that, says Paller.

"From a hospital's perspective, they may feel they are already doing this. The question is, Are you bridging that gap to where employees are perceiving it? Perception is realty," she says.
For example, hospitals try to recruit and retain employees with "wow factor" stunts like mortgage assistance or concierge services when they should be concentrating on bread-and-butter issues like wages, professional development, employer relations, and scheduling flexibility.

"What we have found is the basic stuff tends to get lost," Paller says. "The wow factors are great, but employees, especially in these times of economic uncertainty, are looking for things that give them that stable feeling of employment." The best way to find out what employees want is to survey them. "Ask the employees: 'What do you think? Are you receiving communication? Do you have the opportunity to speak up?'" Paller says.

Beyond that, Paller recommends questioning senior management to determine if they're on the same frequency with employees. It's a little tougher for senior management, because they have to determine if they know what employees want, and if they're getting their intended message through to employees.

"'Are we communicating? Are we getting information out, and are we receiving it back? How do we do that systematically?'" Paller says. "If you get to questions you can't answer or you're giving anecdotal answers like 'We've always done it this way,' that's probably a good indication that you don't have a very systematic way to deliver on those five principles."

When you have the employee surveys and senior management feedback in hand, compare them to find gaps between what you think you're providing and what your employees think they're getting. Once you've found the gap, look for bridges.

If your employees aren't getting the message, for example, it could be something as simple as the mode of communication. You may be proud of the reams of job-related data and daily institutional updates on your hospital's intranet. But, what if your employees can't access a computer, or they don't have time to sit down in front of one? Maybe they'd prefer an old-fashioned notice posted on the bulletin board by the time clock.
Paller says improving communication with employees and responding to their needs is an incremental process, as senior leadership gets feedback and adjusts. But she says it is progress that can be measured.

"Create partnerships with your employees and you do get significant organizational outcomes," she says, including improved safety, quality, productivity, and financial measures. "The lagging indication of whether or not you are making an impact is to take a look at those types of indicators," Paller says. "While it is a philanthropic reason that you want to improve employee relationships, ultimately you want to see the results on your bottom line."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Commins is the human resources and community and rural hospitals editor with HealthLeaders Media.

Engagement, A Review of Current Research and Its Implications

Excerpted from an article by Patricia Soldati

In 2006, The Conference Board published "Employee Engagement, A Review of Current Research and Its Implications". According to this report, twelve major studies on employee engagement had been published over the prior four years by top research firms such as Gallup, Towers Perrin, Blessing White, the Corporate Leadership Council and others.

Each of the studies used different definitions and, collectively, came up with 26 key drivers of engagement. For example, some studies emphasized the underlying cognitive issues, others on the underlying emotional issues.

The Conference Board looked across this mass of data and came up with a blended definition and key themes that crossed all of the studies. They define employee engagement as "a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work".

At least four of the studies agreed on these eight key drivers.

1. Trust and integrity – how well managers communicate and 'walk the talk'.
2. Nature of the job –Is it mentally stimulating day-to-day?
3. Line of sight between employee performance and company performance – Does the employee understand how their work contributes to the company's performance?
4. Career Growth opportunities –Are there future opportunities for growth?
5. Pride about the company – How much self-esteem does the employee feel by being associated with their company?
6. Coworkers/team members – significantly influence one's level of engagement
   Employee development – Is the company making an effort to develop the employee's skills?
7. Relationship with one's manager – Does the employee value his or her relationship with his or her manager?

Other key findings include the fact that larger companies are more challenged to engage employees than are smaller companies, while employee age drives a clear difference in the importance of certain drivers. For example, employees under age 44 rank "challenging environment/career growth opportunities" much higher than do older employees, who value "recognition and reward for their contributions".

But all studies, all locations and all ages agreed that the direct relationship with one's manager is the strongest of all drivers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Patricia Soldati is a former President & COO of a national finance organization who re-invented her working life in 1998. As a career fulfillment specialist, she helps corporate professionals enhance their working lives – both within the organization – and by leaving it behind.

Boosting Employee Engagement Survey Participation without Incentives

Embedded Questions - Even Cookie Preference - Can Boost Participation on Employee Engagement Surveys

Insightlink's 4Cs employee engagement survey is designed to be sufficiently engaging and motivating to achieve high participation and completion without the use of incentives. During our issues meetings with clients, we discuss the nature of the organization's work force to assess whether incentives are warranted. Incentives are something many survey providers grapple with, since there are pros and cons to using them. The issue of whether or not to use incentives to boost participation in employee surveys comes up regularly. Inevitably, somebody suggests encouraging managers to tell their employees that there will be a company-provided celebration (probably the most common is a pizza party or other type of lunch) for any department that can boast 100% participation in the survey. Other organizations set up "contests" where departments vie to see which can achieve the highest participation on the employee engagement survey - again, with some sort of company-sponsored prize going to the winner(s). A few have attempted to enter individual participants into drawings, often with multiple prizes. So what does Insightlink recommend?

As a general rule, we advise employee engagement survey clients not to make participation in the survey a competition. We generally recommend against individual winners or rewarding teams. If you do choose this route, however, be sure to communicate the incentive plan often and well. Be sure you have consistent and fair rules. Instead, consider a company-wide incentive. Make it meaningful to employees and feasible for the organization. For some, this may be donating to a charitable cause if they achieve their participation goal. Employees are less likely to view this type of incentive as a bribe, since it does not benefit employees directly.

Insightlink's employee engagement survey research team recently experimented with a new way to encourage survey completion that is employee-driven, not externally driven. Our client planned to have an "Employee Cookie Day" at the conclusion of the employee survey. So at the end of the survey, we added a question giving employees the opportunity to vote for their favorite cookie.The primary goal was to create a concrete way to show employees that HR was really listening to the survey results. A secondary benefit was that the symbolism of treating employees to a day with cookies, provided in quantities similar to the vote outcome, gave the organization time to do short, medium and long-term action planning. That such actions boosted participation was an added bonus.

Adding an employee engagement survey question about cookie preferences concluded the survey in a positive and unexpected way - and even provided a survey question that was okay to discuss around the water cooler. It created buzz about the survey and prompted more staff to want to offer their two cents - which they only could do by answering the entire survey, since the cookie question was strategically placed at the end.
P.S. Chocolate chip was the winner!

The Link Between Communication and Employee Engagement

Communication is always an area of difficulty for organizations, and a recent review of survey answers found showed low scores related to communication from senior management to employees. In fact, only one-third of current employees (33%) felt communication extremely or very effective. Workers in industries such as Machinery/Equipment (17%), Petroleum/Petrochemicals (18%), transportation (21%) and Trucking (26%) also scored poorly in this area, although the nature of the workforce in these industries contributes to the communications challenge. Even with communications options available, only 17% of workers in the Computer-/Electronic Equipment industry were positive about communication from senior management.

Luckily for some organizations’ senior management, employees – especially ones in jobs where communication via email and other methods is limited or non-existent -- can still perceive leadership to be effective, even without desired levels of communications. Over half the employees surveyed (53%) indicate they see evidence of effective leadership from senior management. Food/Beverage/Restaurants (61%), Trucking (75%) and transportation (53%) scored high relative to how they assess communications. However, less than half of employees in the Computer-/Electronic Equipment (47%) and Petroleum/Petrochemicals (36%) industries thought senior management showed effective leadership.

Source: Insightlink 4Cs Employee Feedback Database, August 2008

FAQ: conducting an employee loyalty survey

Common Questions-How do I use the information?
Friday, April 24, 2009 by Chris Woolard

The last question in this series on five common questions in conducting an employee loyalty survey is, how do I use the information?One of the worst things a company can do is conduct an employee survey and do nothing with the results. It would be better for a company to do nothing than to ask for employee opinions and not act on them. What I have seen work best is to create a cross-functional team of 5-10 employees. Their job is to digest the information, help communicate the results, solicit feedback and suggestions, and create the final action plans. The team should be comprised of employees from various departments and positions, although I would not recommend putting an employee on their boss on the same team. You can have team work on all of the action items or have a different team assigned to each action item. I like having different teams (with maybe one or two common members across all teams to help coordinate and facilitate) as this gives more employees the opportunity to help create change in the organization. Not only does this create buy-in because it is no longer just an "HR" initiative but it also helps the employees grow and develop by doing something that is not part of their typical job but is valuable to the organization. These teams can be at any level of the organization. Some clients will have teams at the total company level only while others may have teams going on at different regions or even different departments in the organization. It really depends on the culture, size, and complexity of the organization as to the specific structure of the teams. Once action plans have been created, smaller implementation teams can be created to ensure the action plans are carried out. It is generally not necessary to have 5-10 people on the implementation team as the implementation team is more about execution and less about brainstorming. The implementation team's responsibility is to ensure the specific actions are carried through.