Management Skills: Engage Your People
Organizations who have fully engaged employees have a much better bottom line than those whose employees are disenchanted. Intuitively we have always known this but a 2007 Towers and Perrin study of companies worldwide confirms it. Companies will earn more money if their employees are engaged, challenged and empowered. What does engaged mean? It means that employees are willing and anxious to give more of their discretionary efforts to their work. They are connected to their organization emotionally, know how to add value and are willing to do so. Other facts from the study include:
• Just 21% of the worldwide work force is fully engaged. So nearly 80% of people do not contribute fully and are costing the employer money in terms of productivity, effectiveness, customer service and more. But in America the percentage of engaged workers is 29% and 28% are disengaged or disenchanted. In Mexico those numbers are 54% and 16%, in Japan the numbers sag to a whopping 3% engaged and 72% disengaged or disenchanted!
• The organization has a big impact on whether or not employees are engaged. The notion that employees are just “free agents”
or only interested in “Me Inc.” is not born out by the study.
• Disengaged workers do not necessarily put the blame on their own manager or unit leader. They are an important part of the equation, but a whole system of leadership, learning, empowerment and corporate social responsibility are the key factors.
Organizations that provide learning and development opportunities, have visionary and engaging leaders, and maintain a positive image and reputation will go a long way in providing an atmosphere for engaged staff members. Senior leaders as well as mid level managers and supervisors get low marks in the things that are important to employees: empathy, communication and transparency.
What does empathy, communication and transparency mean to you. What would it actually look like?
I invite you to access a free copy of Three No or Low Cost Rewards For Employees by filling out the form on the right side of this blog.
Very timely information for managers with multiple generations in the workforce.