We can all agree how inspiring it is when someone says something is important to them, but then their actions show the very opposite.
Not! Think about how it makes you feel: You lose trust in them for one thing. 𝙔𝙚𝙩, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮. For example: ✅ “Accountability” – Reality: No-one is ever held accountable, and everyone knows it. ✅ “Transparent Communication” – Reality: No-one ever knows what’s going on, and news travels almost exclusively through the grapevine. And, shockingly, according to Gallup, only 27% of employees strongly agree they believe in their organization’s values. Therefore, it would appear that the disconnect exists. Even worse, in terms of a lost opportunity, is a business with no company values. Because a recent ihire survey found that 75.5% of employees say it’s very important to work for a company with a set of core values. It’s critical to get them right, since so much depends on them, because they: 💠 Describe the culture: “How we do things around here”, the code of conduct for your organization, what you allow as a culture. 💠 Guide an organization and its people toward its mission since they're a set of principles or fundamental beliefs. 💠 Ensure employees know exactly what is expected of them, and what behaviors they should model. 💠 Serve to attract like-minded people to your organization and deter those who will not be a good fit. 💠 Drive your decision making – Just ask: “Does this make sense given our values?” But they must be more than just a fancy poster on a wall. I’ve asked organizations what their values are, and no-one could tell me, even though they were hanging right behind them in a nice frame! Instead, they should be woven into every area of the organization such as onboarding, training, feedback, recognition, performance evaluations and meetings. 𝙄𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨, 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚. And engaged employees stay longer, are absent less, are more productive, and provide better customer service. In addition, they become your brand ambassadors, making you an employer of choice, where great candidates want to come and work. So, now may be the time to develop or revamp your core values.
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Some turnover is good, since you should always want to inject some outside ideas and perspectives into your business,
But when it’s too high, or if you lose just a few employees with critical skillsets, it becomes an issue. Because it’s a difficult job market for employers, making it hard to quickly fill open positions. And turnover is expensive:
So, how do you keep your employees from leaving? 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙖 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙣𝙤-𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚. Therefore, if you haven’t taken specific steps to engage your employees, you are at risk of losing them. There are some core, fundamental practices you need to put in place to engage employees, and create a great culture:
Because while great pay and benefits, flexible schedules and any number of nice-to-have perks are all of greater or lesser importance, they will not by themselves engage employees and make them want to stay. And don’t forget your remote employees. It’s critical to go out of your way to ensure they feel connected. Since those day-to-day interactions that are so much easier when everyone is working at the same location, aren’t happening anymore. So, start by training your managers on how to connect with- and have their remote employees feel included: 💠 Regular coffee-hour via Zoom; planned discussion topics – no controversial subjects 💠 Surprise days off – no contact from anyone that day, and no expectation that any calls or emails be responded to 💠 Some meetings with cameras on – but not every time 💠 Surprise “thank you” call – be specific 💠 Handwritten “thank you” card mailed – simple design – be specific. Then start implementing the core practices like the ones mentioned above, based on what your employees tell you they most need. It’s never too late to start, and engaging employees so that they decide to stay, will make a big difference. Said no-one ever.
Let’s say it’s your turn to cook dinner at home one evening, so you ask other family members for their input on what they’d like to eat. Everyone agrees, you go grocery shopping… and buy a completely different set of ingredients, for a new meal. When dinner is served, you can imagine some of the responses you might get. Probably some upset, with some questions as to why you bothered asking if you're just going to ignore their input. And you can bet that your family members will remember what happened, next time you ask what they want. ✅ Yet so many organizations do the same thing with their employee engagement surveys. They ask for input, then do nothing with the results, not even provide the most basic feedback to employees. What is the point? If it’s to learn where you currently stand on engagement, why does it matter if you're not going to work to improve it? A score by itself is meaningless, although most companies think that the purpose of an employee engagement survey is to measure employee engagement. It’s not – it’s actually to 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚 employee engagement. Yes, the score plays a part, but only if you are going to act, since you want to know that the changes you make are positively impacting the workplace, next time you measure. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. You may get a good response rate the first time you ask, since employees are giving you the benefit of the doubt. They want to feel valued, so when you ask for their opinions, they trust that you want their input. But, rest assured, if you take no action in response, when employees are asked to complete the next survey, the response rate will be abysmal. ✅ In addition, you will have eroded trust. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙨, 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙨, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙞𝙣𝙥𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝. It is already an uphill battle: 80% of employees don’t believe managers will act on survey data, as recently reported by Office Vibe. So, you must prove your employees wrong, and not only act, based on your results, but keep them informed by regularly communicating. Whatever you do, do not take the results, then tell the entire company that if people are not happy, they can leave (true story!). Instead, ask for input because you genuinely want it, promise to communicate, do exactly that and start making changes. You will build trust and show you genuinely care – critical components of engaged employees and a great culture. Employee engagement and employee satisfaction are not the same, even though they are often used interchangeably:
✅ Engagement is the emotional commitment that employees have to an organization and the discretionary effort they're willing to give. ✅ Satisfaction describes how happy employees are. Employers often think they are doing what is required, to engage employees. However, it turns out that, in reality, the organization has some nice perks available. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜. And perks alone will not engage employees. In fact, someone can be quite satisfied, but not engaged. Happy to collect a paycheck and not give a minute longer to the job than necessary. Always willing to listen to a recruiter calling with a new opportunity. 𝙀𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙝𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚𝙨’ 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚. In short, these employees care, and are committed to their companies’ success. A simple distinction: ✅ Satisfaction is more about what an employee will 𝙜𝙚𝙩 from the employer. ✅ Engagement is about what an employee will 𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 to the employer. Getting employees engaged involves the introduction of some fundamental practices, plus leaders who genuinely care. If you get that right, employees will stay longer, and become your brand ambassadors, making it easier to hire. Because engagement is a key differentiator in today’s market. But first, ensure you measure engagement and not satisfaction. And put the practices that make a difference in place. If you're a small-to-medium sized organization with rare promotional opportunities, you may think it’s not worth providing your employees with training and professional development opportunities.
After all, what’s the point, if there’s nowhere for them to grow within your organization, meaning they’ll then take that training and knowledge and go somewhere else? There’s every point: ✅ According to Gallup, 87% of millennials rated professional or career growth and development opportunities in the workplace as one of their top priorities. ✅ And a Bridge survey found that 86% of millennials would be kept from leaving their current position if training and development were offered by their employer. So, it helps organizations attract and retain good people long-term. Also, keep in mind that this is a two-way street, since there are huge benefits for employers too. According to the 2021 PWC Global CEO Survey, 28% of CEOs said that they are “extremely concerned” about the availability of key skills. Therefore, by providing learning and development opportunities to current employees, you’re future proofing yourself in terms of required skillset. Especially in today’s job market, where it can be extremely difficult to find candidate with the right skills. 𝙄𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙤’𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠, 𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙙, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮’𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪. Instead of one who’s disengaged and negatively impacting the morale of everyone around them, until they decide to leave. 💠 Because disengagement is contagious. There simply is no reason to not provide learning and development opportunities. 𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚. So, even though It’s not possible for every single organization to offer promotions, every single company, big or small, can create a learning plan for every single position. As Richard Branson wrote in 2014: “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough, so they don't want to.” That's the type of organization you need to create. |
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