Broadbrush Engagement Plans Don’t Work
Broadbrush Is Not The Answer
Many traditional broadbrush engagement initiatives have fallen short by offering ‘band aid’ solutions or an ineffective mixture of employee benefits which have commonly created a ‘whinge entitlement culture’.
Most initiatives have focused on tackling the symptoms of disengagement, rather than understanding what uniquely engages the individual.
More Research Than Implementation?
Many leaders see engagement and motivations a soft skill, so to make it more tangible we typically conduct a lot of research. Based on the findings, organisations then put in place general engagement strategies – what we call Organisational Engagement Plans (OEP).
The problem is many organisations spend the majority of their time and effort (some up to 80%) on employee research, but only a minority on implementation of engagement strategies.
Organisational Plans Miss The Mark
These broadbrush engagement plans are okay as a starting point, but miss the mark in being totally effective for three key reasons:
1. Effectiveness
Just because employees don’t rate a certain engagement driver highly in the research (e.g. Opportunity), doesn’t necessarily mean strategies to try and improve it should be a priority. For example, growth and development just might not be that important to most employees, so why invest a lot of time and money in strategies to improve the opportunity driver?
2. One Size Doesn’t Fit All
Broadbrush strategies aren’t effective for many employees because they focus on the general common denominator or ‘average employee’, rather than specific motivational drivers for the individual. Basically one size doesn’t fit all – never has, never will
3. Limited Resources
Human Resources, due to limited time and money, can only focus on a few limited strategies based on the issues identified in the engagement research.
Team Engagement Plans (TEP) Not Specific Enough
A potential solution to an ineffective plan has been to make people leaders more responsible in creating unique engagement plans at a team level, and this is where Team Engagement Plans (TEP) can be so useful. But, as in OEPs they can be limited, because what engages the team in general may not be the same as what motivates and engages an individual within that team. Team Engagement Plans (TEP) are better than Organisational Engagement Plans (OEP), but again, one size doesn’t fit all.
Therefore the missing link to effective engagement is to first understand which engagement drivers motivate individuals the most. Only then can we start to develop strategies and solutions that uniquely engage individuals and then create a more productive and better performing team of individuals.
Contact us at Life by Design to discuss how TEPs can change performance & productivity levels with a 1% time investment +61 2 9979 4949
Get Your FREE People Glue Book 48 Page Extract
As a way of staying thanks for being part of our Life by Design community we are releasing an extract from our People Glue book. 48 pages of thought provoking content on how to change the landscape of employee engagement as we know it now!
