3 Approaches to Employee Engagement
One of the biggest challenges managers and executives face in a workplace is how to win the hearts and minds of their employees. Employee engagement isn’t just about employee satisfaction; engagement has been shown to be the critical precursor to driving change, execution, and achieving superior business results. Here are three case studies that illustrate the importance of and the business case for employee engagement.
Approach #1: Let Your Workforce Hear Directly From the Customer
In an effort to overcome epidemic worker apathy, Ken Freeman, Former CEO of Corning-Asahi Glass, took the drastic step of shutting down his production factory and arranged a series of meetings where his top customers came and directly communicated their stories with his workforce. The event turned out to be a breakthrough – his employees were so engaged by voice of the customer that they agreed to work with management to execute a series of changes that ultimately retained their key customers, grew the business, and restored profitability for the first time in 15 years.
Related Video: ‘Involving Customers In The Change Process‘ - Ken Freeman, Former CEO, Corning-Asahi Glass
Approach #2: Give Your Employees a Voice
Founder & CEO of S&A Foods, Perween Warsi, has created a culture in which her employees are continuously encouraged to share their ideas and think and act like owners. This level of engagement has enabled S&A Foods to implement and derive significant benefit from the many suggestions put forward by the workforce.
Related Video: ‘Bright Ideas‘ - Perween Warsi, Founder & CEO, S&A Foods
Approach #3: Understand the Language of your Employees and Speak It
aining the trust of your employees, particularly if they are from a newly acquired company, is never an easy task. Sir George Bull was faced with widespread mistrust and the question of how to implement change within a US-based organization that had recently been acquired by his UK Corporation. George was able to take the initial step at a corporate Christmas event that brought together the entire US firm’s employees. George delivered an address where he shared a customized and humorous version of “The Night Before Christmas.” His audience was so engaged with the story that “you could hear a pin drop” when it was being delivered. The Communication laid out a common organizational vision that engendered trust and directly led to greater operational efficiency, innovation, cost-reduction, increased profitability, and greater market share.
Related Video: ‘Motivating Through Communication‘ - Sir George Bull, Former Joint Chairman, Diageo
Managing Innovation Internally
Is it better to outsource or keep things internal? Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com, makes a case for keeping innovation internal.
Video: Managing Innovation Internally
Matt Ferguson
CEO
CareerBuilder.com
Summary:
How do you know when to outsource and when to do the work yourself? Matt Ferguson makes a case for keeping innovation internal and provides ideas for doing it effectively.
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