Enhancing Employee Engagement to Drive Organizational Performance

What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is an emotional state and a behavioral reaction to an employee's relationship with his/her manager and perception of the organization. Engagement involves an employee's degree of focus, motivation, and passion for his/her job.

Why is Employee Engagement Important?

Engaged employees are motivated toward the organization's success, take pride in their work, suggest improvements, pursue self-development, boost organizational performance, expend discretionary effort, say good things about their organization, and plan to stay.

What is the Business Case?

Most organizations have significant opportunities for improvement. Across the U.S. only 31% of employees are engaged. There have been over 100 research studies proving the improvements in organizational performance resulting from engaged employees.

• Employee Compliance is Not Engagement
  • Compliance is short-term, forced adherence because there are penalties for non-compliance
  • Engagement is sustained, enthusiastic & willing performance
  • Why just telling employees what you want them to do is not enough
• What is Employee Engagement?
  • Characteristics of engaged employees
  • How to improve employee engagement - three levels of engagement
  • Strategy + Employee Engagement = Strategy Execution
• The Business Case for Increasing Employee Engagement
  • Highlights of the research study some involving multiple-Industries, over 20 years, with large samples of front-line employees and managers
  • Why engagement is worth the effort
  • Improving employee engagement to drive business performance
• Companies Utilizing Employee Engagement
  • Numerous brand name organizations have found that their facilities with high engagement have lower turnover, fewer accidents as well as higher productivity and profitability
• The Significance of Your Role as a Manager
  • The responses to engagement questions are based more on employees' opinions of their immediate manager – than the policies of the company
  • Managers can impact an employee's discretionary effort by 20% or more
  • Why great managers are catalysts
• How Great Managers Release Their Employees' Potential:
  • Utilizing manager-employee touchpoints
  • The employee performance needs most correlated with positive business outcomes
  • Numerous practical ways for managers to meet each of the employee performance needs most correlated with positive business outcomes
  • The secondary set of core employee engagement needs
  • What about pay?

Organizations have a huge opportunity to benefit from a more engaged workforce because only approximately 30% of employees are engaged:

• With approximately 50% unengaged - going through the motions; not performing to their capabilities
• And the balance of 20% are disengaged - unhappy at work and their mission is to make sure their co-workers are also unhappy

 Employees' Engagement needs are logical - such as:

• Being told what's expected of them
• Having the materials and equipment they need
• Receiving periodic recognition and praise
• Feeling their supervisor cares about them

 Any supervisor who's willing can improve his/her team's level of engagement because there are employee engagement strategies that prove to be effective
Disney for example:

• Trains its supervisors in the Engagement Coaching practices and behaviors expected of them
• Gauges their supervisors' performance through Employee Engagement Surveys
• Holds their supervisors accountable using coaching, goals, appraisals, merits, bonuses, and promotions

 Supervisors are the key to engaging employees. The two factors that have the greatest impact on an employee's degree of engagement are:

• the employee's relationships with his/her immediate supervisor
• whether his/her supervisor is meeting the employee's few engagement needs

And your supervisors have multiple daily Engagement Coaching opportunities to:

• strengthen the relationship
• listen, learn, and coach
• enhance the employee's engagement and performance

• HR Professionals New to the Field - seeking a comprehensive view of the subject with multiple initiatives
• Experienced HR Professionals - seeking a refresher
• Leaders & Managers - interested in understanding the benefits to the organization of increasing Employee Engagement

Pete Tosh is the Founder of The Focus Group, a management consulting and training firm that assists organizations in sustaining profitable growth through four core disciplines:

• Implementing Strategic HR Initiatives
• Maximizing Leadership Effectiveness
• Strategic Planning
• Enhancing Customer Loyalty

The Focus Group has provided these consulting and training services to manufacturing and service organizations across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. Pete has worked closely with the leadership teams of organizations such as Exxon, Brinks, EMC, State Farm, Marriott, N.C.I. YKK and Freddie Mac

Pete holds a B.A. degree in Psychology from Emory and Henry University and Masters degrees in both Business Administration and Industrial Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University. Pete also co-authors Leading Your Organization to the Next Level: the Core Disciplines of Sustained Profitable Growth.