In his bestselling book E-myth Mastery, business writer Michael E. Gerber highlights five essential qualities for entrepreneurial success:

1. Concentration
2. Discrimination
3. Organization
4. Innovation
5. Communication

Of these, only the final tool, communication, is used by every employee in an organization. Knowing this, many companies provide communication training for customer-facing employees. Others may educate frontline supervisors on how to communicate procedures and policies to their charges.  Effective communication is essential for nearly every employee, regardless of role or rank. This article will explore how to improve communication between managers and executives, who generally spend far more time training others on how to successfully communicate than they do polishing their own communication skills.

Communication Roles
First, let’s consider the communication roles of each group. Managers (as distinguished from frontline supervisors) are the conduits through which vertical communication passes. As such, managers must relay the concerns and ideas of employees. They must also be skilled in providing feedback and directing employees toward meeting organizational goals. In their communications, executives and senior managers provide leadership, inspiration, and the broad, market-wide perspective that is required to steer any organization toward greener, more profitable pastures. It is the executive’s role to get teams fired up, and to ensure that new projects begin with a positive, anticipatory atmosphere.

Communication Methods
A major consideration for both groups is the method of communication. What tools does your organization offer to help your leaders monitor company activity and communicate current challenges? In this digital age, many firms have created a company intranet in order to streamline communication. A “management toolbox” is a handy tool to locate on the intranet, as it allows firms to break down bulky management information into sub-categories according to purpose. The nature of digital networking has also allowed many corporations to flatten hierarchical structures by eliminating middle managers in favor of more direct reporting from employees. Indeed, in their book The Leader of the Future 2, Frances Hesselbein and Marshall Goldsmith encourage executives regularly review internal communication procedures:

Executives should seek clarity, simplicity, and economy in their structures, and they should keep to a minimum the number of levels required, because each layer is a communication link that adds complexity and noise to the decision process.

As 2.0 technology blossoms, more and more programs are facilitating direct communication between employees and executives, thereby eliminating supercilious levels of communication. For instance, the CEO of the international research firm Schlessinger Associates uses CEM to personally monitor customer engagement. He has opted to automatically receive a Recover Alert when a customer indicates that they were dissatisfied with their experience with Schlesinger. Since this process is automated, managers spend less time describing problems, and more time fixing them. As all of us have experienced when playing a whispered game of “Telephone,” each time a message goes through a messenger, it risks being altered. Review your organization to see where messages often become stuck or altered, and consider whether you can remove such communication barriers.

Miscommunication
Even after your review is complete, and you’re satisfied with your communication procedures, miscommunication will occur. This is inevitable, as humans are sense-making creatures; we would rather guess at what we think the speaker is saying, rather than suspend our own understanding and wade in confusion until the true message is conveyed. Robert McCloskey captured the circuitous confusion of miscommunication when he quipped, “I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” To ensure that they are conveying their intended messages, managers and executives should brush up on the following tips for successful communication:

• Consider your tone. Most people have a hard time capturing an intended message if their emotions get in the way. Especially when sending emails, be sure to step outside of your own viewpoint for a moment to consider how the recipient might feel upon receiving your message. Aim for a tone that’s positive, honest, and trustworthy.
• Clarify, clarify, clarify. Many miscommunications occur when people fail to admit that they are confused. Ask questions until you can confirm that all parties involved are receiving the same transmission. Encourage everyone that you communicate with to ask questions with no fear of ridicule. Let “There are no stupid questions” be your mantra, and you’ll suffer far fewer misunderstandings.
• Enter into every communication with an objective in mind. This will help you prioritize messages that must be conveyed, and allow you to let go of unimportant side points.
• Don’t let your emotions get in the way. If you are upset, feel free to write a nasty letter—just don’t send it! (I suggest composing such letters in Word, so as to avoid any hasty hits of the “send” button.) Lincoln, a masterful communicator, made use of this technique. Following Lincoln’s death, a scathing letter decrying General Meade’s weakness following Gettysburg was found in Lincoln’s desk. Adopt Lincoln’s approach—express your frustrations honestly, but before you convey them to your colleagues and employees, cool down. Then, let your rational mind strategize the best way to preserve trust through communication.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager

Additional Resources:
Combating Miscommunication in the Workplace
Customer Engagement Management Tools for Organizing Customer Feedback
Best Practices in Employee Communications

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Resilience is a crucial characteristic in this unpredictable world.  Trees survive terrible storms if they can bend in the wind. Species who cannot adapt to new conditions die out.  The natural world’s proclivity toward flexibility is also rewarded in humans.   Thomas Edison once said, “I have not failed.  I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”  Eventually, resilient individuals can achieve success, sometimes after hundreds of attempts at their dream.  At its core, resilience is the spark of determination that empowers us to get up and try again, no matter what the circumstances.  We have seen time and again that the most successful businesses are resilient enough to bounce back from any crisis.  What’s less clear is how such successful firms encourage resilience in their ranks.

It may seem like all that’s required for organizational resilience is a widespread “Try, try again,” company mantra, but actually nourishing resilience in an organization is much easier said than done. Today we’ll explore various ways of  encouraging resiliency.  To direct our review, we’ll list a technique or two for each of the characteristics of resilient organizations, as established in our previous post on resilience.   Consider the following methods for increasing your organization’s resilience:

a.  Resilient organizations have a Clear and Compelling Company Purpose.

In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins suggests that those who are looking for a compelling purpose ask themselves the following three questions:

1. What am I most passionate about?
2. What can I be the best in the world at?
3. Now, how can I make money?

Although these questions were meant for the individual, they can certainly help your firm develop a clear and compelling company purpose.

As you zone in on the concept that expresses why you are in business, look for things you would do even if they didn’t bring you any money.  Aim for a simple, short sentence that expresses your reason for being.  A company purpose should be brief, customer-focused (what will you do for the customer?), broad enough to last through technological and societal shifts, and attainable through effort.  Here are  examples of  two effective company purpose statements to get your brainstorm brewing:

Disney: “Keeping alive the magic of childhood.”
Western Union: “Connecting friends, families, and businesses around the world.”

b.  Employees at resilient organizations have a Strong Trust in Leadership.

Steven Covey has recently turned his attention to the lack of trust in modern society.  According to his article at Leadership Now, “Research shows that only 49% of employees trust senior management, and only 28% believe CEOs are a credible source of information.”  In addition to making trust an explicit objective within your organization, Covey recommends that leaders who wish to be trusted follow these 13 behaviors of high-trust leaders worldwide:

1. Talk Straight
2. Demonstrate Respect
3. Create Transparency
4. Right Wrongs
5. Show Loyalty
6. Deliver Results
7. Get Better
8. Confront Reality
9. Clarify Expectation
10. Practice Accountability
11. Listen First
12. Keep Commitments
13. Extend Trust

c.  Resilient organizations are defined by their Open Communication.

Your company cannot effectively respond to adversity if employees don’t feel comfortable speaking to one another.  It’s no surprise, then, that many of the world’s largest, most enduring companies have an uncompromising dedication to open communication.  General Electric has 14 divisions around the world, but it is all tied together through one person: the CEO, to whom all 14 division heads report directly.  A clear, established line of command helps GE keep internal communication humming.

One more example:  Google is consistently voted one of the best companies in the world to work for.  One reason is that employees are given a plethora of tools for communicating internally.  As described at Google Blogoscope, Google employees have access to a broad company intranet, a special page for communicating new ideas, a project database to allow employees to see what their peers are doing, and much more.  Even if your organization doesn’t have Google’s technological capability, you can still improve operations by smoothing out the lines of communication within your firm.

4.  Supportive Management in resilient organizations helps employees solve any problem.

Due to widespread dissatisfaction with management, Boss Day is one of the most lackluster holidays in the US. A recent Adecco survey revealed that 53% of American workers think their boss is dishonest.  In the same survey, 89% of those interviewed linked job satisfaction to their relationship with their boss.

Sincerely supportive management, therefore, has a huge impact on your organization’s resilience.  If employees feel comfortable with management, they are far more likely to bring up opportunities and problems.

A simple way to encourage supportive management is to increase the amount of positive interactions managers have with employees.  How many times a day do managers simply wander through the work space greeting and socializing with employees?  When was the last time that managers honestly thanked employees for their contributions? Any recipe for supportive management is based on delivering consistent communication and positive feedback.  To learn more about effective employee recognition, see our post on Five Effective Real-World Approaches to Employee Recognition.

5.  Employees in resilient organizations have Adequate Tools and Resources to help them produce their best work.

Today’s economic hardships have tempted many companies to scour their books for opportunities to cut costs.  Unfortunately, such budgeting often reduces the resources employees have for doing their best work, which usually has a long-term impact on profitability. Slashing employee resources damages your organization in two ways.  First, employees who lost their tools for success feel undervalued, and often become embittered about their workplace.  Second, there are practical implications of reducing employee resources.  Outdated resources may save a few pennies today, but leaders should also think of the potential revenue that is lost by limiting your employees’ output.  Leadership in resilient organizations recognizes that investing in employees’ performance yields better products and services in the long run.  If you must cut costs, bring employees into the discussion.

As you can see, organizational resilience springs from the general work atmosphere.  If employees feel supported and empowered to do their best work, they will see problems as challenges. A common, cherished company purpose enables leadership and employees alike to accurately direct their response to difficult situations. Open communication and trustworthy leadership allows employees to tackle crises confidently.  In the end, as all of these factors also contribute to employee engagement, effective Employee Engagement Management may be the most comprehensive approach to encouraging Organizational Resilience.

~Kate Feather, Executive Vice President

Additional Resources:
25 Staff and Recognition Ideas that Won’t Break the Bank
Introduction to Employee Engagement Mangement (PDF file)
Best Practices in Employee Communications
Five Key Traits of Resilient Individuals
Five Key Traits of Resilient Organizations

Top photo by Jeff Kramer.

In his timeless work How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936), Dale Carnegie traces all human motivation to one sensation:  feeling important.  Quoting American philosopher John Dewey, Carnegie emphasizes “that the deepest urge in human nature is ‘the desire to be important.’” Flash forward to 2009, when the most innovative business leaders are applying Carnegie’s dictum to the workplace through Employee Engagement Management.  More than just an “HR buzzword,” Employee Engagement Management is a leadership approach that values each employee’s well being and input, with the understanding that passionate, engaged employees are more productive.  This article will explain why gathering and implementing employee suggestions is an effective technique for improving both employee and customer engagement.

Making use of employee suggestions increases employee engagement because humans have an innate need to feel that their actions and ideas make a difference. In fact, human development theorist Erik Erikson tells us that the major developmental crisis of middle adulthood is generativity vs. stagnation—whether or not we successfully contribute to the society around us.  When employees see that their suggestions are highly valued, they feel important to the organization.  Later, as their ideas are implemented, employees feel generative and effective. This is why employees typically become more personally immersed in their work when staff recommendations are regularly implemented.  Personal contribution raises our attachment to any outcome. As they recognize that their ideas can make a difference, employees will often spend more discretionary effort to find ways to improve their own working conditions and performance.  A contributing, innovating employee is an engaged employee.

Moreover, taking suggestions from your employees makes good business sense, since employees often have unique insights about how to improve operations. Since they are on the front lines, your employees have a rich understanding of what your customers need and want. By harnessing their first-hand customer knowledge, you can also improve your organization’s customer service, thereby boosting customer engagement and enjoying higher profits.  (In fact, PeopleMetrics has found a clear correlation between increased customer engagement and higher profit margins.)

The Japanese have a name for the end result of respecting every employee’s ideas—kaizen, or continuous improvement. By listening to your employees’ suggestions, you can boost engagement while ensuring that your organization continues to grow and improve.

~Kate Feather, Executive Vice President

Additional Resources:
Using Customer Engagement Management to Create a Culture of Accountability
1001 Ways to Energize Employees
Kaizen Teian 2: Guiding Continuous Improvement Through Employee Suggestions

Photo credit: Alosh Bennet

As we recently discussed, long-term customers provide many financial benefits to your company. In fact, strengthening current accounts is one of the most effective methods of boosting profits. Recruiting new clients usually costs a pretty penny, so many world-class organizations focus on increasing up-selling and cross-selling to current customers instead. Unfortunately, many salespeople avoid these techniques because they are afraid that suggesting additional products or services could scare off customers. However, as long as you follow a few basic strategies, as outlined below, you can successfully cross-sell and up-sell to your current customers.

1.    Identify the Roles of Individuals in the Buying Process. The administrative assistant may actually put in the order, but he or she doesn’t set the budget for office supplies.  Get to know the different roles in your clients’ buying hierarchy.  Understanding your clients’ buying hierarchy, will help you pinpoint where you should spend your cross-selling and up-selling efforts.  Don’t be afraid to ask your contact who is involved in decisions.

2.    Learn from your customer throughout the buying process. How often do you get accurate customer feedback for your pitches?  In order to successfully sense when and how to up-sell and cross-sell, you must gather feedback throughout the selling process.  Follow-up questions are often rich sources of information on how to improve your methods. If a customer is unhappy with your service, ask what you can do better. Most “tough customers” are happy to help you improve your operations.

3.    Increase Employee Engagement to Wow the Customer. 54% of clients who interacted with an employee that went above and beyond expectations say that they would go out of their way to do business with that firm again in the future.  In comparison, only 25% of customers who haven’t had a “Wow!” experience say they would go out of their way to do business with that firm again. Consistently exceeding expectations is a great way to double repeat business from your current clients.

4.    Map opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling to your clients. Every customer cycles through a specific series of steps during the buying process, as outlined below in Miller Heiman’s Buying Process map.  Miller Heiman is a global leader in sales performance solutions.

They note that certain times are riper for up-selling and cross-selling, as indicated by the arrows in the figure.  A customer who hasn’t yet recognized a need to change won’t be ready for up-selling. On the other hand, once a customer has implemented a certain product or service, and is assessing the value of their purchase, he or she is ready to consider additional products; this is the perfect time to cross-sell.

By continually seeking customer feedback, carefully timing your pitches, improving Employee Engagement, and harnessing a good understanding of the roles of each buyer, you can successfully increase your sales to existing customers.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager

Additional Resources:
How Long-Term Customers Benefit Your Company
Customer Engagement Management Tools for Organizing Customer Feedback
The Customer-Engagement Boost: Why your customers’ emotions matter

Top photo: Beck Tench

Timing isn’t everything in employee engagement research, but it’s definitely important to consider. The best time to send out employee surveys varies according to each organization’s culture, history, and goals.  If your firm has never conducted research before, an initial wave of surveys will set a starting point for employee engagement and any other factors you may choose to measure.  As the results of this first survey will serve as a compass for future research, it’s a good idea to include as many employees as possible.  Create a specific, generous time window for returning the surveys.  A reminder email in the middle of fielding the survey will help garner additional responses.  After your first round of research, your action plans, among other factors, will dictate when to survey your employees.

1. Set Dates for Measuring Improvement

Most companies administer surveys according to a specific, predetermined time schedule. The advantage of this approach is that it highlights changes over time.  For instance, if your first batch of surveys indicated that 35% of employees were engaged, you may choose to survey the same workforce again in six months to measure whether your efforts to boost engagement are actually working.

2. Important Employee Events

If you’re interested in how individual employees’ opinions change during their time with your company, it’s a good idea to schedule surveys around important employee events. For instance, if you onboard a large group of employees, you may choose to interview them after thirty days, after six months, and so forth.  Timing surveys around these events will yield insight into your onboarding process and how engagement shifts over time.

3. Important Company Events

Employee feedback is invaluable during company-wide shifts.  For example, if the company is rebranding, you may choose to survey your workforce before and after the shift.   Employee responses will help you understand the impact on employees  and what you can do to make the new brand more successful.

Regardless of the timing you choose, the most important thing is to ask your employees for feedback and take action on that feedback.  To learn how some of our clients have conducted employee surveys, see our Employee Engagement Resources Center.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager

Additional Resources
Benefits of Multiple Waves of EEM Research
5 Tips for Motivating Employees to Complete Surveys
How to Use Employee Feedback to Retain and Attract Superstars

Top photo by fdecomite.

American inventor Charles Kettering once said, “A problem well stated is a problem half solved.”  This maxim is as relevant to business success as it is to invention. Business growth is often fueled by customers who clearly, honestly report problems. We might tack on an addendum for business: A problem immediately relayed is often more easily resolved.  In an ideal world, managers would know about each customer complaint mere moments after it had been lodged. To appreciate how such real-time feedback can impact customer engagement, let’s review a case study: Schlesinger Associates.

First, a little background information. Schlesinger Associates is a 40-year-old research services company with 16 offices in the US and UK. Their customers include marketing and market research executives from several Fortune 500 companies. To retain and grow current accounts, Schlesinger Associates has utilized PeopleMetrics’ Customer Engagement Management (CEM) solution for the last five years. In addition to providing superior service in a competitive field, Schlesinger aims to quickly, efficiently respond to client problems.  Since it is estimated that recruiting a new client costs seven times more than retaining an existing client, Schlesinger strives to turn potentially disengaged, disloyal customers into advocates for their company by responding quickly and effectively to grievances.

PeopleMetrics’ CEM solution helps them do so, first by capturing real-time feedback from clients who have recently visited a Schlesinger Associates office. About 100 such customer surveys are completed each month.  If a customer indicates that they were dissatisfied with an aspect of their experience, a Recover Alert is sent to the facility manager and the CEO. Each Recover Alert contains information about the customer’s concerns, as well as a compilation of all survey responses.  This information empowers Schlesinger Associates managers to quickly, efficiently resolve customers’ complaints.

In addition to aiding managers, PeopleMetrics’ CEM solution allows Schlesinger Associates’ CEO to keep his finger on the pulse of the organization.  Because he receives every alert that is sent out, the CEO can track areas for improvement.  A transparent culture of accountability and continual improvement has been established at Schlesinger Associates, thanks to automated, real-time Customer Engagement Management Alerts.

Overall, Recovery Alerts help Schlesinger Associates deliver on their promise of excellent customer service. Moreover, PeopleMetrics’ CEM solution allows Schlesinger to understand customer feedback on multiple levels: by individual customer, service area, location, or for the business as a whole.

To revisit our initial quotation from Charles Kettering, Schlesinger Associates gives customers the opportunity to provide “well-stated” feedback. Furthermore, alerts are immediately sent to the CEO and the appropriate employees to facilitate prompt resolution. Could he view Schlesinger Associates’ consistently high customer satisfaction and engagement scores, Mr. Kettering might be inspired to reframe problems as opportunities for perpetual improvement.

~Kate Feather, Executive Vice President

Additional Resources & Related Posts
To learn more about PeopleMetrics’ CEM solution, visit our page on Customer Engagement.

Combating Miscommunication in the Workforce
Customer Engagement Management Tools for Organizing Customer Feedback
Customer Alerts: Turning Customer Feedback into Immediate Sales

In his book The Rise of the Creative Class, Richard L. Florida highlights the factors that motivate creative workers like programmers and scientists.  One of his conclusions is that increasing numbers of modern workers are motivated, at least in part, by peer recognition. This is why, even in today’s rocky economic climate, many people are willing to work for free on projects that they feel will win the respect of their peers.  Fortunately, progressive managers are beginning to recognize the power of peer-to-peer recognition.

In addition to the motivational factor, many managers encourage peer recognition because they know that it is usually accurate. As Judith A. Hale explains in Performance-Based Management, peers may deliver more detailed, effective feedback, since they have more opportunities to observe their coworkers’ performance.  As Ms. Hale writes, “It is not uncommon for the manager to be removed from where the work is performed and, therefore, rarely see what people do or how they do it.”

If you’re looking to develop a peer recognition program for your workplace, keep a few general feedback guidelines in mind:

1. Remember that specific feedback is more effective than general praise.  Encourage your employees to be precise when complimenting their peers.
2. Additionally, you should involve employees in designing your peer recognition program.  Avoid launching new recognition programs without ensuring that the whole crew is on board.  Your new recognition procedures will be far more likely to take root if everyone in your organization understands why they are being implemented.
3. It’s also important that everyone in your firm has equal opportunities to give and receive feedback.  Set up a level playing field. Make it easy to give recognition.
4. Your system should aim for immediate gratification.  Don’t let peer compliments pile up for weeks or months, since employees will be more motivated by timely feedback.
5. Finally, keep in mind that employees follow their managers’ lead; your managers and executives must lead by example, especially in providing helpful, positive feedback

As you discuss possible programs with your team, here are a few examples of how companies incorporate peer-to-peer recognition.

1. The Recognition Raffle. Each time an employee receives recognition from a peer, he or she is entered into a raffle.
2. Let the Most Kudos Win. Employees fill out a card or form to thank, compliment, or recognize their peers.  The cards are then displayed on a central bulletin board to foster a positive work environment.  Regularly, managers review the kudos board and award the employee who has received the most peer recognition.  (If you choose this method, you might also incorporating a raffle, to avoid popularity contests.)
3. The Company Store. Employees receive points for each peer recognition.  Points may be accumulated and traded in for prizes at The Company Store.  Your prizes don’t have to be big; perhaps five compliments would be enough to earn an extra hour off, for instance.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager

Additional Resources:

Three Ways to Mix Up your Employee Recognition Routine
Employee Recognition: Engagement Fuel
Creating Community at Work

Customer service training guidebooks traditionally focus on molding the worker, not the manager.  Similarly, many firms deliver customer engagement training only to new entry-level employees.  Sales managers, it is often assumed, already have customer service skills, since they must have acquired them in order to be promoted.  And yet managers impact customer engagement in unique ways.  By understanding managers’ roles, executives can better train and equip them for delivering unparalleled service.

One immediately apparent managerial role is addressing unhappy customers.  Someone has to respond when a customer asks to speak with a higher up.  Accordingly, firms may train managers in soothing frustrated customers. Specific concessions or treats may be extended to keep a customer who is considering abandoning the brand.  However, if managers are only trained to address the situation and not the overall issue than customer attrition is inevitable.

Today, the most effective managers do more than simply carry out executives’ customer service orders.  This represents a shift in business operations.  To use a military metaphor, previously, managers were often seen as enlisted men, not officers.  It wasn’t a part of their job description to strategize; they were simply expected to carry out the plans that superior officers had designed, even if they knew from personal experience that the plans wouldn’t work.  Today, many firms share the burden of strategy by educating their entire work force in customer engagement.  In this new paradigm, managers do more than just respond to complaints.

A manager’s first new role in delivering customer satisfaction is keeping up on the latest customer engagement research. This is because managers inevitably meet with completely unexpected, novel customer service situations.  To be able to respond quickly and appropriately, managers must have customer engagement information at their fingertips. Some systems empower managers to research best practices.  PeopleMetrics’ Customer Engagement Management tool, for instance, includes a library of best practice information, which allows managers to instantly tap into the actions that produce the best results.

Second, managers should be involved in designing new customer engagement procedures.  Actually, your whole customer-facing work force should be included.  These employees often have unique insight into what customers want.

Once customer engagement stratgies are in place, managers can provide a crucial link to inform upper management about which customer engagement initiatives are working.  This is their third new role:  tweaking new systems to maximize customer engagement.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager

Additional Resources:
Customer Engagement Feedback Tools For Organizing Customer Feedback
Customer Alerts: Turning Customer Feedback into Immediate Sales
Using Customer Engagement Management to Create a Culture of Accountability

Top photo: bixentro

Employee recognition has proven to be an influential factor in employee retention, engagement, and motivation. Organizations that successfully and consistently implement employee recognition enjoy long-term stability and higher profit margins. To better understand effective employee recognition, we’ve outlined five guidelines for this management strategy, along with real-world examples for each approach.

1. Tailor your recognition program to your organizational culture. No one company’s program should be exactly the same as another’s. Your employees are unique and part of a similarly unique culture; thus, they require a culture-specific recognition program.

Example: In Keeping the People Who Keep You In Business, Leigh Branham highlights Henley Healthcare, a Texas maker of non-invasive medical products.  Henley Healthcare polled its office staff to learn what kind of reward they would like for working long hours.  The results were clear: 42% preferred time off, 22% preferred clothing, and 20% preferred tickets to cultural events.  This information allowed Henley Healthcare to create a recognition program that reflects what its employees actually want.

2. Money is not the catch-all solution to employee recognition; in fact, it should take a backseat to other methods. For instance, time, affirmation, and personally-expressed gratitude are much more valuable commodities.

Example: Buttoned Up Inc., an organizational firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan, rewards its employees with flexible schedules.  As Sarah Pierce writes for The Business Insider, “Depending on their job, some employees are allowed to work one day a week from home to save on gas money while others can choose between getting their work done in two days or spreading it out over the entire work week. ‘As long as everyone gets their work done, we’re very flexible,’” Buttoned Up Founder and CEO Alicia Rockmore explains.

3. Be specific and consistent. Employees should know exactly why they are being rewarded. Additionally, they should know exactly which behaviors will elicit recognition.  Your employees will quickly discount any program that appears to favor certain employees unfairly.

Example: As described in The 24-Carrot Manager, “Mandy Assi, concierge manager at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, is a passionate practitioner of specific recognition. ‘Managers realize how hard it is to find good people, and that it’s even more challenging to retain them, especially in the hospitality industry, where shift work can be difficult. You need to be specific.  For example, I [recognize] you because I saw you checking in Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith was upset, and you handled that with immense ease and calmed him down. Mr. Smith left with a big smile on his face. You also stayed late after your shift even though you were tired.’”

4. Encourage peer-to-peer recognition. Recognition doesn’t always have to come from the top. In many cases, co-workers know more about real employee performance than managers do. Create a culture of encouragement and recognition among your employees, and watch employee engagement grow.

Example: As Donna Deeprose explains in her book, How to Recognize and Reward Employees, marketing, travel, and hospitality provider Carlson Companies has a peer recognition program called Bravo.  Through their recognition website, CarltonRewards, any Carlton employee can recognize any other employee for a job well done.  Furthermore, the system catalogs praise according to company strategies. Employees can recognize their colleagues for actions in the following categories: Build Our Team, Satisfy the Customer, Deliver Our Family of Business, or Work Smarter, Not Harder.  The heads of business units deliver certificates to employees who receive peer recognition, and employees also receive redeemable Gold Points.  Carlton’s reward program is effective because both executives and peers can easily applaud good work.

5. Be creative continually, not just in the beginning. No matter how tailored and specific it is, over time, your recognition program will become stagnant. Keep employees on their toes by creating and adapting new methods of reward and recognition.

Example: As described in The 1001 Rewards & Recognition Fieldbook, Doris Hausser, former director of performance management for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, had a tough job: guide and inspire 1.8 million federal employees in dozens of different departments. Hausser’s technique?  Encourage departments and individual employees to be creative with their recognition programs.  For instance, as she explains, “One agency has started the Giraffe Award to recognize people who stick their necks out, where you are really awarding risk taking, and that’s the whole idea.  The award is symbolic of the nature of the contribution that the employer wants to see.”

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager

Additional Resources:
Three Ways to Mix Up Your Employee Recognition Routine
Five Frugal Ways To Recognize Employees
Customer-Based Employee Recognition: How to reward your unsung brand champions

Top photo by Sasha Wolff.

If today’s revolutionary business leaders were to outline a declaration of their dictums for business success, would they claim that all customers are created equal? I doubt it. Just like parents, business leaders can’t help but notice that each customer is unique. And although they might not admit it, most business leaders acknowledge that long-term customers are treated differently than new customers. Why? Because long-term customers bring certain unique benefits to any organization.

First, long-term customers represent a stable form of dependable revenue, even if their individual purchases are small. Most companies get two-thirds of their sales from current customers, in fact. For instance, according to A Complaint is a Gift, by Janelle Barlow and Claus Moller, “Domino’s Pizza calculates that over just a 10-year period, regular customers are worth about $5,000 [each].”

Still, it can be difficult to see how much base profit long-term customers provide in the long run. To think beyond each individual sale, consider the following formula: Multiply the customer’s average purchase by the number of purchases they make per year, and then multiply for five, ten, or twenty years. For instance, if you run a dry-cleaning business, a customer might only pay $25 per week. However, if we translate that to a yearly expenditure, we see that this customer purchases $1,200 of cleaning per year. In five years, that one customer would bring in $6,000 of business.

And that’s just direct business. If a customer sticks around for years on end, they are almost certainly recommending your business to their friends and families, effectively doing your recruiting work for you. In other words, long-term customers can help lower your marketing and sales budget. Furthermore, those who come to your company on a referral are more likely to be engaged customers. As PeopleMetrics’ 2009 Most Engaged Customers report stated, “Customers who choose to use an organization after receiving a recommendation are more engaged and more forgiving than those that come to you blind.”

But these aren’t the only reasons why long-term customers are more profitable than new customers. As Fred Reichheld shows in his landmark book, The Loyalty Effect, long-term customers also require lower operating costs, as they understand how your system works. As Richheld writes, “In financial planning, for instance, planners log about five times as many hours on a first-year client as they do on a repeat customer.” New customers require more handholding from your staff, as they don’t yet know how your business works.

Finally, considering the considerable costs involved with attracting new customers, maintaining happy long-term customers is one of the most effective methods for increasing profits. As Reichhelds points out in an author interview, “A five percentage point increase in customer retention in a typical company will increase profits by more than 25%, and growth by more than 100%!”

Customer Engagement Management (CEM) is proven method for researching, tracking, and improving customer retention. CEM focuses on customers’ emotional connections to brands, and allows managers to respond in real-time to customer queries, suggestions, and complaints. More than just a conglomeration of customer data, CEM provides a system for improving operations in the long-term by improving customer experiences. Learn more about Customer Engagement Management by reviewing our Introduction to CEM.

~Kate Feather, Executive Vice President

Additional Resources
Calculating the True Cost of a Lost Customer
How Word-Of-Mouth Attracts More Engaged Customers
Customer Alerts: Turning Customer Feedback into Immediate Sales

Top photo by Steven Depolo.

We live in an era that values immediate satisfaction.  Modern technology has made everything from food to entertainment available within seconds.  Yet, even today, certain things are better when they take a little more time. Employee engagement is one of those items.  A long-term, outcome-based approach is useful for improving employee engagement. By examining the experience of one company, Coca-Cola Hellenic, you can see the benefits of doing multiple waves of employee engagement research.

To explore how companies are improving employee engagement around the globe, let’s take a look at Coca-Cola Hellenic, a company that has done multiple waves of employee engagement research. Coca-Cola Hellenic is an international bottler of non-alcoholic beverages that operates in 28 countries.  Their business is people-intensive and executives at Coca-Cola Hellenic have recognized that employee engagement is key to meeting their goal of being the undisputed leader in all of their markets.

In an initial wave of research, Coca-Cola Hellenic employees were surveyed to establish baseline engagement and to identify key drivers of engagement.  The analysis identified a clear set of suggested actions to improve engagement.

Eighteen months later, a second wave of engagement research was administered to determine the efficacy of the suggested actions, and to measure shifts in employee perceptions.  In this second wave of research, Coca-Cola Hellenic saw significant improvement in employee engagement.

To coordinate employee engagement across their organization and provide managers with actions to improve engagement, Coca-Cola Hellenic implemented PeopleMetrics’ Employee Engagement Management (EEM) tool.  EEM allows managers to see how their area of focus is performing compared to other divisions or the company as a whole, provides an easy action planning process to create and track progress overtime, and houses best practice actions and tips for improving employee engagement.

Since the baseline wave, employee engagement at Coca-Cola Hellenic has risen steadily. Additionally, analysis of Coca-Cola Hellenics’ business outcome performance metrics found that higher levels of employee engagement are linked to higher productivity levels, lower turnover rate, and fewer accidents on site.

Given how many traditional business incomes are tied to employee engagement, it’s no surprise that forward-thinking organizations are tracking engagement as diligently as they track other important indicators.  Ongoing assessment and management of employee engagement sends the message to employees that their work is valued.  When management consistently asks how it can help employees feel enthusiastic and happy at work, employees feel supported and respected.  The message at Coca-Cola Hellenic is that management is dedicated to employee engagement for the long haul.  This dynamic is what will distinguish the most successful firms of the future.

~Kate Feather, Executive Vice President

Additional Resources
Thoughts on How Customers See Your Employees
Employee Recognition: Engagement Fuel
How to Build Employee Resilience, Even in a Recession

Top photo by TXD.

You’re stuck in traffic, your dog threw up just as you were leaving the house, and you haven’t had your morning java.  Yet, as you savor the exhaust on the expressway, you remember Allison, that certain employee who clearly needs some encouragement.  Allison’s been working long hours on some tough projects—and doing a great job!  You know timing is important.  If you don’t recognize Allison soon, she may just feel like she needs to move on.  But you don’t have time to draft a complex recognition plan—in fact, she needs to get some recognition today.  So, how can you deliver thoughtful, specific employee recognition when you’re short on time?  Read on for a few general techniques for quick employee recognition, inspired by Ken Lloyd’s 151 Quick Ways To Recognize and Reward Employees.

1.  Write a note.
In this era of electronic communication, hand-written notes have more impact than ever.  Keep a stash of stylish, simple notes in your car, briefcase, and nightstand.  That way, when a certain employee’s heroic deeds come to mind, you can just reach for the pen.  Remember to be as specific as you can in your praise; this will help Allison understand which actions you’d like her to repeat.

2. Visit for No Reason.
Unfortunately, many managers only visit their employees’ offices when they have an agenda.  When was the last time you chatted with Allison with no checklist running through your mind?  Employees appreciate your attention; they like knowing that you care about their work.  As Ken Lloyd quips, “Your presence is often the best present you can give your employees.”

3. Include Employees in Screening Interviews. Your packed schedule (once you finally get into the office) includes an interview for that new position.  Why not include Allison in part of the screening procedures?  Especially if they will be working directly with new hires, employees savor the chance to help contribute to the hiring process.  Including employees in hiring procedures makes them feel valued.  Bonus:  Allison will likely have unique insiders’ insights to contribute, since she’s on the front lines.

4. The Gift of Time. Let Allison know that you appreciate her dedication by letting her leave an hour or two early.  Even if she loves her job, Allison will savor her extra hour of freedom.

5.  Personally deliver paychecks. Don’t let HR have all of the fun.  If a certain employee has been delivering a stellar performance, turn paycheck delivery into an opportunity to deliver praise.  As you personally hand Allison her paycheck, tell her exactly what she’s been doing well lately.  She’ll probably remember your specific praise longer than she’ll remember how she spent that paycheck.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager

Top photo by William Warby

Since most jobs are snagged through personal connections, who you know has always been important.  Now, the ubiquity of social networks has added another consideration: Who are you connected to online? As it turns out, that’s an important question for hiring managers, too. Potential employees aren’t the only ones using social networks; savvy recruiters are also using their online networks to expedite the hiring processes.

Why?  First, social networking sites can make a candidate’s hunt less tedious. In the old recruitment regime, employers posted on job boards and waited for applicants to respond.  Here’s the problem with that system: especially in today’s market, such announcements are likely to bring in a tsunami of resumes. Thanks to social networking sites, you can now be more selective with your job announcement.  Since most networking sites allow searches of their members, you can significantly reduce the amount of time you spend looking for candidates.

In fact, many companies are now using social networks where they might have used headhunters in the past:  to find so-called passive candidates, those who are already successfully employed in a similar role.  LinkedIn and other business networking sites are akin to virtual directories for passive candidates across the country.  According to Business Week, recruiters at companies like Starbucks and Microsoft comb through social networking sites, looking for potential candidates.

An even more effective way to harness the power of social networks is to take advantage of your own connections. Just as employers are more likely to hire people with whom they have a personal connection, job seekers find referrals and personal interactions more effective than other forms of employment advertisement.  Professional networking sites like LinkedIn allow members to search their own connection pool.  Just type in what you’re looking for, and a location (if applicable), and you’ll find a bevy of talent within your own circle.   Or—even simpler—post an update to let your circle know that you’re on the lookout for talent.  That recruitment method could turn up the right candidate before lunch–after all, you never know which of your closest friends knows the perfect person for the job.

But the benefits of using online social networks don’t end at “You’re hired!” Those who are hired through connections from online networks are often more comfortable in their new workplace than those who are hired traditionally.   Ed Scanlan, founder of a legal outsourcing firm in Chicago, has found that “hires who come through referrals tend to fit the culture better—and to stick around.” This makes sense.  Social networks often cut through the kind of small talk we all use to find similarities with those around us.  If you’re digitally linked with your new boss or colleague, you probably already know what you have in common.

Ultimately, social networks can make any hiring manager’s job much easier.  Of course, in order to use social networks to their fullest potential, you must be honestly, consistently engaged in the networks you hope to tap.  So, even if your firm (like so many others) is holding off on hiring for the moment, you can prepare for future hiring by expanding your online networks.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager
PeopleMetrics

Additional Resources:
Setting Up New Hires for Success: How to Increase Employee Engagement from Day One
How to Find your Dream Employer
Dream Jobs: Companies with the best Employee Engagement Scores

Top photo by Santiago Rodriguez.

Western cooking traditionally recognizes four major tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. The Japanese, however, add a fifth taste called unami, or savory flavor. Unami is beloved for its ability to enhance all of the other flavors of a dish. As in cooking, managers must maintain a delicate balance of key ingredients to maximize their workforce. Ingredients like salaries and benefits, feedback mechanisms, and good training are all important to strengthen Employee Engagement Management (EEM), and even bolsters your Customer Engagement. But there is usually one ingredient that is often forgotten.  Just what is the unami of the business world? Fun.

Fun is the unexpected ingredient that can enhance your firm’s Employee Engagement.

Many managers are probably wagging their heads right now, scoffing at the idea of focusing on employees in such hard economic times. It’s hard enough to keep customers these days–why focus on the employee? Because doing so increases Customer Engagement. As PeopleMetrics’ Vice President Kate Feather stated in a podcast about the link between EEM and CEM, “If customers see and feel the engagement of the [employees] they’re interacting with, they come away with a better feeling about the organization, and then they’re more inclined to come back in the future, and more inclined to recommend the organization to family and friends.” Customers notice and like engaged employees, partly because engaged employees go above and beyond the call of duty for the customer. Additionally, customers enjoy interacting with engaged employees because it’s just more fun. As Kate explains, “There’s a real connection between customer and employee behaviors, driven by how much the [sales] experience is memorable and enjoyable, either for the employee, or for the customer.”

PeopleMetrics has found a direct correlation between customer engagement and key business indicators like ROI, Revenue Growth, and Return on Assets. Furthermore, PeopleMetrics’ research indicates that the companies with the most engaged customers also have highly engaged employees.

To see how the free flow of fun impacts an organization’s operations, let’s examine one fun-loving company: Trader Joe’s. This line of grocery stores is known for its happy, Hawaiian-shirt-wearing employees. Fortune has named Trader Joe’s one of the best places to work. And as Len Lewis writes in his book, The Trader Joe’s Adventure, “Few employers–particularly in retailing–can boast of having such high levels of employee loyalty, not to mention extremely low turnover.”

The employees at Trader Joe’s have plenty to be happy about. Especially compared with workers at other grocery stores, Trader Joe’s employees make more, get better benefits and perks, and enjoy more flexible scheduling. Mr. Lewis explains, “In a world rocked by layoffs, cutbacks, corporate scandals, and labor unrest–particularly in retailing–Trader Joe’s has long adhered to the philosophy that happy employees make for happy customers. Happy customers spend more and visit the store more frequently. This attitude is rare in the retail industry at large, where employees are often seen as expendable.”

While at work, Trader Joe’s encourages employees to have fun, and customers consistently notice this lighthearted attitude. In his book, Mr. Lewis delivers evidence of this from customers and non-customers alike. He quotes regular Trader Joe’s shopper Dan Raftery, who notes, “I think it’s probably fun to work there because they don’t take themselves too seriously. It’s a very positive environment, not oppressive, stale, or negative.” (Sounds like a fun place to shop, too!) Neal Stern, VP of Chicago firm McMillan/Doolitle, agrees, saying, “It’s a cool place to work–fun, informal–and they sell great stuff… It’s no coincidence that great stores to shop at are also great places to work. You can create a great marketing campaign, a billion-dollar ad campaign with glitzy flyers, but you can’t fake store morale.”

So, if you’re looking for a magical ingredient to boost your employee engagement (and your bottom line), try tossing in a little fun. Throw a staff appreciation party, open the next meeting with a silly icebreakers, or give employees the opportunity to be creative. (Trader Joe’s employees, for instance, use a system of pirate-ish bells and language to communicate in code with their peers, so it’s a lot more fun to report a “clean up on aisle five” at Trader Joe’s than it is at other grocery stores.) Finally, don’t leave your employees in the dark; include them in your investigation of how to make your workplace more fun.

See the PeopleMetrics’ 2009 Most Engaged Customers Report to learn more on the connection between Employee Engagement and Customer Engagement.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager

Plenty of people will tell you how the American health system is broken.  And yet, it’s not all doom and gloom.  Even in America’s bloated health care system, some hospitals manage to hold down costs while maintaining high levels of care.  As they look for ways to improve patient outcomes, many health care organizations are focusing on boosting employee engagement.  Our research has shown that hospitals with higher levels of employee engagement also enjoy higher levels of patient satisfaction, quality outcomes, and staff retention.  This article will explore how one health care organization, Sanford Health, improved operations by researching and boosting Employee Engagement.

Sanford Health’s more than 10,000 employees provide care across four states.  Sanford’s directors knew that in order to be a leader in health care, they needed to increase productivity and cooperation among employees while boosting the quality of care and the number of positive outcomes. They decided to take an Employee Engagement Management (EEM) approach to help meet and surpass their goals.

The first step Sanford Health took was conducting an organization-wide study to learn the existing drivers of employee engagement. The results of this employee survey revealed areas of focus to increase engagement. Once the survey results were compiled and analyzed, over 400 managers were granted access to an online EEM tool provided by PeopleMetrics. The tool allowed managers to analyze survey results and develop detailed action plans for their teams.  Upper management could review managers’ action plans, determine areas of improvement, track progress, and share action plans across the organization.  Thanks to actionable results and easy-to-use management tools, Sanford continues to boost employee engagement and improve patient outcomes.

So why does employee engagement management improve patient outcomes at hospitals?  Why does it improve hospital operations?

First, EEM works because health care is a people-based industry.  Nurses, doctors, and other health professionals need to feel supported and respected by their managers.  If they do, they are more likely to feel enthusiastic about their work and be inspired to do a great job.  Passionate, dedicated employees are more productive, period.  EEM also helps to improve retention.  When health care employees feel jazzed about their workplace, they’re more likely to stay for the long haul.  This allows them to better understand the procedures and requirements of their workplace. Basically, when health care employees are engaged, they are personally invested in their work. They find fulfillment in their work, and are more likely to put forth their best efforts.

If a job represents little more than a paycheck, then why would employees act otherwise?  Everyday, employees decide (consciously or unconsciously) whether they will go above and beyond the basic expectations of their position.  When they are engaged in their work, they have the motivation to strive for their very best.  As Peter Lanser wrote in an article on health care workers’ engagement for HR Pulse, “Engagement is when your employees give it their all, not because you are paying or rewarding them to do so, but because it is who they are.  Their own personal identity is caught up in the performance of their job, and their personal identity and their work role identity become one and the same.” Like workers in other industries, health care workers are more likely to produce excellent work when they are engaged with their work.  Engaged health care workers provide more efficient and better patient care, making Employee Engagement Management an excellent approach for improving patient outcomes.

~Kate Feather, Executive Vice President
PeopleMetrics

Additional Resources:
How Health Care Organizations can Increase Patient Satisfaction
Dream Jobs: Companies with the Best Employee Engagement Scores
Job Satisfaction and Location:  How Linked Are They?
Sanford Health Case EEM Study (.PDF)

Top photo by Sarah McDevvit.

When should you recognize employees?  Well, in an ideal world you would reward them every time they did something right.  Even if that “reward” was just a pat on the back paired with honest praise, your employee would understand that you liked what they did.  This “carrot” approach to motivation signals to the brain that a certain behavior should be repeated.  Consistent employee recognition has been shown to increase retention, engagement, and motivation. However, you can’t very well hover over every single employee, rewarding them for every properly done task.  Managers and owners must instead prioritize the most important occasions for recognition.  The following tips will help you understand when to recognize employees.

1. ASAP. If you take nothing else from this article, remember this:  employee recognition is most effective when it’s given immediately after the performance you hope to encourage.  So don’t wait.  If you do, the employee won’t associate your praise with their performance. Dole out your praise quickly if you have the chance.
2. Annual Organizational Recognition. Many organizations hold an annual picnic or party to reflect on the previous year’s accomplishments.  This is a great venue for recognizing group efforts, long-lasting or especially difficult projects, and overall company growth.
3. Jump-Start Recognition. Organizations move through cycles, and sometimes teams get stuck in a certain pattern.  If your employees seem to be in a rut, creative recognition can jolt them out of the doldrums. Arrange a positive experience and pepper it with sincere praise.  Perhaps you’ll throw a party and come up with funny titles or awards for each employee.  Or you could show up with popcorn, sodas, and a projector and show an inspirational or appropriate film, complete with a confidence-boosting awards ceremony for your team. Your employees will likely enjoy a burst of productive creativity following your surprise recognition.
4. Just Do It. As you look for opportunities to recognize your employees, remember that financial rewards are nice, but not necessary; humans respond to recognition regardless of monetary value.

Additional Resources:
25 Staff Appreciation and Recognition Ideas that Won’t Break the Bank
Customer-Based Employee Recognition: How to reward your unsung brand champions
Three Ways to Mix Up Your Employee Recognition Routine

Top image by photos8.com

In many organizations, miscommunication acts like an undercurrent of inefficiency, tugging away at limited resources and dragging down performance. Although its pull may seem slight, miscommunication between staff can have unexpectedly disastrous effects.   Miscommunication among healthcare employees, for instance, often leads to improperly written prescriptions.  According to the Joint Commission, such miscommunication “harms an estimated 1.5 million people in the United States each year, [and results] in upward of $3.5 billion in extra medical costs.”   In this way, miscommunication can affect an entire organization, through outcomes like incorrectly ordered materials and other production breakdowns. Furthermore, employee engagement wanes in the face of poor communication.  This is because employees who don’t have a strong understanding of their own role often struggle to stay passionately dedicated to their work.   When they feel they cannot excel due to communication issues beyond their control, cynicism often poisons an employee’s mindset.

Nobody wins when miscommunication strikes. The Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health found that the lack of two-way communication is the #2 cause of stress in the American workplace.  Clearly, improving communication can create a better work environment for your employees.

On problem is that many people fail to distinguish between information and communication.  In their book Effective Internal Communication, Lyn Smith and Pamela Mounter write that, especially for managers, “Information and communication can be mistaken for the same thing.  Information is not necessarily processed at the receiving end; dispatch does not automatically lead to results.” True communication cannot be one-sided and effective at the same time.  To truly communicate a message requires active focus on all sides. Listeners must actively draw themselves back to the topic at hand when their focus wanders, and speakers must monitor their audience to see if their message is sinking in.  Below, you’ll find a few strategies for effective communication.

Techniques for Avoiding Miscommunication:

• Allow thinking time. Many speakers believe that they must fill all empty space, or lose their audience.  The next time you’re delivering a message, ask if there are any questions, and pause for three deep breaths.  Sometimes it takes that long for a question to rise to mind.
• Require active listening. To make sure that your audience is following you, ask them to repeat your directions or ideas in their own words.  This technique clarifies incorrect interpretations before they are passed on to others.
• Be Specific and Set the Next Step. As you communicate, be honest and particular about what you mean.  Once your message has been transmitted (which you will, of course, check by asking your listeners to repeat back your ideas), you can set a deadline or next step so that everyone knows where to go from here.
• Consider the Emotional Environment. Communication often fails when emotions run high. It is difficult for anyone to listen when they have steam coming out of their ears, so be empathetic about how your audience feels.  Strive to set a positive emotional background, especially when you have an important message to deliver.
• Be Selective about your Audience. As you get the word out, make sure to include all people who are involved in the process or project.  Communicating directly with all the people involved will limit the ‘whisper down the lane’ affect.
• Follow up Verbal Communication with Written Communication. Walk triumphantly away from that big meeting—walk directly to your desk, that is, to send follow-up emails to confirm what was agreed upon and name the next steps.

Finally, remember that clear communication is a skill that requires practice.  As you develop procedures and protocols to support excellent office communication, accept that there will be hiccups along the way.  Once good communication practices are in place, new policies can be smoothly implemented without as many growing pains.  Even better: your employees will feel they are “in the loop.”

Additional Resources:
Best Practices In Employee Communications
Top Ten Sources of Workplace Stress, and How to Fight Them

Top photo by WrestlingEntropy.

Every new hire aims to please.  Fresh-faced and energetic, they begin with grand visions of how they can help their new employer (and how their new employer can help them.)  For about 90 days, that is.  By then, most new hires have reflected on their onboarding experience.  Many of them have taken on the dominant attitude of the rest of the office. Even if you’re only bringing on one new employee, it’s important to remember that the first few days often set the tone for an employee’s entire experience with your company.  In fact, employee engagement can begin even before you make an offer of employment.  With a little strategy and careful planning, you just might be able to preserve that new-hire enthusiasm.

Why worry about enthusiasm?, you might ask.  Isn’t it more effective to focus on an employee’s performance, rather than their emotions? Actually, employee’s emotions greatly impact performance. PeopleMetrics’ research indicates that engaged employees—those who are enthusiastic, loyal, and energetic about their work—are the ones who will best serve your company.  Employee engagement has been linked to a number of key HR and business indicators, including lower turnover, increased customer engagement, better sales performance, and reduced sick leave.

In other words, an employee’s first few days are important.  As in any relationship, the rules of engagement are determined fairly early on.  Managers have a limited window of time to communicate to new hires that they are dedicated to keeping them engaged.  HR expert Debbie Benami-Rahm suggests the following tips for employers who hope to encourage engaged employees, even before they’re actually employees:

• Focus on the strengths of the potential new hire in the interview process.  Communicate your awareness of what your potential new employee will bring to your firm.

• Use these strengths as a negotiation tool in the offer process.  Let the candidate know exactly how they will be able to use their talents in the organization.  Everyone likes to feel useful.
• Within the first 90 days of employment, specifically tie the strengths and talents of the candidate to the overall mission of your organization.  Show how they fit in and strengthen your team.
• Through your orientation or onboarding program, help new hires see how their strengths and talents will directly tie to the mission and vision of your organization.

As Ms. Benami-Rahm points out, the Corporate Leadership Council has found that employees are more likely to be fully engaged when they understand how their personal strengths, talents, and accomplishments contribute to the organization’s overall mission. Ms. Benami-Rahm also suggests that managers and stakeholders ask themselves the following questions to help increase new-hire engagement:

• How can I work with the HR/Staffing professionals to provide information and a plan to tap a potential hire’s talent during the interview and hiring process?
• How can I contribute to the successful onboarding of the new hire?
• How can I integrate a welcome from senior management addressing the mission of the organization from day one?
• How can I help a new hire tie their strengths and talents to the mission of the organization?
• How can I let a new hire know about opportunities to further strengthen their skills, knowledge and abilities?
• How can I help make a mentoring program or a “buddy system” successful for new hires?
• How do I measure the results of the engagement efforts?

Your answers will help you see how to maximize the engagement of new hires.  Learn more about increasing the engagement of your entire workforce by visiting our page on employee engagement management.

~Kate Feather, Executive Vice President

Additional Resources:
Introduction to EEM (Employee Engagement Management)
Best Practices in Employee Communications
Five Frugal Ways To Recognize Employees

Top photo by Christopher Matson.

It is no secret that people love recognition and praise.  The right kind of recognition can help to make a boring day an exceptional one.  It can also be a tool for improving employee engagement.  Recognition programs are standard in organizations throughout the world.  Unfortunately, many recognition programs are predictable and stagnant from the employee’s point of view.  Once a program is set up, it is too easy to let momentum and habit fuel recognition efforts.  Don’t let your organization get into a rut; consider the following tips to keep your recognition fresh and meaningful.  Do so, and you’ll enjoy more engaged employees who are eager to present their very best work.

1. Think outside of the (Cash) Box.
Employee recognition does not have to be financial. In the end, how you distribute your employee recognition rewards often matters more than what you distribute.  Don’t limit yourself to monetary rewards – think about how you can reward with time (like giving an employee an extra hour for lunch), situations (like the President taking an employee out to lunch to say thank you), or sentiment (like a hand-written note expressing your gratitude.)  Sometimes, the least expensive recognition techniques are the ones that employees remember best.  They may not remember how they spent that $5 gift card, but they’ll probably remember your heart-felt praise.

2. It’s All About Timing.

Studies have shown that employee recognition is most effective when it immediately follows the deed you want to encourage and acknowledge.  Then again, educators, cognitive psychologists, and even animal trainers have known as much for some time. One simple way to mix up your employee benefit routine is to change when you dole out awards – ideally, as quickly as possible following the deed you hope to reinforce.  Even if you’ve found a system that works, don’t get too comfortable in your employee recognition routines.  Remember the power of the surprise party.

3. Seek Employee Suggestions.

Why design your employee rewards program behind closed conference room doors?  Certainly, stakeholders and managers may create a basic administrative framework for your employee recognition program, but your employees will appreciate the chance to imagine their own recognition rewards.  If your organization follows best employee engagement practices, you’re probably already gathering feedback from your employees on what they need to do their work well.  Why not ask what rewards they would like to see? And while you’re at it, ask your employees to nominate those who deserve recognition.  You never know what brilliant suggestions and piercing insights your investigation could turn up.

Psychologists tell us that people are the most highly motivated in circumstances that offer random, unpredictable rewards.  As Sam Anderson recently wrote for New York Magazine, “The most irresistible reward schedule is not, counter-intuitively, the one in which we’re rewarded constantly but something called ‘variable ratio schedule,’ in which the rewards arrive at random.”  The corollary for management is this: even your best employees may get in a rut unless you can keep them engaged with unique, honest recognition.

~Monica Nolan, 2009

Additional Resources:
Best Practices in Employee Communications
5 Tips for Motivating Employees to Complete Surveys
How to Build Employee Resilience, Even in a Recession

Top photo by Liz West.

Most Americans are members of at least one loyalty program, if not several. Whether they carry around a R.E.I. dividend, a key chain tab for their grocery store, or a card for their airline, Americans love to get a little something extra for their patronage—and loyalty programs claim to give it to them.  The American love for loyalty programs is strong, even in the recession.  As loyalty research firm COLLOQUY’s Rick Ferguson put it, “Despite the recession, more consumers across all demographic segments are participating in rewards programs than ever before.” In fact, COLLOQUY found a 25% increase in American loyalty program memberships since 2006.  So, reward programs are popular, but are they effective from a business perspective?

The effectiveness of loyalty programs may be defined in several ways, but we’ll look specifically at how loyalty programs affect Customer Engagement.  Engaged customers have a positive emotional connection to a brand, they are loyal, passionate advocates for a company.  Engaged customers will go out of their way to do business with you.  We focus on customer engagement because we have found that Customer Engagement is a predictor of overall business success.  Companies with more engaged customers see higher profit margins, more loyal customers, and even happier employees.  For us, then, the real question is how loyalty programs impact customer engagement.

From a customer engagement perspective, rewards programs are not automatically successful.  Many companies hope their loyalty programs will increase sales, help gather customer data, and entice customers into trying new products. However, none of these outcomes guarantee higher customer engagement.

This is because loyalty programs, in and of themselves, do not change the way a company does business.  Doling out customer rewards for shopping with you won’t elevate the caliber of your service.  Piling on loyalty points cannot change how customers feel about their interactions with your employees.  Do your customers feel that their complaints, suggestions, and songs of praise are heard?  Do they see evidence that their ideas are taken seriously?  Do they see new products and procedures based on their ideas?  These are the questions that determine whether or not your firm is actively listening to customers.  This is what runs through your customers’ minds when they reflect on their emotional connection with your brand.

Competing loyalty programs operate much like lower prices—they may win a fair-weather customer, but they won’t guarantee lifetime patrons. Such loyalty programs can turn into a corporate version of “Keeping up with Joneses” when competitors attempt to woo customers with more extravagant rewards.

In the end, loyalty systems may have many business benefits, but without engagement companies will not create passionate lifetime customers.  As Harvey Thompson, former IBM executive and  author of Who Stole My Customer?, points out, “The key to effectively competing for loyalty is ensuring the quality of customer service, not the quantity of customer rewards.”  The first step in improving the quality of your customer service—and increasing customer engagement—is researching what your customers actually want.  You can’t buy loyalty—it must be earned.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager
PeopleMetrics

Additional Resources
Customer Engagement Management resources
How to Use Customer Testimonials to Increase Engagement
What to Look for in Customer Engagement Feedback Tools