Companies are now learning to believe that employees are not just a stakeholder group. Employees are the company itself. They are the key people who define a company’s success graph. When companies frame communications only for the external publics, they fail to realize that it is internal culture that drives external reputation. Gallup’s 2013 State of the Workforce Study points out that only 30 percent of the U.S. workforce is engaged. And do you know how much does employee disengagement cost? An estimate USD of 450 billion to 550 billion!
Interestingly, there are three categories of employee engagement according to Gallup. They are:
+ Engaged: Employees work with passion and feel emotionally connected to the organization. They create and develop, and are the initiators of innovation to drive the organization ahead.
+ Not Engaged: Employees are basically in a “checked out” mode. They are like sleepwalking through their workday and lack passion and energy. They invest time in their jobs because they have to, but not because they want to.
+ Actively Disengaged: Employees are unhappy and also loudly claim their unhappiness. They lead to bad word of mouth publicity. They undermine the efforts that the engaged employees make to improve the company. They are the toughest to be motivated.
It is a challenge not just to move the disengaged employees upward, that is, into the engaged category, but also to sustain the engagement levels of the employees already engaged. Gallup’s Q12 survey is a great way to find the percentage of employees in an organization that fall into each category.
How to Engage Employees?
Many communication professionals by now know and offer many innovative solutions for employee engagement. To add to that list, I have a few to offer.
+ Crowdsourcing Contests: Companies can conduct social media property audits to assess the company’s existing social media landscape and analyze the discussions that take place on each platform. The key issues identified on each platform can be documented and the internal platforms can be used to crowdsource solutions to the problems. Crowdsourcing refers to throwing out questions to the employees and involving them to generate solutions. It leads to collaborative brainstorming. There may be contests where the best contributors of innovative ideas can win prizes.
+ Soft (copy) Badges: Companies can introduce excellence badges in soft copy forms and provide them to the employees and suppliers who can place these on their social media pages. This technique will enable them connect with the brand even when they are not in the internal corporate setup. Excellence badges can be given on a quarterly basis to employees who contribute innovative ideas or exhibit special skills. Pictures of these employees can be uploaded on the company’s social media platforms as well, like Twitter and Facebook using hashtags.
+ Innovative Day-Off: Employees in each department can be given a paid innovative day-off on a quarterly basis. They may be asked to come to office on these days (but work only on an innovative idea) or stay at home, but contribute to the company’s growth a great idea. These days can be called “great idea days” and the employees can be asked to contribute a valid idea with a one-page proposal stating why they feel an idea would work. This technique can work in cycles, wherein a company may ask the employees to contribute individual ideas one time and work in teams at another time. The best contributions in each cycle and annually can be awarded.
+ Snowball Surveys and Coalitions: Organizations can conduct snowball surveys to find out the most trusted persons by the employees for receiving company information. The most popular and trustworthy sources of information in each department can be identified and their coalition can be formed at each facility. Then organizations can use these coalitions to disseminate messages and expect a higher receptivity of the messages. Coalitions communicate internally through informal channels like lunch or water cooler discussions. These surveys can also be administered in the supply chains and a supply chain coalition can be formed.
Adequate employee engagement through consistent communication is not just the right of the employees, but also the need of the company to achieve greater success. Does your company take the initiative to engage you? If yes, how? Or do you, as an employer, take steps to engage your employees?
References:
The IABC Handbook of Organizational Communication, edited by Tamara L. Gillis
The Credible Company, Communicating with Today’s Skeptical Workforce, by Roger D’Aprix
“Employee Engagement, What’s Your Engagement Ratio” report by Gallup Consulting
Picture source: http://bit.ly/1fIurA1
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4nwoZ02AJM
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