Has Engagement Research Made It Too Hard and Paralysed Effective Action?
Paralysed Into Inaction?
We so often see companies spending 80% of the time on research but only 20% of the time on implementation. More often that not this is a result of not knowing effective ways to go forward, to get different results and achieve the coveted prize of increased employee engagement.
There’s Good & Bad News
The Bad News – Everyone is different, which makes engagement seem complex
The Good News – There are only 7 motivational engagement drivers to understand
The Bad News – Most employees don’t know what they want. Therefore by default money becomes their main motivator
The Good news – Once employees get clarity, 70% of engagement & motivation can be controlled and improved by the individual employee themselves
The 7 Drivers of Engagement
So what are the 7 key drivers that really matter when you talk to your people (in no particular order)?
1. LEADERSHIP
Inspiring leadership keeps people informed and appreciated. Appreciation is the quickest, cheapest and simplest way to engage people.
2. PURPOSE
The organisation has a meaningful purpose, beyond just making money, which makes a real difference. Purpose is increasingly becoming the emotional salary for many employees with 93% of engaged employees feeling that the company has a meaningful purpose.
3. REWARD
Clear links are established between employee performance and company objectives where individuals are fairly rewarded for their contributions to the company’s success. Only 12% of employees leave because of money, so for most, money is not the main motivator. Our job is to find out what is.
4. OPPORTUNITY
A culture of constant learning, full of development opportunities is created where people feel positive about their future career prospects. Many people think; what if you train your people and they leave? Well worse still is; what if you don’t train them and they stay?
5. RELATIONSHIPS
Good, positive, open and collaborative relationships exist between leaders, co-workers and teams. How well do you really know your people? Hobbies, interests, kids names, real motivations or life philosophy?
6. JOB FULFILMENT
The nature of the day-to-day work consistently energises people. When people love what they do, productivity and performance explodes.
7. WORK LIFE BALANCE
An environment exists where people’s lives outside work are supported and encouraged. What are your people’s top priorities and goals outside work?
The Sophistication is in the Simplicity
These engagement drivers are not rocket science, in fact they are quite simple as explained in Ian Hutchinson’s book People Glue and People Glue Leaders Programs. The hardest part is having everyone throughout the organisation understand them like their A, B, C – a common dialogue. Know these drivers, have all people leaders understand them, and you and your people are well on the way to embedding a common motivation engagement language with your culture that will boost your chances of raising engagement.
The Bad News – Most managers/people leaders are not psychologist, counsellors or coaches to help employees get clarity on what engages and motivates individuals
The Good News – All the guess work on clarity is eliminated simply and with easy-to-use systems/tools and programs.
Get Your FREE People Glue Part 1
As a way of staying thanks for being part of our Life by Design community we are releasing Part 1 of our People Glue book. 48 pages of thought provoking content on how to change the landscape of employee engagement as we know it now!
