There is one topic that comes up a lot in discussion with business leaders, and that’s the idea of employees being all in. Have you ever noticed that your employees seem to have new life at the end of the day? It’s 5 o’clock, and suddenly your subdued office is all smiles and energy.
What would it be like to have a company where everyone was excited about being at work? Where your employees like their coworkers, they’re challenged, and they’re loyal? Getting to that point starts with asking, “Where am I today?”
A lot of people don’t even want to ask the question. Many times, when I’ve proposed to business owners the idea of getting an assessment of employee engagement, the thought is painful to them. They would rather not know than know and be disappointed. While that may be a natural reaction, it’s clearly not good leadership.
Let me give you an example of how an assessment situation can play out. Many years ago, I took a job at a Fortune 100-size company and had about 220 people on my team in different locations. I wrote a very simple questionnaire, just 6-8 questions that I wanted to ask each person on the team.
The first question was, “What do I need to know about you so that we can work more effectively?” Then, “On a scale of 1-10, how effective do you believe our department is in reaching our objectives?” And regardless of where they rated the department, the next question was, “How do we move one notch higher?”
This was a very interesting exercise. It took a lot of time, probably 20 minutes average for each person. But that time was worth it, because the exercise gave me a wonderful knowledge of the people, and they were appreciative that I was listening. But I wasn’t asking just to make them feel good. I truly wanted to know how to help them.
We compiled those suggestions and came up with 46 different ideas. Every month, I met with the entire team to review what we couldn’t work on, what was deferred, and the items we could attack. And we really moved the ball forward as a team.
At the heart of it, employee engagement is a simple issue: first, find out where people are, then act on what you heard. Then do it again—you don’t want to repeat assessments too often, but at regular intervals (perhaps once a year), evaluate where things have improved and what still needs to be worked on.
That sounds so straightforward, and yet many business leaders struggle with knowing what the employee engagement levels are and improving them. If you want assistance in crafting an assessment, collecting feedback, and acting to improve engagement, a coach can be a great choice. Dealing with engagement can raise hard truths. You need to face those truths for the good of your business, but you don’t have to face them alone.
Employee engagement is one of four areas that business owners should focus on. Read about the other three.
–Jim Wiginton is the founder and managing partner of Broad Insights, an international business coaching firm based in Greenville, South Carolina. Jim possesses a wealth of business expertise, much of it gained as an executive for Michelin North America, Plastic Omnium, and Alfmeier Corporation. He has more than 5,000 hours of coaching experience, and a Doctorate of Business Administration from Paris School of Business.
by Bradley C