Employee engagement is critical to organizational success. That’s a given, and it’s widely supported by data showing the positive business impact of engaged employees. The question I ask is, Are you certain that your employee engagement program is actually supporting organizational goals? If you have even the slightest doubt, then maybe it’s time to revisit how your program aligns with organizational goals and objectives.
Stepping back and taking an “outside” perspective on your employee engagement program is a useful exercise. You’ll be able to see early on if your engagement program is appropriately linked to high-level goals, if it just needs a tweak to get there, or if your program requires a complete refresh. Here’s a framework that will help you get started:
- Revisit your engagement strategy. It’s probably a good idea to revisit your original program charter, given the way organizations are forced to adapt to an ever-changing business environment. For example, are there new stakeholders who have come on board since the strategy was created and is their input reflected in engagement strategy? Have organizational goals been revised and do your engagement tactics still line up?
- Are there sufficient resources to execute on that strategy? Today’s organizations are nimble, and that’s a good thing. However, rapid shifts often include reallocation of resources. Are you confident that the resources you requested to execute that engagement strategy can continue at the same level? You might be required to do more with less or, conversely, you might have an opening to request an expansion. The sooner you prepare, the better able you will be to adjust to fewer resources or state your case for additional support.
- Is the link between engagement tactics and desired outcomes direct? Sometimes as engagement objectives are developed, they are tied to outcomes that are too far-reaching to be directly associated with executable tactics. For example, your organization wants to increase profits and better employee engagement will support that. (Again, the data demonstrate that.) But how? What’s the link? By creating employee engagement tactics that can more directly be linked to desired business outcomes, you are able to give your leaders a clear picture of the program’s impact. An Executive Briefing from SHRM cited Molson Coors as a company that linked “…increased engagement to a reduction in safety incidents.” This avoided the fuzzy concept of “increased profits” and provided a clearly measurable outcome—that, by the way, would affect profits.
- Are your engagement tools still up to the job? As we noted, today’s organizations are constantly evolving. Are you confident that your rewards and recognition platform is keeping pace? Today’s online recognition platforms can give you the flexibility you need—and at a reasonable cost—to deliver meaningful recognition that drives engagement. Moreover, diversified rewards catalogs are available that give employees the choice they demand and give you an unparalleled ability to track, monitor and manage the program in an agile way.
- Are organizational goals being clearly communicated? You know that clear, consistent, ongoing communications are a pillar of successful employee engagement. Be sure that you are using all channels effectively, especially mobile, which these days is the first stop for most information seekers. And as we’ve pointed out before, exploit your internal social channels to the fullest.
At every opportunity, show employees their impact on achieving organizational goals. And regularly communicate enterprise-wide the outcomes of employee engagement success measures.
Are you ready to re-visit your workforce engagement program? Or are you thinking of a more flexible platform or incentives that give employees maximum choice? Talk to a Marketing Innovators solution expert about PPM Express and MIStyle Award Voucher to see how we can help you.
