White Paper #14:
Employee Engagement in Difficult Times
Overview
The Gallup organization recently surveyed 4,600 customer service representatives and 45,000 customers of an organization known for customer service. The performance feedback regarding the representatives varied widely – as did the level of perceived ownership/buy-in (engagement) of the employees. The results for this particular survey indicate that those highly engaged employees had a positive effect on 61% of the customers they talked to, as opposed to the less-engaged employees who had a negative effect on customers. The cost of customer alienation, poor word-of-mouth, and resulting lost revenue was assessed at approximately $40 million a year. This impact would be expected to be even more pronounced in difficult times.
Employees have long been identified as the most valuable asset in any organization. Extensive research indicates a direct correlation between the level of employee engagement and the productivity/success of the business organization. Generally speaking, what makes good companies great is their ability to attract, retain, and engage the right employees - in difficult times, even more so.
More than any other time, difficult economic phases create pressure to optimize resources and results. Leaders around the world are searching for proven strategic solutions and pragmatic tactics that provide a competitive edge. World Class Benchmarking®, the renowned consulting firm that benchmarks Fortune 500 companies from all over the world, has compiled a review of the current best practices regarding employee engagement.
World Class Benchmarking® has discovered a trend of six strategies most consistently implemented by forward-thinking, high-performing organizations. These strategies, and the related tactical application, provide examples of how to achieve superior employee engagement in difficult times – and superior business results. This document is provided as a tool for your personal and professional benefit.
1. Stay Centered to your Core Values
The degree of alignment with your “core” (Values, Vision) will dictate the degree of integrity your employees will have functionally within your operation. When the company and employees value the same things, it becomes easier for employees to be fully committed to executing the operational plans. Employees feel more proud of their company – and themselves – when they are supported in doing the right thing. A firm foundation generates a confidence and boost in morale that translates in a more unified – and efficient effort. This encourages employee engagement in difficult times.
In a time of financial cuts and “what’s in it for me” attitudes, here are some current examples of companies that have stayed centered on their core values:
- Genentech the biotech firm has a tag line—“In Business for Life”. Here cancer patients are invited to visit periodically so that employees can better understand and relate to their unique concerns.
- McDonald’s has enjoyed a recent resurgence in revenues due in part to CEO Jim Skinner leading a company-wide effort to return to the values CEO Ray Kroc originally established in 1955. Promoting healthier items on menus and supporting the Ronald McDonald House for children has been very effective during this challenging economic phase.
- Reinforcing their ethics-driven operating commitments, Quicken Loans avoided the sub-prime crisis by refusing to write the exotic loans blamed for the current mortgage crisis.
- Erickson Retirement Homes stands apart in their industry by ensuring that none of their residents gets evicted from their retirement communities due to a sudden lack of funding.
2. Explicitly Support your Employee
Extraordinary businesses resist the pressure to focus solely on financial efficiencies and insist on openly expressing support for employees in the midst of the difficult circumstances. Tough times are, ironically, one of the best times to prove that your employees are your greatest asset. That visible support – especially in difficult times – generates trust, appreciation, and a tremendous amount of goodwill and loyalty.
Some current examples of companies that have stayed positive in the support of their people:
- When the homebuilding industry slowed, David Weekley Homes cancelled its annual reward trip and tripled severance pay for laid off employees.
- Southwest and Ritz-Carlton are famous for their consistently sharing internal success stories about their employee activities.
- At Beryl, when someone becomes aware of an employee in need, they can pull up a “Beryl Cares” screen on their PC and explain the need which is communicated to Beryl management at this call center outsourcing company for hospitals.
3. Solicit Employee Feedback
It has been said that “information is power”. Information is also a critical important resource when making decisions with the narrowing margins for error that exist in any challenging time. One key way to engage employees in difficult times is to provide a venue for employees to freely share information – both frustrations and ideas for improvements – in a constructive, internal way, rather than an external destructive way.
Some current examples of companies that solicit positive feedback:
- “Voice Teams” in Lowes’ stores allow frontline employees to share their opinions and ideas with decision makers.
- Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers solicits employee ideas on his new blog, On My Mind.
- Genentech employees are polled weekly to find concerns or complaints and to make sure things in the company are working.
- Some leaders in Lockheed Martin have implemented “Start-Stop-Continue” meetings that are designed to hear employees’ opinions on what actions their business unit should be undertaking.
- After stock fell by almost 9% in 2007, Founder Jerry Yang returned as Chief Yahoo where he hosts monthly Chat ‘n Chow lunches an answers employee questions online.
- H&R Block developed Block Central, a corporate news site where employees can add comments to internal news items and submit questions anonymously. In addition, H&R Block employees also have internal instant messaging capability and personal blogs.
- A culture of openness pervades Adobe Systems where the CEO answers e-mails within 24 hours, and employee councils feed management with ideas.
4. Communicate Up Front with Employees
According to a 2004 study by Towers Perrin, more than 93% of employees want the truth about pay, benefits and the future. Leaders who value their employee relationships know that communicating openly, honestly, and early is the key to maintaining trust and credibility. When employees feel secure, they perform more effectively and create a competitive edge.
There is an expression we’ve coined when it comes to communicating with employees: “Be the Napa Rose”. The Napa Rose is a flower positioned in front of Northern California grapevines. They provide advanced indication (communication) of possible disease or pest infestation is an expression we’ve coined when it comes to engaging employees in difficult times.
Some current examples of companies that communicate up front with their employees include:
- The web-hosting firm, Rackspace Managed Hosting, hosts bi-monthly “Open Book” meetings, where all financial issues are laid bare.
- During the economic downturn and significant downsizing of the 90’s, senior VPs at both Compaq and Patagonia said that the most important thing they did to keep this unpleasant reality from becoming a complete morale bloodbath was that they kept employees apprised of what was going on every step of the way.
- Whole Foods Markets, ranked on Fortune magazine’s list of 100 Best Companies to Work For nine years in a row, ensures transparent communication from the moment someone is hired with their organization. The leaders set up a culture of collaboration and decentralization by arranging each store department into small teams - continuously sharing performance-related information that is directly tied to compensation. Each team selects who joins the team and who stays on the team, based on the results from that free-flowing communication.
5. Get Out and Serve
Someone once said that there is no better way to gain a healthy perspective than to stop worrying about one’s self and notice that others may have bigger challenges than you. In addition to providing service in areas that legitimately need the assistance, organizing charitable activities connect employees with a sense of making a difference with the wider community – in a way that may not be typically part of their work life. It becomes very easy for an employee to take pride in their company when they participate in a tangible example of care and concern for people in action.
Some current examples of companies that get out and serve include:
- Methodist Hospital System added a new program called “No One Dies Alone,” in which employees volunteer time with terminal patients.
- Umpqua Bank and Intuit employees get 3-4 days of paid time each year to volunteer in the community.
- Nixon Peabody targets 3% of billable hours annually for pro bono work at this law firm.
- Deloitte & Touche hosts Impact Day, which involves 31,000 employees engaged supporting 600 nonprofit projects.
6. Commit to Your Employee’s Employment
At first glance, this strategy appears to be a potential problem. This policy isn’t a philanthropic or socialistic strategy. By definition, corporate integrity requires that every employee earns their job by adding value to the operation. Committing to an employees employment is really all about valuing them personally as a part of the organization, leading to, even in difficult times, healthy employee engagement.
Loyalty is an earned status, and someone needs to make the first step in building that loyalty. In difficult times, employees can be distracted by numerous issues – most surrounding the status of their employment. Aggressively working to defend the livelihood of your employees sends a message about how much you value them. To get loyal/committed employees, world-class businesses find that being worthy of that loyalty generates far better dividends in the long-term than it costs in the short-term.
Some current examples of companies that are committed to their employee’s employment include:
- Southwest Airlines, which employs 32,000 people, has a no-layoff policy.
- Federal Express, with more than 215,000 employees and contractors, has a similar policy, so when shipping volumes decrease, the company leaves jobs open, takes job requisitions off the books, and cuts hours.
- Lincoln Electric in Cleveland hasn’t laid off a single U.S. employee in more than five decades. In return, its 3,000 workers agree to pay cuts or reassignments if business conditions warrant.
Summary:
Consistently engaging employees using these strategies and tactics have proven to be an incredibly valuable investment for these businesses – creating a competitive edge in very difficult times. Protecting your most valuable assets by taking care of your employees and fortifying them for optimal success, creates the foundation for fully committed and long-term effort.
Involving employees in overcoming the challenges the company is facing generates a sense of worth and accomplishment that will not only grow the company, but it will grow your people as well. Once established, this becomes an upward-spiraling cycle: involved employees become engaged in overcoming a challenge, which leads to superior results, pride in the accomplishment, a stronger bond with the organization, and a building passion for continuing to grow the business.
World Class Benchmarking® encourages you to initiate action today. It’s never too late. Engage your employees for your – and their – successful future. It will provide the best foundation for thriving together, even in difficult times.
World Class Benchmarking® is a full-service consulting firm that offers exclusive hands-on solutions for some of the most successful organizations in the world. Visit www.worldclassbenchmarking.com or call 1-877-4WCB NOW (877-492-2669) today for proven answers to your business challenges…because
